Gingo

The Gingo Channel (commonly referred to as just Gingo) is an American pay television channel that is operated by the Gingo Channel Group LLC, a limited liability joint venture between Gingo Entertainment, the former owners of the Gingo Lineup, and Comcast, whose NBCUniversal subsidiary is the parent company of Universal Studios. Aimed mainly at children and young teenagers between the ages of 6 to 15, its programming consists of original first-run television series, theatrically-released and home media-exclusive movies and select other third-party programming.

As of January 2016, Gingo is available to 74.3 million households in America.

Origins
Gingo Animation first attempted to launch a 24-hour subscription channel in the United States, when the company announced plans to launch the Gingo Lineup Channel, a television offshoot of the syndicated programming block Gingo Lineup, which debuted on August 31, 1996. Plans for the United States network were ultimately shelved, however dedicated Gingo Lineup Channels were launched in other countries internationally.

The development of the Gingo Channel began on August 21, 2004, when Universal Television announced the launch of the channel as a pay television service, which would compete with other subscription channels such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Disney Channel. The announcement also called for the 22 existing programming blocks and pay channels outside of the United States bearing the Gingo Lineup name being rebranded as Gingo Channel.

Launch
The Gingo Channel was launched on May 28, 2005 at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time, with the Critter Mockers episode "A Critter in Love" as its first program, following the discontinuation of the Gingo Lineup. Many of the channel's original programs previously aired on the Gingo Lineup.

On the same day of the launch, the network aired its first film, Cardcaptors: The Movie, and has continued to air movies since then.

On December 21, 2005, the network aired its first Christmas special, VeggieTales Christmas Spectacular!, which was the first since 2000 to air this special, and has continued to air specials for certain hoildays since then.

In January 2011, Comcast acquired a 51% majority stake of NBC Universal, and would assume full ownership of the company in 2013, making Comcast a co-owner of the Gingo Channel with Gingo Entertainment.

On November 18, 2017, Gingo launched a block called "DreamWorks on Gingo", as a result of NBCUniversal's 2016 acquisition of DreamWorks Animation.

Programming
Programming on the Gingo channel includes original series such as Gabriel Garza, GGTV, Imagimals: The Series, Bernard Revamped, and Niz Chicoloco (2018), shows formerly seen on the now-defunct Gingo Lineup block such as Hatty, Niz Chicoloco, Paint World, Jenny Zoom, Planetokio, Critter Mockers, The Pandemoniums, and Sinbad, as well as acquired programming from other studios, which as of March 2019 includes Durango Kids, Tales in Paradoria, Quest: Adventures of Ridder, Wishfart, Hero School, Luna & Zak: The Series, Lix & Melody: The New Tunes, Cupcake &amp; Dino: General Services, Snowsnaps, Woody Woodpecker (2018), and Zola: Queen of the Deep Web.

Current

 * Gingo Junior – Gingo programs series targeted at preschool-age children daily every morning on Monday through Fridays from 8:30 am- 2:00 pm Eastern and Pacific Time (7-10am during the summer months, other designated school break periods, and on national holidays).
 * NightHouse – a late night block targeted towards teens and adults, airing every night from 9 p.m. EST to 6 a.m. EST.
 * DreamWorks on Gingo – a block of animated series produced by DreamWorks Animation that airs from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time, which resulted from NBCUniversal's 2016 acquisition of DreamWorks Animation.

Former
More coming soon!
 * Gingo Unleashed – Launched in 2005, Gingo Unleashed was an action block which featured shows such as DreamWorks' Sinbad, Samurai Pizza Cats, The Legend of Zelda, and C.L.Y.D.E.. The block lasted aired on March 17, 2011.
 * Toasted Saturdays - Launched in 2005, Toasted Saturdays was a Saturday morning and afternoon block. It was similar in format to the Australian children's television program Toasted TV.
 * The Big Flicks - Launched in 2005, The Big Flicks was a former weekend programming block that aired movies every Saturday and Sunday. Was discontinued in October 2016 although movies still air on the channel, but without The Big Flicks branding.

International channels
The Gingo channel was also aired in some other countries around the world (such as Brazil, India, Japan, Philippines and the United Kingdom and Ireland).