American television network
Television channel
Disney Junior
is an American
pay television
network
owned by the
Disney Entertainment
unit of
the Walt Disney Company
through
Disney Branded Television
.
[1]
Aimed mainly at children two to seven years of age,
[1]
its
programming
consists of original first-run
television series
, films, and select other third-party programming.
As of January 2016, the channel is available to 74 million households in the U.S.
[2]
History
[
edit
]
Origins
[
edit
]
The Walt Disney Company
first attempted to launch a 24-hour
subscription channel
for
preschoolers
in the United States,
[3]
when the company announced plans to launch Playhouse Disney, a television offshoot of
Disney Channel
's daytime programming block
of the same name
, which launched on the channel on May 8, 1997 (airing during the morning hours seven days a week, with the weekday blocks lasting until the early afternoon). Plans for the United States network were ultimately shelved. However, channels using the Playhouse Disney moniker were launched in other countries internationally.
[4]
The development of Disney Junior began on May 26, 2010, when
Disney-ABC Television Group
announced the launch of the channel as a pay television service, which would compete with other subscription channels targeted primarily at preschool-aged children in addition to the Playhouse Disney branded blocks and channels being rebranded under Disney Junior.
[5]
The flagship channel in the United States intended to replace
Soapnet
, a Disney-owned channel featuring daytime
soap operas
seen on the
major broadcast networks
(including sister network
ABC
) and reruns of former primetime drama series, due to the continued decline in popularity and quantity of soap operas on broadcast television, along with the growth of
video on demand
services (including the online streaming availability for soap operas) and
digital video recorders
that negated the need for a linear channel devoted to the genre.
[4]
Network and block launches
[
edit
]
Disney Junior first launched as a
programming block
on
Disney Channel
on February 14, 2011.
[6]
The Disney Junior channel was originally scheduled to launch in January 2012, but on July 28, 2011, the Disney-ABC Television Group pushed back the channel's launch date to an unspecified date in early 2012,
[7]
then on January 9, 2012, the Disney-ABC Television Group announced that Soapnet's closing date for most cable providers was scheduled for March 22, 2012. Disney Junior's 24-hour subscription channel counterpart officially launched the following day on March 23,
[8]
at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time with the
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
episode "Mickey's Big Surprise" as the first program to air on the channel.
[
citation needed
]
Programming featured on the channel's initial lineup included
Jake and the Never Land Pirates
,
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
and freshman original series
Doc McStuffins
; the channel also had new episodes of the short-form series
A Poem Is.
as well as the weekend movie block, the
Magical World of Disney Junior
.
[6]
Though it in effect took over the channel space held by
Soapnet
, an automated feed of that channel continued to exist for providers that had not yet reached agreements to carry Disney Junior, or held out to not lose subscribers due to the immediate loss of that network. These included some providers such as
Cox Communications
,
Optimum
,
DirecTV
,
Verizon FiOS
, and
Time Warner Cable
, which continued to carry Soapnet while having added the Disney Junior channel onto their channel lineups in turn.
[8]
[9]
Soapnet's operations continued sixteen months later than had been originally planned, until the network finally ceased operations on December 31, 2013, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
[10]
In 2012, Disney Junior launched a movie night anthology as the
Magical World of Disney Junior
.
[6]
The channel also premiered its first Disney Junior Original Movie,
Lucky Duck
during Magical World on Friday, June 20, 2014.
[11]
The morning block of Disney Junior programming on Disney Channel itself is currently known as
Mickey Mornings
.
Television carriage
[
edit
]
Since its launch, Disney Junior became initially available to subscribers of
Xfinity
,
Time Warner Cable
,
Cablevision
,
Bright House Networks
, and
Verizon FiOS
;
[12]
other providers would sign carriage agreements to run the network following its launch:
- On March 26, 2012, Cox Communications announced that it would carry Disney Junior, as part of the provider's "Variety Pak" package.
- On April 3, 2012, Disney?ABC Television Group announced that it had reached a distribution agreement with the National Cable Television Cooperative to carry Disney Junior, which negotiates carriage deals on behalf of many of America's smaller cable providers.
[13]
- Cable One
added the network to the digital tier of its systems around May 26, 2012.
- On June 21, 2012,
RCN
began carrying the network on its systems.
- On July 13, 2012,
DirecTV
announced that the Disney Junior network would be added to its lineup the following day on the 14th, a Saturday.
[14]
Industry observers questioned both the unexpected announcement and untraditional weekend launch of the network as being timed to a nine-day carriage dispute between DirecTV and
Viacom
and the loss of the
Nick Jr. Channel
four days previously as a result of the dispute.
[15]
- On December 31, 2012,
Charter Communications
(later purchasing
Time Warner Cable
and
Bright House Networks
and becoming
Spectrum
) came to terms with Disney?ABC Television Group on a new wide-ranging multiple-year carriage agreement for ABC, all of the U.S.-based Disney Channels Worldwide and ESPN networks and ABC Family, which included the addition of Disney Junior to Charter systems throughout the first quarter of 2013.
[16]
The channel ended carriage on August 31, 2023 as Disney and Spectrum were in dispute for several days, before coming to agreement on September 11 to restore Disney's networks to their service while removing several others, including Disney Junior.
[17]
[18]
[19]
- On January 15, 2013,
AT&T U-verse
also reached a deal with The Walt Disney Company on a new wide-ranging multi-year agreement to carry the Disney?ABC Television Group family of networks and ESPN, which included the addition of Disney Junior.
[20]
- Dish Network
, the last major television provider to have not signed a carriage deal for Disney Junior, added the channel on April 10, 2014; after a long period of acrimony and a six-month extension of their past carriage agreement with The Walt Disney Company for a few select networks (some of which were not available in HD, partly as a result of a 2011 dispute with the company), Dish and Disney came to full terms on carrying all of Disney-ABC's networks in both standard and high definition on March 3, 2014, with the resolution of legal issues involving Dish's
Hopper
DVR
system, which also included streaming rights for the networks as part of Dish's IPTV streaming service
Sling TV
.
[21]
Programming
[
edit
]
Programming on the Disney Junior channel includes original series (such as
Alice's Wonderland Bakery
), shows formerly seen on the now-defunct
Playhouse Disney
block (such as
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
), plus re-runs of former original shows (such as
Doc McStuffins
) - including some that also air on the companion Disney Channel morning block and short-form series, as well as reruns of some older animated series that had previously been seen on sister network
ABC
,
CBS
(made before 1996) and programs from Disney Channel and
Toon Disney
, which are aired by the channel by popular demand (especially during the overnight
graveyard slot
). The network also carries some programs produced outside of Disney, including
PJ Masks
,
Babar and the Adventures of Badou
,
and
Bluey
.
Disney Junior Night Light (block)
[
edit
]
Disney Junior Night Light
is the former name of Disney Junior channel's overnight programming block, running daily from 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific. The block, which debuted on September 4, 2012, was sponsored by the Disney-owned parenting site
Babble
, consisting of short-form programs intended for co-viewing among parents and their children. Features seen as part of the block included
Picture This
(a drawing segment),
Sesh Tales
(a segment featuring costumed
finger puppets
with twists on traditional fairy tales) and
That's Fresh
(a segment featuring cooking tips aimed at parents, presented by
celebrity chef
Helen Cavallo). Additional series under development at the block's launch included a photography series, a series that follows parents through the day their new baby comes home after being born, and a show about stay-at-home dads.
[22]
Since 2017, Disney Junior's overnight programming has run unbranded and without the
Night Light
continuity.
Related services
[
edit
]
Service
|
Description
|
Disney Junior HD
[23]
[24]
|
Disney Junior HD is a
high definition
simulcast of the Disney Junior channel that broadcasts in the
720p
resolution format (the recommended HD format for the Disney-ABC Television Group's free-to-air and pay-TV properties). Most providers began carrying it upon Disney Junior's launch in most areas, and use a downscaled version to provide their standard definition feeds. DirecTV began carrying Disney Junior's HD feed on August 15, 2012.
[25]
|
Disney Junior On Demand
|
Disney Junior On Demand is the channel's
video-on-demand
service, offering select episodes of Disney Junior's original series. It is available to most subscription-based providers that carry the network.
|
DisneyNOW
|
On September 28, 2017, the Disney Channel app was relaunched as DisneyNOW, which combines the apps of Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD and
Radio Disney
into one universal app featuring access to all four services. The Disney Junior app was discontinued on February 15, 2018.
[26]
|
Disney+
|
Disney+ is a
subscription video-on-demand
streaming
service owned and operated by the
Disney Streaming
division of
The Walt Disney Company
which contains Disney Junior and former Playhouse Disney content.
|
Former services
|
Disney Junior App
|
Formerly known as "WATCH Disney Junior" until a June 2016 rebranding, the
mobile app
and
digital media player
viewing apps for Disney Junior offer live and on-demand streaming of Disney Junior content online. These apps require users to
authenticate
with a login from a participating television service provider access to live video or the newest episodes. A limited selection of free episodes also is available without a login. The app closed on February 15, 2018, as it merged it with the
DisneyNow
app, along with its sister channels:
Disney Channel
and
Disney XD
.
|
International
[
edit
]
| This section
needs expansion
. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
January 2024
)
|
Disney Junior, formerly known as
Playhouse Disney
, is available around the world. Since 2020, many of these networks were closed in favor of direct customer promotion of
Disney+
, where Disney Junior's content was moved to.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Disney Channels - About Us"
. Archived from
the original
on January 21, 2021
. Retrieved
March 22,
2021
.
- ^
"Cable Network Coverage Area Household Universe Estimates: January 2016"
.
Archived
from the original on October 14, 2016.
- ^
Play nice now; Walt Disney Co. plans to introduce Playhouse Disney Channel
,
Broadcasting & Cable
, June 25, 2001.Retrieved on December 21, 2016,
- ^
a
b
SOAPnet Will Go Dark to Make Way for Disney Junior
Archived
May 27, 2010, at the
Wayback Machine
,
Entertainment Weekly
, May 26, 2010
- ^
Disney/ABC Television Group Announces Disney Junior, a New 24-Hour Channel for Preschoolers and Their Families
,
The Futon Critic
, May 26, 2010,
- ^
a
b
c
Dickson, Jeremy (January 10, 2012).
"Disney Junior launches in March, Marvel gets block on XD"
.
Kids Screen
. Retrieved
February 17,
2014
.
- ^
Soapnet to stay on the air long into the New Year!
Archived
October 8, 2016, at the
Wayback Machine
,
Michael Fairman On-Air On-Soaps
, July 28, 2011.
- ^
a
b
Schneider, Michael (January 9, 2012).
"Disney Junior to replace Soapnet in March"
.
TV Guide
. Archived from
the original
on January 12, 2012
. Retrieved
January 9,
2012
.
- ^
Villarreal, Yvonne. "
Show Tracker: What You're Watching
?
Disney Junior 24/7 channel launches Friday
."
Los Angeles Times
Blog
22 March 2012. Web. 19 April 2012.
- ^
James, Meg (November 9, 2013).
"Disney's SOAPnet channel headed for the drain"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
November 10,
2013
.
- ^
Milligan, Mercedes (May 12, 2014).
"First Disney Junior Movie 'Lucky Duck' Names Lead Quackers"
.
Animation Magazine
. Retrieved
August 19,
2018
.
- ^
Disney Junior Launches on Friday; SOAPnet to Continue on Some Carriers
, Hollywood Reporter, March 22, 2012.
- ^
"NCTC to distribute Disney Junior"
.
kidscreen.com
.
- ^
Disney Junior will Launch Saturday, July 14 to Millions of DIRECTV Customers Nationwide
Archived
July 15, 2012, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Liebermann, David (July 13, 2012).
"A Challenge To Viacom? DirecTV Adds Disney Junior To Programming Lineup"
.
Deadline Hollywood
. Retrieved
July 14,
2012
.
- ^
"The Walt Disney Company and Charter Communications Announce New Distribution Agreement"
. The Futon Critic. December 31, 2012
. Retrieved
January 1,
2013
.
- ^
"Disney, Charter Settle Cable Dispute Hours Before Debut of ESPN's 'Monday Night Football'
"
.
Variety
. September 11, 2023
. Retrieved
September 12,
2023
.
- ^
"Are Some Disney Channel Day's Numbered?"
.
What's on Disney Plus
. September 11, 2023
. Retrieved
September 12,
2023
.
- ^
"Disney Executives Assure Staff Of Their Commitment To FXX, Freeform & Other Channels"
.
What's on Disney Plus
. September 12, 2023
. Retrieved
September 12,
2023
.
- ^
Farrell, Mike (January 15, 2013).
"Disney Strikes U-Verse Carriage Deal"
.
Broadcasting & Cable
. Retrieved
January 15,
2013
.
- ^
Liebermann, David (March 3, 2014).
"Dish And Disney Finalize Output Deal That Ends Their Ad-Hopper Dispute"
.
Deadline Hollywood
. Retrieved
March 4,
2014
.
- ^
Dickson, Jeremy (August 29, 2012).
"First look: DJ Tales to bow on Disney Junior Night Light"
.
Kidscreen
. Retrieved
September 24,
2012
.
- ^
"Disney Announces Disney Junior, a 24-hr channel for Preschoolers & families"
.
Laughing Place
. Retrieved
February 5,
2012
.
- ^
Frost, John (May 27, 2010).
"Disney Junior to replace Soapnet in Cable Lineup"
.
The Disney Blog
. Retrieved
February 5,
2012
.
- ^
"On August 15 four exciting channels will be available in eye-popping HD!"
.
DirecTV
. August 15, 2012. Archived from
the original
on October 24, 2012
. Retrieved
January 24,
2013
.
- ^
Steinberg, Brian (February 28, 2017).
"As 'Kids' Upfront' Kicks Off, Disney Woos Madison Avenue ? Variety"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
September 28,
2017
.
External links
[
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]
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Full-length series
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Short series
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See also
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Broadcast
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Cable
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Religious
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Spanish
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Previous
(by network)
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See also
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Toddlers and preschoolers
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Youth and preteens
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General audiences
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Religious
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Premium
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Spanish language
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Defunct
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International
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