TV channel in Netherlands and Flanders
Television channel
Disney XD
is a Dutch
children's television
channel owned by
The Walt Disney Company
. It broadcasts 14 hours a day, time-sharing with Dutch TV station
Veronica
, and is primarily aimed at children roughly between the ages of 7 and 15. The channel used to have a pay television 24-hour feed that was distributed throughout the Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders); however, it was closed down on 31 July 2018.
[1]
Viewers in Belgium (
Wallonia
) and
Luxembourg
received Disney XD France, until that feed was later shut down in 2020.
[2]
All series on the channel air in Dutch, either dubbed or originally produced in that language. However, the 24-hour feed of the network used to offer an optional English audio track for most programming. Dutch subtitles were distributed through
teletext
-page 888, as there is currently no DVB subtitle track available.
Prior to its aforementioned shutdown near the end of July 2018, the 24-hour version of Disney XD used to broadcast certain shows in English subtitled in Dutch, mainly in the evening and night.
History
[
edit
]
Disney XD was first launched as
Fox Kids
in the Netherlands on 2 August 1997 and later it expanded its coverage area to Belgium.
[3]
Saban International
bought Dutch
free-to-air
television network
TV10
in January 1997 and started broadcasting Fox Kids, a joint venture with
Rupert Murdoch
's
News Corporation
later on in that same year, making TV10 and Fox Kids a time-sharing channel on terrestrial television; in the daytime it was Fox Kids, and at night TV10.
[4]
In 2001 Saban wanted to sell its share in Fox Kids to the News Corporation. In the end, Murdoch decided to sell Fox Kids to
The Walt Disney Company
so he would have the money to acquire
DirecTV
. Fox Kids was rebranded as
Jetix
on 13 February 2005, now time-sharing with
Veronica
.
[5]
On 1 January 2010, the Dutch Jetix channel was rebranded as Disney XD, making it the last Jetix feed to be relaunched under the brand in Europe.
[6]
One month later, a 24-hour feed of the channel was launched as a
pay television
network.
[7]
In 2012, Disney extensively promoted the 24-hour feed in magazines like
Donald Duck
and Tina under the banner of "Disney XD Extra". It featured extra programming added after 6:00 PM, when the free-to-air feed closed down to timeshare with Veronica.
[
citation needed
]
On 25 March 2015, Disney XD launched an HD simulcast of the 24-hour feed of the channel, which was available at the time on KPN, XS4All and Telfort.
[
citation needed
]
The 24-hour feed closed on 31 July 2018. Due to this, the channel ceased broadcasting on Belgian carriers. The free-to-air channel time-sharing with Veronica continues to remain available, but only in the Netherlands.
[8]
As a consequence, there is no optional English audio track anymore, due to that only being available on the 24-hour version.
[
citation needed
]
Alongside the
Polish
and
Canadian
versions of Disney XD, the Dutch version of Disney XD is one of the three last remaining Disney XD feeds broadcasting outside the U.S., as of April 2022.
[
citation needed
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]