Toonami was a British children's channel which aired from September 2003 to May 2007. History Pre-Launch Toonami was a programming block on Cartoon Network, until June 2002 when its programming was moved to the soon-to-be launched CNX, a new channel launched by Cartoon Network UK, the first Cartoon Network derivative to launch outside North America. CNX did not function like Turner's other kids channels, instead operating as a general entertainment network with children's programming during the day and more adult programming at night, which included martial arts movies, adult-oriented animation like the Adult Swim originals, and dramas like The Shield and Birds of Prey. At the beginning of 2003, the channel introduced a Toonami programming strand for CNX's daytime hours. Launch On 9 July 2003, Turner announced that a standalone Toonami channel would replace CEX beginning in September 2003 and move to the kids section on the EPG, with a Turner spokesperson citing that the adult market being "crowded and competitive" as the reason for CEX's closure. On 1 September, it was officially announced that CNX would rebrand as Toonami on 9 September, and on that day, CNX's slot on Sky Digital and NTL was moved to the "Kids" sections and relabelled as Toonami, which launched at 6 am on that day. However, TOM (who was TOM 2, despite America already having switched to TOM 3) was not voiced by Steven Blum (minus when Lockdown aired on the channel in 2003), instead given a new voice actor: Christian Stevenson, otherwise known as DJ BBQ. Stevenson earlier hosted the CNX show Trailer Park alongside Ed Leigh. Previously, when Toonami was still a block on Cartoon Network UK, the block used TOM 1 and had a voice similar to Tansit from Space Ghost Coast to Coast narrating in its bumpers, which many fans believed to be TOM's voice. In 2005, Toonami was added to the TV and video on demand kids' package for VNL's HomeChoice (now TalkTalk TV). Broadcasting for the channel involved using advanced MPEG-4 compression technology, the first TV channel in the world to do so. On 6 March 2006, Toonami changed its focus from action cartoons to entertainment in general, as the channel moved to Sky 602 and began airing five live-action shows: Backyard Science, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Stencil, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and Life with Derek. Additionally, the entire design of the channel was overhauled, with the