This page details the international expansion of Disney Channel since launching on 18 April 1983. Its first local variants were launched on 1 September 1995 in the United Kingdom & Ireland and on 22 March 1997 in France.
This page details the international expansion of Disney Channel since launching on 18 April 1983. Its first local variants were launched on 1 September 1995 in the United Kingdom & Ireland and on 22 March 1997 in France.
The international on-air channel brand's look is consistent with the Disney brand. Individual channel managers can develop schedules and marketing programs to allow children's preferences in the market. Additionally, local programming that meets Disney's standards, combined with difficulties, is acquired. If a program is thriving in a market, its format may be developed for other Disney Channels' market viewing tastes. [1] But Disney's channels in some markets were shut down due to Bob Chapek's controversial strategy of closing them down in favor of Disney+ between April 2020 and up until his ouster in December 2022 [2] , which was later reversed by Bob Iger after his return as Disney CEO, who confirmed that the linear TV channels will be able to coexist with Disney+ in synergy (excluding Spain where Disney Channel was shut down due to the failure license renewal with Net TV, and Brazil where Disney channels were shut down due to the pay TV crisis in that country). [3]
Disney Channel Asia officially launched on January 15, 2000, as a single video feed with an English audio track being the default and Mandarin audio and subtitle tracks also available. The channel became available in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines. On June 1, 2002, the channel was launched in the South Korea market as a Korean-language feed. [4] Over the first six months of 2005, Disney Channel Asia along with sister channel Playhouse Disney launched in Vietnam, Palau and Thailand and finishing off with a launch of both in Cambodia, its 11th market, with Cambodia Entertainment Production Co. Ltd. as distributor. [5] Disney Channel Asia was also made available on select cable providers in Bangladesh after Disney Channel India was banned in the country back in 2013. [6] [7] It ceased transmissions by the end of 2021.
In April 2009, the Walt Disney Company Ltd. Japan and Disney Channels Worldwide started Broadcast Satellite Disney Co., Ltd. to broadcast a women and family targeted channel, Dlife , with licensed received in October 2010 and debuted on March 17, 2012. [8] In December 2013, Dlife launched a children's programming block called Disney Time. [9] The channel was shut down on March 31, 2020, but was revived on March 1, 2024, as a replacement for the Japanese version of Fox. [10]
Disney Channel does not have a localized version for China. However, many of its live-action and animated series are syndicated on regional channels through ABC owned Dragon Club since 1994. It also has a Chinese website. [11]
Previously, Disney programming was available through programming blocks starting as early as 1994 with Doordarshan then moving to Zee TV until the early 2000s. Disney moved its block to Sony Entertainment Television for three years. Star TV picked up the Disney TV blocks on Star Plus, Disney Time and on Star Utsav. [12]
In December 2004, Walt Disney Television International India launched a Toon Disney channel with three language feeds (English, Tamil and Telugu) [13] at the same time as the Disney Channel with Star TV network distributing the channels. [14] Disney reached an agreement with Doordarshan (DD) in November 2005 for DD to carry a half-hour block called Disney Jadoo. Thus Disney was up to 4 branded blocks in India. [12]
On April 16, 2015, Corus Entertainment announced that it had reached a multi-year agreement with Disney-ABC Television Group to acquire Canadian rights to Disney Channel's programming library and launched Disney Channel in Canada on 1 September 2015 —the first time that a Disney Channel-branded channel in operation in Canada. [15]
Prior to this agreement, rights to Disney Channel programming had been held by Family Channel, owned by WildBrain which is licensed as a premium service but is carried as a basic service by many television providers. Family was launched and formerly owned by Astral Media which was acquired by Bell Media in 2013, with Family divested to WildBrain (at the time known as DHX Media) a year later. Family Channel was commonly considered to be a de facto Canadian version of Disney Channel (though it was often mistakenly assumed to be related to the American Freeform channel (at the time known as ABC Family)) as a result of the fact that majority of Disney Channel US programming aired on Family, coupled with both channels developing similarly in their respective countries (as both began as premium services before adding basic subscription availability), , a sister channel to Disney Channel US which was formerly known as The (emphasis added) Family Channel from 1988 to 1998; a Canadian version of ABC Family (now Freeform) launched in March 2012, called ABC Spark [16] to avoid confusion with Family Channel, to which it does not share common ownership). Some Canadian-produced original series produced by Family (such as Life with Derek , Naturally, Sadie , and Overruled! ) have aired on Disney Channel in the United States and in other countries in the past. In addition to its distribution agreement with Disney Channel U.S., Family also operated an English-language version of Disney Junior as a multiplex channel, as CRTC rules allow pay-TV channels licensed as premium services to add multiplex channels consistent with the network's license. Disney XD and a French-language version of Disney Junior were also owned by DHX Media, operating under separate licenses.
DHX's program supply agreement with Disney ended on January 1, 2016; as a result of these re-alignments, its Disney-branded networks were re-launched as spin-offs of the Family brand beforehand on September 18, 2015 (Family Jr. and Télémagino) and October 9, 2015 (Family Chrgd, now known as WildBrainTV.). [15]
| Market/Country | Type | Formerly | Launch date | Other countries | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Channel (East) | — | April 18, 1983 | — | Disney Branded Television [17] |
| Channel (West) | — | — | |||
| Channel HD | — | April 2, 2008 | — | ||
| France | Channel | — | March 22, 1997 [1] | — | The Walt Disney Company France [18] |
| Channel +1 | — | November 2, 2002 | — | ||
| Channel HD | — | September 20, 2011 | — | ||
| Europe, Middle East, and Africa | Channel | — | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, MENA, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Sub-Saharan Africa | The Walt Disney Company Limited [20] | |
| Channel HD | — | 2015 | MENA | ||
| Germany (current) | Channel | Das Vierte | January 17, 2014 [21] | Austria, Switzerland | The Walt Disney Company (Germany) [22] |
| Channel HD | |||||
| Latin America | Channel (Mexico) [23] | Disney Weekend | July 27, 2000 [1] | — | Disney Media Networks Latin America |
| Channel (Panregional) [24] [25] | Argentina, Bolivia, Caribbean, Central America, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela | ||||
| Channel HD [26] | — | September 2012 | — | ||
| Portugal | Channel | — | November 28, 2001 [27] | Angola, Mozambique | The Walt Disney Company Portugal [28] |
| Channel HD | — | May 4, 2021 | — | ||
| Japan | Channel | — | November 18, 2003 | — | The Walt Disney Company (Japan) Ltd. [29] |
| India | Channel | — | December 17, 2004 [30] | Maldives, [31] Nepal; previously Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Pakistan, but banned. [32] [33] [34] | JioStar |
| Channel HD | — | March 15, 2023 [35] | |||
| Poland | Channel | Disney Channel (EMEA) | December 2, 2006 b | — | The Walt Disney Company Limited [36] |
| Channel HD | — | October 1, 2015 [37] | — | ||
| Israel | Channel | Jetix | September 9, 2009 [38] | — | The Walt Disney Company (Israel) Ltd. |
| Czech Republic | September 19, 2009 [39] | Slovakia | The Walt Disney Company Limited [40] [41] [42] | ||
| Hungary | — | ||||
| Bulgaria | — | ||||
| Romania | Moldova | ||||
| Netherlands | — | October 3, 2009 | Belgium, now split | The Walt Disney Company (Benelux) BV | |
| Belgium | Channel HD (Dutch) | Disney Channel (Netherlands) | 2012 | Flanders | |
| Channel HD (French) | Disney Channel (France) | June 29, 2015 | Wallonia, Luxembourg | ||
| Canada | Channel (English) | Teletoon Retro | September 1, 2015 | — | Corus Entertainment [15] [43] |
| Scandinavia (relaunch) | Channel | Disney Channel EMEA | April 1, 2024 [44] | Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Faroe Islands | The Walt Disney Company Nordic |
^a Relaunched via free-to-air replacing Das Vierte. Originally launched between October 16, 1999 [1] to November 30, 2013 [45] while the HD channel between December 24, 2011 [46] to November 30, 2013 as well. [45]
^b Initially became an independent feed on August 1, 2010.
| Market/Country | Type | Active date | Feeds/other countries | Operator | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ukraine | Channel | October 16, 2010 [47] –January 1, 2013 | None | The Walt Disney Company Limited | Select programming moved to PLUSPLUS and NLO TV following the channel's closure. |
| Germany (original) | October 16, 1999–November 30, 2013 | Austria, Switzerland | The Walt Disney Company (Germany) | The channel became free-to-air on January 17, 2014 but Disney XD , Disney Junior & Disney Cinemagic remained | |
| Australia & New Zealand | Channel | December 24, 2003 [48] –November 30, 2019 (New Zealand) June 8, 1996 [1] [49] –April 30, 2020 (Australia) | New Zealand | The Walt Disney Company Australia | Selected programming moved to Disney+ following the channel's closure. |
| Italy | October 3, 1998 [1] – May 1, 2020 |
| The Walt Disney Company Italy | ||
| Channel +1 | December 24, 2004–May 1, 2020 | ||||
| Disney in English | December 20, 2008–October 1, 2019 | ||||
| Channel +2 | October 1, 2011–April 9, 2018 | ||||
| Channel Mobile | October 1, 2011–May 1, 2020 | ||||
| HD Channel | February 1, 2012 [50] –May 1, 2020 | ||||
| Singapore | Channel | March 1, 2000 [51] –June 1, 2020 [52] | None | The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia | Contract renewal failure with service providers in the country. [53] It was replaced with Disney+. |
| United Kingdom | October 1, 1995 [1] –October 1, 2020 | Ireland, Isle of Man | The Walt Disney Company (UK) Ltd. [54] | Sky and Virgin Media declined to sign a new deal to keep the Disney-branded networks running after the launch of Disney+ in the country. Selected programming moved to the service following the channel's closure. | |
| Channel +1 [55] | September 2000–October 1, 2020 | ||||
| Channel HD [56] | 2011–October 1, 2020 | ||||
| Southeast Asia and Hong Kong | Channel | January 15, 2000–January 1, 2021 | Malaysia, and Brunei | The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia | Selected programming moved to Disney+ following the channel's closure. |
|
| ||||
| South Korea | Channel HD | July 1, 2011–October 1, 2021 [59] | None | Television Media Korea (SK Telecom 51% and Disney Channels International 49% venture), [60] The Walt Disney Company (Korea) LLC | |
| Taiwan | March 29, 1995 [61] –January 1, 2022 | The Walt Disney Company (Taiwan) Ltd. | |||
| Turkey | Channel | April 29, 2007 [62] c –March 31, 2022 [63] [64] | Disney Televizyon Yayıncılık A.Ş. (Disney Co. Turkey) [65] | ||
| Russia | August 10, 2010 d –December 14, 2022 [66] | Media-1 (80%) The Walt Disney Company CIS (20%) | Dissolution of the joint-venture with Media-1 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [67] [68] | ||
| Scandinavia (original) | February 28, 2003–June 5, 2023 |
| The Walt Disney Company Limited | Merged with the pan-EMEA feed. | |
| Spain | Channel +1 [69] | November 16, 2001–March 9, 2017 | None | The Walt Disney Company Spain [70] e | Replaced in most operators with Disney Channel HD. Fully discontinued in favor of rewind features built into cable boxes. |
| Channel | April 17, 1998 [1] (July 1, 2008 on DTT)–January 7, 2025 | Andorra | Disney Iberia did not renew its agreement with Net TV to continue operating the channel on DTT. Content can still be watch on its official YouTube channel and Disney+. | ||
| Brazil | Channel [71] | April 5, 2001 [72] –March 1, 2025 | None | The Walt Disney Company Brazil | Closed due to high operational costs in the respective country, the dwindling pay TV ratings in Brazil and the Brazilian pay TV crisis. |
| Channel HD | September 2012–March 1, 2025 | ||||
| Canada | Channel (French) | September 1, 2015–September 1, 2025 | Corus Entertainment | Closed as a cost-cutting measure due to financial pressure at Corus Entertainment. [73] |
Disney Channels Worldwide includes over 100 channels available in 34 languages and 166 countries/territories. Branded channels include Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Disney Cinemagic, Hungama and DLife.
The Disney Channel, which kicks off with the TV premiere of Aladdin at 6.30 pm on Saturday, June 8