Country | Germany |
---|---|
Broadcast area | Germany Austria Switzerland |
Headquarters | Lilli-Palmer-Str. 2 80636, Munich, Germany |
Programming | |
Language(s) | |
Picture format | |
Ownership | |
Owner | The Walt Disney Company (Germany) GmbH |
Sister channels | |
History | |
Launched |
|
Replaced | Das Vierte (relaunch) |
Closed | 30 November 2013 (original) |
Links | |
Website | Official website |
Availability | |
Terrestrial | |
Digital terrestrial television (Germany) | Various; region dependent (HD / encrypted) |
Disney Channel is a German free-to-air television channel owned by The Walt Disney Company Germany. The channel is based in Munich and is for children.
Aimed at all ages, its programming consists of original first-run television series, theatrically released and original made-for-cable movies and select other third-party programming. The original programming is mainly supplied by its American counterpart.
The channel was originally launched on 16 October 1999 [1] as a subscription television channel on the Sky Deutschland platform. However, it was later closed down on 30 November 2013. It was transformed into a free-TV channel on 17 January 2014, replacing Das Vierte.[ citation needed ]
The network competes with other channels primarily aimed at children, such as Super RTL (50% owned by Disney Television until March 2021), KiKa and Nickelodeon Germany. [2]
Walt Disney Television International opened their German offices near Munich on 1 March 1999. Disney Channel Germany was launched on 16 October 1999 as a subscription channel. [1]
Disney purchased Das Vierte (lit. The Fourth), a free-to-air TV station, in December 2012 from Dmitry Lesnevsky, a Russian media mogul, and former owner of Russia's REN-TV. In April 2013, Disney announced that Das Vierte would become Disney Channel in January 2014 as a 24-hour family entertainment network under Disney Channel's German head Lars Wagner. [3]
Initial daytime programming included standard Disney Channel fare including Jessie , Austin & Ally , Phineas and Ferb and Gravity Falls while prime time saw Pixar films and older drawing shows including those from ABC Family as well as Hallmark Channel's Cedar Cove . Disney formed an in house ad sales company, Disney Media +, for the channel given that two competitors control most ad sales companies. [4] [5] The channel will also be offered on two online platforms: live-stream and a catch-up service. [4] The channel launched over the air on 17 January 2014 [5] at 6 AM with the classic animated short film Steamboat Willie . [6] Disney reported that its launch weekend pushed them past Nick in to third place among kid broadcast channels. [2]
Via the airwaves, the station had an availability to 93% of German TV households plus on two online platforms: live-stream and a catch-up service. [4]
Disney Channel is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment division of The Walt Disney Company.
RTL, formerly RTL plus and RTL Television, is a German-language free-to-air television channel owned by RTL Deutschland, headquartered in Cologne. Founded as an offshoot of the German-language radio programme Radio Luxemburg, RTL is considered a full-service broadcaster under the Medienstaatsvertrag and is the largest private television network in Germany. As of August 2010, RTL employs some 500 permanent staff, having outsourced its news and technical departments.
Super RTL is a German free-to-air television network owned by RTL Deutschland. The channel originally launched in 1995 as a joint venture between RTL Group predecessor company CLT-UFA and Disney's Buena Vista International Television Investments division.
Disney Branded Television is an American television production company and a unit of Disney General Entertainment Content which oversees development, production and acquisition of content geared towards children, teenagers and families for Disney+, Disney Channel, Disney Jr. and Disney XD. The unit also oversees Disney-branded unscripted series, documentaries and specials for Disney+ and the Disney channels.
Disney General Entertainment Content (DGEC), formerly Capital Cities/ABC,ABC Group, Disney–ABC Television Group and the second incarnation of Walt Disney Television, is part of Disney Entertainment, a division of The Walt Disney Company that oversees its owned-and-operated television content, assets and sub-divisions.
Sky Deutschland GmbH, branded as Sky, is a German media company that operates a direct broadcast satellite Pay TV platform in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It provides a collection of basic and premium digital subscription television channels of different categories via satellite and cable television.
FX Networks, LLC is a company consisting of a network of the original American version of the channel, plus a production company and a subsidiary of Disney General Entertainment Content, a division Disney Entertainment which itself is a unit of the Walt Disney Company. Originally a part of News Corporation and later 21st Century Fox, the company was acquired by The Walt Disney Company on March 20, 2019. Consequently, FX Networks was integrated into the newly renamed Walt Disney Television unit.
Disney Platform Distribution, Inc. is a business unit within Disney Entertainment that manages all third-party media sales efforts for distribution, affiliate marketing and affiliate-related business operations for all of the company's direct-to-consumer services and linear media networks; content sales agreements for Disney Entertainment and ESPN.
History is a European documentary television channel which broadcasts programs related to historical events and persons. There are also reality television, ufology and paranormal programs.
Nickelodeon is a German free-to-air television channel for children, part of the international. based on the U.S. counterpart brand originally launched in 1995, and relaunched in 2005, Nickelodeon is based in Berlin. The channel is available on subscription services and as an unscrambled, free-to-air (FTA) satellite signal. On 31 March 2010, the channel re-adopted the name Nickelodeon on air and online, in addition to the new Nickelodeon logo and graphical package being rolled out internationally at the time. The "Nickelodeon" name was re-adopted once again when it rebranded on 1 August 2023, nearly 5 months after its rebrand in the U.S. Since then, the channel is also broadcast in English in addition to German on a secondary audio track. It is aimed at kids between the ages of 6 and 13.
Dmitry Anatolyevich Lesnevskiy is a Russian-British-Israeli entrepreneur and producer in television, film, publishing and online media.
HD+ is a premium high-definition (HD) satellite and streamed TV service for German users, owned by HD PLUS GmbH, a subsidiary of SES based in Unterföhring near Munich, Germany.
Rich Ross is the former Group President of Discovery Channel and Science Channel. Earlier in his tenure at Discovery he also oversaw Animal Planet and Velocity. Previously he was the Chief Executive Officer of Shine America, responsible for commercial strategy of the Shine Group in the United States. He was also the president of entertainment at Disney Channel, and chairman of Walt Disney Studios. When Ross was named Chairman of Walt Disney Studios in 2009, he became the first openly gay studio chief.
Das Vierte was a German entertainment channel replaced in January 2014 by Disney Channel.
Lifetime was a British entertainment television channel that launched on 4 November 2013, that was owned by A&E Networks UK, a joint venture between A&E Networks and Sky Group. The channel replaced Bio.
H2 is a brand name owned by A&E Networks, used for a sister television channel of History. The brand was debuted in September 2011 when History International in the United States was relaunched as H2. The brand was expanded outside the U.S. since then. H2 in the United States was relaunched on February 29, 2016 as Viceland, but the H2 brand is still used for sister channels to History in other markets.
DreamWorks Animation Television is an American animation studio that serves as the television production arm of DreamWorks Animation, itself a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. Founded in 1996, the entity was formerly named DreamWorks Television Animation. Its first programs from the 1990s and early 2000s used the live-action television logo, and were produced by DreamWorks Television, before DWATV and its parent company were spun off into an independent company in 2004 and later purchased by NBCUniversal in 2016. In total, the division has released 57 programs, with 7 in development.