Adult Swim

Adult Swim (stylized as [adult swim] or [as]) is an American cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network, both of which are owned by Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner, Inc., every night from 8:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. ET/PT in the United States. The network is programmed by Williams Street Studios, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, which also developed two prior television programming blocks seen on Cartoon Network, Toonami (which later became a block on Adult Swim) and Miguzi.

Debuting as a programming block on Cartoon Network in 2001, Adult Swim was established as alternative programming during the late night hours when Cartoon Network's primary target audience, children and teenagers between the ages of 7–15, would normally be sleeping. Much of Adult Swim's general content is known for its risqué, unorthodox and often bizarre presentation, while many of the series features are developed in stark contrast with traditional American television programs. The network was granted its own Nielsen ratings report due to differing target demographics, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand. The block features stylistically varied animated and live-action shows including original programming, syndicated series, short films, OVAs, and Japanese anime, generally with minimal or no editing for content.

The name comes from a phrase used by public swimming pools to label designated times when children are restricted from using the facilities in favor of adults – "Adult Swim".

In the United States, Adult Swim has frequently aired recent or older adult animation features, Japanese anime, mockumentaries, sketch comedy, pilots and their subsequent short-lived series and spin-offs. Shows may have sexual themes, frank sexual discussion, nudity, strong language, and graphic violence. While the network features comedies and dramas of all types, many of its programs are aesthetically experimental, transgressive, improvised, and surreal in nature. Adult Swim has contracted with various studios – such as Williams Street, Augenblick Studios and PFFR – all of which are notable for their productions in absurd and shock comedy. As of 2024, Aqua Teen Hunger Force is the longest-running original series on the network.

In February 2015, Adult Swim was available to approximately 96,390,000 pay television households (82.8% of households with television) in the United States.

History
Cartoon Network's original head programmer Mike Lazzo conceived (and continues to operate) Adult Swim. The network grew out of Cartoon Network's previous attempts at airing content appropriate for young adults who might be watching the channel after 11 p.m. (ET). The network began experimenting with its late night programming by airing anthology shows like ToonHeads and Late Night Black and White, both of which presented uncensored classic cartoon shorts. Space Ghost Coast to Coast, one of Cartoon Network's first forays into original programming, was created in 1994 specifically for late night audiences. The series was created by Mike Lazzo's Ghost Planet Industries, which eventually became Williams Street Studios, the eventual producers and programmers of Adult Swim.

During early mornings in December 2000 (while Space Ghost Coast to Coast was on hiatus), several new Williams Street series made unannounced "stealth" premieres. Sealab 2021, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Aqua Teen Hunger Force and The Brak Show all premiered unannounced; the official schedules listed the shows as "Special Programming".

Adult Swim officially launched on September 2, 2001 with the debut airing of the Home Movies episode "Director's Cut", which was shelved before airing on its original network, UPN. It would become increasingly common for Adult Swim to burn off episodes of shows that never finished airing on its original network such as the Family Guy episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein" and the rest of the respective first seasons of The WB sitcoms Mission Hill, Baby Blues, and The Oblongs, all in 2002. The first anime broadcast on Adult Swim also aired on the night of its launch, Cowboy Bebop. The block initially aired on Sunday nights, with a repeat of the same block on Thursday nights. The name comes from a phrase used by public swimming pools to label designated times when children are restricted from using the facilities in favor of adults – "Adult Swim".

On March 28, 2005, Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting System split Adult Swim from Cartoon Network to allow Nielsen Media Research to treat it as a separate channel for ratings purposes. Adult Swim operates similarly to Nick at Nite, as that channel also shares channel space with another cable channel (in their case, Nickelodeon) and is treated as a separate service by Nielsen due to differences in target demographics. Promotions for Adult Swim are targeted towards the college age and those in their twenties and thirties, constituting the majority of their viewers. According to a September 1, 2004 article in Promo magazine, representatives travel to 30 universities across the U.S. to promote the Adult Swim lineup, including handing out posters for students' dorm rooms.

Adult Swim had a direct and important role in the revival of three popular animated series, Family Guy, Futurama and The Oblongs. Family Guy premiered in reruns on Adult Swim on April 20, 2003, and immediately became the block's top-rated program, dominating late night viewing in its time period vs. cable and broadcast competition and boosting viewership by 239 percent. On March 29, 2004, less than one year later, Fox announced it would be renewing Family Guy for a fourth season and reviving it from cancellation. Shortly after the announcement, Jim Samples, executive vice president of Cartoon Network, commented, "Bringing Family Guy to the Adult Swim lineup last April really helped turn the block into a cultural phenomenon with young adults."

Futurama was also revived in 2007 by Comedy Central for similar reasons: impressive viewership in syndication as well as high DVD sales. Adult Swim obtained Futurama's exclusive cable syndication rights in March 2002 for a reported $10 million, and the series first aired on the network in January 2002. In 2006, Twentieth Television struck a deal to produce four direct-to-video animated features based on Futurama, and, in 2009, the series was revived in normal half-hour installments beginning in 2010 on Comedy Central. In a 2006 interview, Futurama creator Matt Groening explained "There's a long, regal history of misunderstood TV shows, and to Fox's credit, the studio looked at the ratings on the Cartoon Network and how the show does overseas, and saw that there was more money to be made." In 2006, in a stunt to promote its airings of Saved by the Bell, Adult Swim temporarily renamed itself to "crappy 1980s live action tv show network".

In 2007, Adult Swim announced it would expand to seven nights a week starting that July. Up until then, it was only on Saturdays-Thursdays, with Cartoon Network airing 24 hours on Friday. On July 6 of that year, Adult Swim had its first broadcast on a Friday with an all-night marathon of Family Guy with one episode, Peter's Two Dads, rerunning the April Fools gag of that year, running the first half-hour of Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters in a small square on the bottom left hand corner.

Angus Oblong, creator of The Oblongs, said new episodes of the series will return to Adult Swim. Adult Swim stated on July 4, 2010 that they asked studios to produce new episodes and "some said yes, some said no".

On December 27, 2010, Adult Swim's sign-on time was moved one hour earlier, from its longtime start time of 10:00 p.m. ET to 9:00 p.m. ET, extending the network's daily schedule to nine hours. Furthermore on March 31, 2014 Adult Swim's sign-on time was moved to 8:00 p.m. ET, further extending the network's daily schedule to ten hours and effectively matching the airtime of most nights that Nick at Nite has.

Stylistic history
Originally, all of the bumpers shown in-between shows featured footage of old people swimming in public pools, eating, exercising, and doing other pool-related activities, with some featuring audio of a lifeguard shouting through a megaphone. The logo was the words "Adult Swim" in all capital letters, shown after a freeze frame of the footage. When the Saturday night block debuted on February 23, 2002, it featured clips from the various anime programs displayed on the block. The original theme music for Adult Swim, titled "D-Code," was a remix of "Mambo Gallego" done by the Melbourne musician Dust Devil, originally played by Latin jazz musician Tito Puente, Sr. On January 12, 2003, the senior citizens were replaced by animated safety manuals featuring Adult Swim characters. The logo changed to the words "adult swim" in red and a black circle with a yellow penumbra.

The current bumps debuted on May 25, 2003 and feature black intertitle "cards" in white Helvetica Neue Condensed Bold type. The cards discuss everything from programming news to personal staff opinions on unrelated subjects. In addition, the bumpers for the action shows include tilt-shift miniature and other abstract photos of Japan, often accompanied by clips of various Yesterdays New Quintet songs. The most recent bumper cards have the "[adult swim]" caption somewhere within photographs of places – often with roads or road signs throughout the world.

The bumps occasionally pay tribute to a recent death, in which there is no music or sound effects, but only a fade in, showing the person's name, along with the year of his/her birth and the year of his/her death, followed by a fade out. This has been done for many celebrities, including Vincent Schiavelli, Macho Man Randy Savage, Elizabeth Taylor, Alex Toth, Harry Goz, Frank Buckles and Andy Griffith, Neil Armstrong, Johnny Cash, John Ritter, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Gary Coleman, Richard Dunn, and Steve Jobs.

At certain times during the evening, the bumps will give a programming lineup for an upcoming date. When this format is given, certain shows will be given a specified color (indicating a premiere), with a caption at the bottom that reads "All Times and Music Eastern." The music in the background has a decidedly Indian flair.

In 2009, King of the Hill featured unique bumpers which only air when the program is being shown. They include the fictional restaurants, shops, organizations, and local services seen within the show itself and act as sponsors during the bump followed by an actual sponsor (such as "King of the Hill is brought to you by Strickland Propane, and by the United States Air Force" and "Tonight's King of the Hill episode is brought to you by The Arlen Barn. The best meatloaf in the county, and now serving sandwiches"). On December 25, 2009, the network began to air "Promos of the Decade", a special bump that showed some of the best promos since Adult Swim's debut in 2001. The air times in many of the promos were crossed out in yellow.

On March 31, 2014, adult swim re-branded their bumpers. From 8pm to 11pm (ET/PT) on their first day and from 8pm to 6am (ET/PT) from their second day onwards, the new bumpers include live action pans of landscapes, signs, objects, and animals with the Adult Swim logo embossed in them, sometimes hidden. Also the advisory sign-on bumper has changed from the traditional black and white bumper to a live shot as well.

2007 Boston bomb scare
On Wednesday, January 31, 2007, both the Boston Police Department and the Boston Fire Department mistakenly identified battery-powered LED placards resembling two characters from the Adult Swim animated television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force as improvised explosive devices. These devices were in fact part of a guerrilla marketing advertising campaign.

The next day, Boston authorities arrested two men involved with the incident. Peter Berdovsky, 27, a freelance video artist from Arlington, Massachusetts, and Sean Stevens, 28, were facing charges of placing a hoax device to incite panic, as well as one count of disorderly conduct, according to CNN (which is also owned by Turner Broadcasting System).

On February 5, Turner Broadcasting and marketer Interference, Inc. announced that they would pay $2 million in amends: one million to the city of Boston, and one million in goodwill funds. Four days later, on February 9, Jim Samples, general manager and Executive Vice President of Cartoon Network since 2001, resigned.

Turner Broadcasting later issued an apology for the ad campaign that caused the bomb scares. A statement emailed to The Boston Globe from Turner Broadcasting said:

"'The 'packages' in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger. They are part of an outdoor marketing campaign in 10 cities in support of Adult Swim's animated television show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. They had been in place for two to three weeks in Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Parent company Turner Broadcasting is in contact with local and federal law enforcement on the exact locations of the billboards. We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger.'"

Programming
Adult Swim has a history of unique original shows such as The Venture Bros., The Boondocks, Metalocalypse, Squidbillies, Robot Chicken, Black Dynamite, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force (also known by various alternative titles). A few of their shows are remakes or relaunches of classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons — Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Sealab 2021, and Space Ghost Coast to Coast's spin-off series, The Brak Show. Adult Swim has also had success with several syndicated programs such as Family Guy, King of the Hill, American Dad!, The Cleveland Show, Bob's Burgers, and The Oblongs.

The channel also has a history of showing anime series now relegated to its Saturday night schedule which currently consists of Dragon Ball Z Kai, Kill la Kill, Naruto Shippuden, InuYasha: The Final Act, Gurren Lagann, One Piece, and Deadman Wonderland. Select Cartoon Network programming has also aired on Adult Swim, such as Star Wars: The Clone Wars, ThunderCats, Sym-Bionic Titan, Samurai Jack, and Beware the Batman.

Official website
Adult Swim's official website features adultswimtv.com (formerly Adult Swim Video), forum message boards, online video games, music downloads, shopping (until April 16, 2012), mobile phone downloads, adult swim show sites, and the programming schedule for Adult Swim.

Online video streaming
Beginning in 2006, Adult Swim Video (originally named Adult Swim Fix upon launch) offered a free online video on demand service for recent and older episodes of a selection of its shows. In June 2010, they began delaying episode availability on Adult Swim Video by one week after original television broadcast. Previously, episodes had appeared 1–3 days after broadcast. As of late 2012, the service is rebranded as "adultswimtv.com".

In August 2011, Adult Swim introduced Adult Swim Gold, a paywall available for cable and satellite subscribers with TV Everywhere authentication to see full episodes of Adult Swim programs. The selection of full episodes available on Adult Swim Video for public viewing without using Adult Swim Gold was greatly reduced from the prior offering. As of June 2014, the service has been combined with "Watch [adult swim]" (see also "Live Stream in the United States") with the latest episodes available only to subscribers.

As of December 2013, over 30 online-exclusive shows are available on the website.

In 2014 Adult Swim began posting every episode of select shows online for permanent free viewing. Around the same time, Adult Swim added a 24/7 live webcam to their official website that streams marathons of different shows all day long on a loop.

Video games
Adult Swim partnered with Midway Games in 2005 to begin development on video games based on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, The Brak Show and Sealab 2021. The game based on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am, was released on November 5, 2007 for PlayStation 2. The game is a golf game with fighting and racing levels. A video game based on Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law has been released by Capcom for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii.

Various third-party, Flash-based games, such as Robot Unicorn Attack and the Five Minutes to Kill (Yourself) series are also available for free play on the Adult Swim website.

Adult Swim have also published a number of iPhone and iPad games, including Robot Unicorn Attack 1 & 2, Amateur Surgeon and Five Minutes To Kill (Yourself) Wedding Day.

In December 2012, the Valve Corporation announced costumes for the online first person shooter Team Fortress 2 based on Adult Swim characters.

The video game Saints Row: The Third features an in game "radio station," which shuffles a collection of songs that were featured on Adult Swim shows.

The video game Poker Night 2 features Brock Samson from The Venture Bros. as a main character.

On February 15, 2013 Adult Swim published Super House of Dead Ninjas on Steam under their Adult Swim games publishing label. Adult Swim games continued to publish select indie games on Steam including Super Puzzle Platformer Deluxe, Völgarr the Viking and Jazzpunk.

Music
Adult Swim has partnerships with several independent music labels, and has co-produced and released compilation albums with Stones Throw Records, Ghostly International, Definitive Jux, and Chocolate Industries through their own label, Williams Street Records. Many of Adult Swim's bumps and packaging make use of instrumental and electronic music. Various music is also often borrowed from artists signed onto a wide array of different labels, including Warp Records and Ninja Tune Records.

Video on demand
In mid-2004, Adult Swim launched a video on demand service on cable television providers, branded as "Adult Swim Video". The comedy section features several episodes from various Adult Swim original series, while the action section shows anime series and movies licensed by Bandai Entertainment, Geneon Entertainment, and Viz Media, some of which were never broadcast. The anime series s-CRY-ed initially premiered on demand before debuting on the regular block in May 2005.

Several Adult Swim shows are also available for purchase on iTunes. Furthermore, as of November 22, 2006, some Adult Swim shows can be bought and accessed from the Xbox Live Video Marketplace, PlayStation Video Store, and the Amazon Video on Demand Store.

In October 2013, Turner Broadcasting in partnership with MCM Media and Movideo launched a video on demand service Adult Swim Australia. The site features a library of 1500 Adult Swim episodes and short video clips from various Adult Swim series.

Podcast and Adult Swim Mobile
Adult Swim offered a video podcast on iTunes from March 21 to September 19, 2006. The podcasts featured behind-the-scenes segments of shows and exclusive content; such as an interview with Saved by the Bell's Dennis Haskins and a look at Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha's Metalocalypse. The podcast reached number two in iTunes' ranking of most downloaded podcasts.

Live Stream in the United States
Beginning on September 25, 2013 Turner Broadcasting System's The Cartoon Network Inc. began the live streaming of the Adult Swim channel through the Watch Adult Swim mobile app and on the Adultswim.com Video on Demand service known as "AS LIVE'.  To access the live stream the user must be a subscriber to and log-in through their cable or satellite provider service account. Once authenticated the user can then select either the East or West Coast feeds to view the live feed which is optimized to play on both on a wireless Internet and cell data (i.e. 3G/4G) services.

Currently the Watch Adult Swim service is available to subscribers of approximately 100 different cable and satellite providers including AT&T U-verse, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast Xfinity, Cox, DirecTV, Suddenlink and Verizon FiOS, and new cable providers are added frequently as needed.

Unlike its traditional broadcast counterpart, the AS Live internet stream does not show the same commercials. This is primarily due to a contractual agreement between most American broadcast networks, including Turner owned properties, and the union SAG-AFTRA which represents television and radio performers and ASCAP and BMI which acts on behalf of music composers and performers for royalty payments. Under this agreement broadcast networks are required to pay a certain royalty fee to performers for commercials that they appeared in, provided voice-over or musical performance in. To usurp this Adult Swim broadcasts either a still card with a picture of an owl and the words "Please Stand-By Commercial Break" or Adult Swim program promos.

As of March 2015, the Adult Swim live stream now contains seven channels:
 * FishCenter Live: a live feed of the aquarium at the Adult Swim offices with a fish-themed call-in show that takes place weekdays at 4pm EST with re-runs starting at 7pm EST.
 * Toonami Pre-Flight (a behind-the-scenes talk show about Toonami)
 * Marathon (24-hour marathons of select Adult Swim shows)
 * Off the Air (short films from the internet)
 * Simulcast East
 * Simulcast West
 * Decker (serialized spoof of low-budget action movies starring Tim Heidecker)

International
Adult Swim has been actively expanding its reach across the world since 2005. As with the United States, the block airs in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Russia and Brazil. Other Cartoon Network markets choose not to air it due to local market conditions, licensing programs to other broadcasters or government content restrictions or regulations – such as Ofcom in the United Kingdom. In those markets, where regulation issues arise, the block is licensed to other networks or television stations instead.

Australia and New Zealand
In October 2013, Turner Broadcasting in partnership with MCM Media and Movideo launched a video on demand service Adult Swim Australia. The site features a library of 1500 Adult Swim episodes and short video clips from various Adult Swim series.

The Australian and New Zealand version of Adult Swim was broadcast on Cartoon Network until December 31, 2007. Shows aired at that time were Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Sealab 2021, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law (which also aired on SBS), Tom Goes To The Mayor, Home Movies, The Venture Bros., and before its closure, Squidbillies. The comedy block aired every Friday and Saturday and an action block aired during the week, including mature anime like Cowboy Bebop, InuYasha, Bleach, Air Gear, Black Cat and Ghost in the Shell.

The channel is no longer on Cartoon Network, but the comedy shows are now airing on The Comedy Channel in Australia. The block returned on The Comedy Channel with Robot Chicken and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, in March 2008, with Aqua Teen Hunger Force joining the lineup on July 1. The Boondocks also airs on the same channel, although it is not under the Adult Swim banner and instead airs separately.

To date, the Adult Swim lineup on The Comedy Channel has grown considerably with the block now airing every Saturday from 12 to 2 a.m. AEST and 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. AEST to keep with the late night tradition of the former block. The new incarnation also premiered a lot of other Adult Swim shows including Moral Orel, Titan Maximum, Robot Chicken: Star Wars, Frisky Dingo, Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job and Childrens Hospital (airing uncensored with profanity intact), along with the latest additions but aired at a different time, Metalocalypse and The Venture Bros, the latter making it the third show with Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Harvey Birdman to have been aired on both the old and the new block.

Some series that aired on Adult Swim have been released to Region 4 DVD by Madman Entertainment, including shows that have never been shown on Australian television before. Madman Entertainment has also released R4 exclusive DVDs not available in the USA, including Volume 2 and 3 of Moral Orel and complete collections of Minoriteam and Assy McGee.

The Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters has also been quietly released to DVD. After moving to The Comedy Channel, Adult Swim does not currently air in New Zealand.

Canada
Teletoon's English-language service in Canada has an adult-oriented block called "Teletoon at Night" (previously known as "The Detour") that airs programming similar to Adult Swim every night. Adult Swim programs that have aired in the past include 12 oz. Mouse, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Metalocalypse, Robot Chicken, Squidbillies, Stroker and Hoop, The Boondocks, The Venture Bros., Home Movies, Tom Goes to the Mayor and Space Ghost Coast to Coast. However, some shows that air on Adult Swim in the United States air on MuchMusic in Canada instead of Teletoon.

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! is the only Adult Swim original to not on Teletoon and instead aired on Bell Media's The Comedy Network, although, the series ran as a sneak peek in June 2012. Since July 2007, seven of the fourteen Adult Swim programs airing on The Detour were canceled and replaced by Canadian-produced adult cartoon shows. Robot Chicken is currently the only Adult Swim original series on the block.

Teletoon's French-language service also has an adult-oriented block called "Télétoon la Nuit" that airs shows like The Boondocks, Family Guy, Home Movies, Robot Chicken, American Dad! and Futurama. Meanwhile, YTV aired anime series that premiered on Adult Swim in its "Bionix" block. As well, G4's Anime Current block, Razer's (now MTV2) Kamikaze block, the defunct Scream (later Dusk) and Super Channel have all aired various anime titles.

In June 2009, G4 Canada launched "Adult Digital Distraction", a programing block featuring many Adult Swim shows. In late 2011, the block was discontinued due to pressure from the CRTC on account of the channel deviating from its original format (which was to air technology-related programming). The block had briefly been relaunched featuring Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Eagleheart, NTSF:SD:SUV::, Delocated, Metalocalypse, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Superjail!, and The Venture Bros. but was once again discontinued in 2012.

On February 2, 2012, Teletoon Canada Inc. announced that it would be bringing Adult Swim to Canada as its own branded block on the new specialty channel Cartoon Network Canada, which debuted on July 4, 2012. In December 2013, MuchMusic began airing Childrens Hospital and, later, its spinoff, Newsreaders.

France
The block was launched on March 4, 2011 and airs every night from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Cartoon Network France. It has aired Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Metalocalypse, Moral Orel, Robot Chicken and Squidbillies. Like most international Adult Swim blocks, it does not air Fox and action shows. Most of the block's programming is not dubbed and airs with English audio and French subtitles.

In the early 2000s, there was a late-night block called "Dezaxe", which carried the 2001 Adult Swim look, but did not have any adult shows, except for Home Movies. Case Closed was aired on Cartoon Network and Toonami. Dezaxe aired random Cartoon Network shows and old promos.

Germany
The block airs on TNT Serie (a German-language version of TNT). Programs on the block include Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Assy McGee, Lucy, The Daughter of the Devil, Metalocalypse, Moral Orel, Robot Chicken, Stroker & Hoop, The Brak Show, Venture Bros. and Supernanny.

India and Pakistan
In India and Pakistan, an Adult Swim block airs on WB Channel, an English general entertainment channel owned by Turner International India.

Latin America
In Latin America, an Adult Swim channel aired during the overnight hours. It was originally carried on the regional version, when it was picked up by I.Sat, another Turner Broadcasting System Latin America/Time Warner-owned network, due to the fact that it was received with negative reviews from parents.

On October 29, 2010, I.Sat revealed they were cutting Adult Swim programming due to low ratings, adding: "No matter if we add new shows, it would not work". Adult Swim once had a SAP audio in early 2007.

In 2014, it was announced that Adult Swim would return to Latin America that same year. Adult Swim premiered on the Brazilian feed of TBS on November 3, 2014. Adult Swim will back to all Latin America on 3/4/15, on I.Sat.

United Kingdom and Ireland
In 2002, CNX was launched in the United Kingdom as a spin-off of Cartoon Network. It featured much of the content found on Adult Swim and Toonami, such as anime shows and adult action films, but closed operations after a year in 2003.

A nightly Adult Swim channel was launched on July 8, 2006, on the now defunct Bravo owned by Virgin Media Television, generally starting at midnight. Shows that were previously a part of the UK's Adult Swim block are Robot Chicken, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Sealab 2021, The Brak Show, Tom Goes to the Mayor, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, The Venture Bros., Moral Orel, and Metalocalypse, Non-Williams Street shows on the block include Stripperella and Kid Notorious. The first "action" series was the anime Afro Samurai, which aired on May 4, 2007 alongside a new UK animated show Modern Toss. On July 7, 2008, Adult Swim ceased to broadcast on Bravo.

The UK Adult Swim website offers free access to full episodes of shows including Squidbillies, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Tom Goes to the Mayor, Minoriteam, Stroker and Hoop, Moral Orel, 12 oz. Mouse, Perfect Hair Forever, Metalocalypse, and Frisky Dingo. Revolver Entertainment began distributing original Adult Swim series on DVD in the UK and Ireland.

FX aired Robot Chicken, Titan Maximum, Venture Brothers and "Metalocalypse". These shows were advertised with [adult swim] branding. They began airing on June 5, 2010 in conjunction with the channel's regular schedule and ended on November 27, 2010. On December 14, 2011, the Robot Chicken: Star Wars trilogy appeared on Syfy at 10 p.m. The block began airing on TCM 2 starting on January 4, 2012.

High definition channels and service
A high definition feed of Adult Swim is available on many cable and all satellite service providers. The high definition feed was launched on October 15, 2007. 4:3 content is stretched on the high definition feed to fill the 16:9 aspect ratio, except airings of season one episodes of The Eric André Show, along with Cowboy Bebop and Dragon Ball Z Kai on Toonami, which are pillarboxed to preserve the original 4:3 aspect ratio. This process results in a warped picture, which is especially apparent during horizontal panning. All programs produced in high definition are aired in letterbox on the standard definition feed. Commercials made in 4:3 are also stretched to fill the 16:9 feed, unlike most other Turner-owned channels that use stylized pillarboxing.

As of October 31, 2010, all commercial bumpers have been broadcast in 16:9; most 4:3 video footage in the bumps are pillarboxed. All 16:9 by content is letterboxing on the SD feed as opposed to being cropped to be 4:3. As of May 13, 2013 all content on the SD feed is letterboxed, including 4:3 material which appears in a stretched format, as a result of the elimination of the SD feed a practice used on most Turner channels.