In 1977, Walt Disney Productions executive Jim Jimirro brought forth an idea of a cable television network that would feature television and film material from the Walt Disney Studios.[3] Since the company was focusing on the development of the Epcot Center at Walt Disney World, Disney chairman Card Walker turned down the proposal of the network.[4][5] Instead, they made a deal with HBO to air a select number of Disney films, cartoons, and specials, including a live production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Radio City Music Hall. However, Disney revived the idea in November 1981 to create Disney Channel,[6] entering into a joint venture with the unit of Group W (which had sold its 50% ownership stake in one of The Disney Channel's early rivals, Showtime, to Viacom around the same time); however, Group W would ultimately drop out of the intended partnership that September following disagreements over the channel's creative control and financial obligations that would have required Group W to pay a 50% share of the channel's start-up costs.[5]
Despite losing Group W as a partner, The Disney Channel continued on with its development – now solely under the oversight of Walt Disney Productions, and under the leadership of the channel's first president Alan Wagner, Walt Disney Productions formally announced the launch of its family-friendly cable channel in 1983. Disney later invested United States dollar11million to acquiring space on two transponders of the Hughes Communications satellite Galaxy 1, and spent US$20million on purchasing and developing programming.[5] The concept of a premium service aimed at a family audience – which Walt Disney Productions would choose to develop The Disney Channel as – had first been attempted by HBO, which launched Take 2 in 1979 (the service, which was HBO's first attempt at a spin-off niche service (predating Cinemax's launch in August 1980), would shut down after only a few months on the air), and was followed by the 1981 launch of the Group W-owned Home Theater Network (which was the only premium channel that strictly competed with The Disney Channel for that demographic for much of the 1980s, until the 1987 launch of Festival).
1983–1995: The Disney Channel and expansion to Europe
Disney launched nationally The Disney Channel as a premium channel at 7:00a.m. Eastern Time on April 18, 1983.[7][8] The channel – which initially kept for a 16-hour-per-day programming schedule from 7:00a.m. to 11:00pm. Eastern and Pacific Time – would become available on cable providers in all 50 U.S. states by September 1983, and accrue a base of more than 611,000 subscribers by December of that year.[7][9]
Disney reorganizing itself and creating two independent subsidiaries, Walt Disney Pictures for the movies and Walt Disney Television for the television.[10][11][12] In 1983 Walt Disney Television was formed as the Walt Disney Pictures Television Division, the name was later shortened to Walt Disney Pictures Television in 1986 and later shortened to Walt Disney Television in 1988. Until 1983, Disney shows were aired under the banner of the parent company, then named Walt Disney Productions until 1986.
In 1980s to 1992 Walt Disney Television was launching numerous channels in Europe with the aim of relaunching the Disney brand before the opening of the Euro Disney resort in 1992 with Le Disney Channel being launched on January 26, 1985, on FR3.[13][14]
In 1997, Disney/ABC Cable Networks teamed with one of the minority partners of the network with Comcast to buy the channel after Time-Warner had exercised their put agreement.[17] Comcast increased the ownership stakes in the network through mergers with forerunners of TCI and Continental under various circumstances. In November 2006, Disney sold their 39.5% share of E! to Comcast for $1.23billion to gain full ownership of the network as part of a broader programming carriage agreement between Disney/ABC and Comcast.[18]
On April 30, 2000, following a dispute between Disney and Time Warner Cable forced WTVD off cable systems within the Raleigh–Durham–Fayetteville market for over 24 hours during the May sweeps period. Other ABC stations in markets served by Time Warner Cable, such as New York City, Los Angeles and Houston, were also affected by the outage as well before the FCC forced TWC to restore service to those areas on May 2.[21] On October 24, 2001, Disney acquired Fox Family Worldwide for $2.9billion cash with $2.3billion in debt assumption, which gave Disney control of the Fox Family channel (which, owing to its new ownership, was renamed ABC Family, and its parent company renamed ABC Family Worldwide), the Saban Entertainment library, the Fox Kids networks in Latin America and Europe, as well as additional cable rights to Major League Baseball that were assigned to Fox Family via the Fox Sports division, which included a slate of Thursday-night regular season games, and Division Series games.[22] In June 2000, Disney sold its 33% stake in Eurosport for $155million to TF1.
In January 2004, Disney and Fox Kids Europe, Fox Kids Latin America launched a new joint brand for their children's television operations, Jetix, which would be used to brand programming blocks which aired on ABC Family and Toon Disney, its television channels in Europe and Latin America, along with its program library and merchandising.[23][24][25][26]
Disney Media Networks logo
2004–2020: Disney Media Networks
On April 21, 2004,[27] Disney announced a restructuring of the division with Anne Sweeney being named president of ABC parent Disney–ABC, and ESPN president George Bodenheimer becoming co-CEO of the division with Sweeney, as well as president of ABC Sports. This move added ABC TV Network within Disney-ABC.[28]ABC1 channel initially launched in the United Kingdom on September 27, 2004 as the first use of the ABC brand outside the US.[29] While ABC News Now was launched that year in the US on digital subchannel of 70 ABC owned & operated and affiliates.[30]
In November 2006, Disney's 39.5% share of E! to Comcast for $1.23billion to giving full ownership of the network as part of a broader programming carriage agreement between Disney and Comcast.[18]
On December 8, 2008, Disney made an agreement to increase ownership in Jetix Europe to 96%, with intentions to purchase the remainder and have Jetix Europe delisted from the Euronext Amsterdam exchange.[33]
On December 16, 2008, Disney established a joint venture in Russia with Media One to create a network of 30 channels.[34] On February 20, 2009, the Russian anti-monopoly commission blocked Disney of acquiring 49% of the Russian group Media One and then Catalpa Investments a Russian subsidiary of Disney sought the approval of the commission for the acquisition of 49% of the new company MO-TV Holdings, which gave the opportunity to hold the Russian television group Media One, which made Disney to launch a Disney Channel in Russia.
On January 22, 2009, Disney–ABC said it would merge ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios into a new unit called ABC Entertainment Group.[35][36] That April, ABC Enterprises took an ownership stake in Hulu in exchange for online distribution license and $25million in the ABC network ad credits.[37] The Live Well Network (LWN) was launched on April 27, 2009, by ABC Owned Television Stations on the stations' subchannels.[38][39][40] Later that year, A+E Networks acquired Lifetime Entertainment Services with DATG ownership increasing to 42%.[41] In November, Disney-ABC sells GMTV to ITV for $37million.[42]
In July 2012, NBCUniversal confirmed plans to sell its 15.8% stake in A+E Networks to Disney for $3billion (along with its previous owner Hearst Entertainment & Syndication, who became 50-50 partners in the joint venture).[43][44]
On August 21, 2013, Disney–ABC announced it will lay off 175 employees. The layoffs are expected to hit positions among technical operations as well as the unit's eight local stations.[45]
In August 2014, A+E took a 10% stake in Vice Media for $250million, then announced in April 2015 that H2 would be rebranded into the Vice channel with an indicated early 2016 launch.[46] Disney also directly made two $200 investments in Vice Media in November 2015, then a week later in December, they directly invested in it again for 10% to assist in funding its programming.[47] ABC Family became Freeform on January 12, 2016.[48]
In September 2016, the group's president Ben Sherwood named Bruce Rosenblum, Television Academy chairman and former head of Warner Bros. TV Group, as president of business operations in s the newly created position, to reduce the number of direct reports from 17 to about 8. Roseblum would oversee ad sales in conjunction with channel heads, affiliate sales and marketing, engineering, digital media, global distribution, IT, research and strategy and business development. This allows Sherwood to focus on content and direct operating units that continue to directly report to him, ABC network units, cable channel units (Disney Channels Worldwide, and Freeform), ABC Studios and ABC TV Stations.[49]
On October 8, 2018, Disney announced during its acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets that Peter Rice, then-CEO and president of Fox Networks Group, would serve as the chairman and president of the second incarnation of Walt Disney Television (nowDisney General Entertainment Content). Rice would also replace Ben Sherwood, who is scheduled to leave his post as co-chair of Disney Media Networks. Fox TV Group chairman and CEO Dana Walden would be named chairman, Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment. Within Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment, Walden would oversee 20th Century Fox Television and ABC Studios, plus ABC, Freeform and ABC's owned-and-operated television stations. FX Networks and National Geographic Partners would transfer over as is and report to President of Walt Disney Television.[2]
2020: Closure
On October 12, 2020, the assets were restructured and transferred to Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, Disney General Entertainment Content and ESPN and Sports Content (later known as simply ESPN Inc.), effectively dissolving Disney Media Networks. The name would however be referenced numerous times in news sources about Disney's future restructurings and reorganizations post-2020.
Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings, is an American multinational telecommunications and media conglomerate incorporated and headquartered in Philadelphia.
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and is headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan in New York City.
Fox Kids was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a joint venture between the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox) and its affiliated stations, it was later owned by Fox Family Worldwide.
Jetix was a children's entertainment brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The brand was for a slate of action/adventure-related programming blocks and television channels. Jetix programming mainly originated from the Saban Entertainment library, airing live-action and animated series with some original programming. The channel's target audience was older children and adolescents aged 8–15.
Hulu is an American subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of The Walt Disney Company.
A&E Television Networks, LLC is an American multinational broadcasting company owned and operated as a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company through its Entertainment division. It owns several non-fiction and entertainment-based television brands, including its namesake A&E network, History Channel, Lifetime, FYI and their associated sister channels, as well as holding stakes in, or licenses, their international branches.
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.
ABC Family Worldwide is a subsidiary of the Disney ABC Networks division of The Walt Disney Company that operates American basic cable channel ABC Family and manages the programming libraries of Disney's subsidiaries BVS Entertainment and Fox Kids/Jetix.
Anne Marie Sweeney is an American businesswoman. As of 2015 she serves as a member of the board of directors at Netflix. She was formerly the co-chair of Disney Media Networks and President of the Disney–ABC Television Group, and the President of Disney Channel from 1996 to 2014.
Disney General Entertainment Content (DGEC), formerly 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.
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.
American cable and satellite television network Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes during its history. This article details the network's existence from its founding by the Christian Broadcasting Network to its current ownership by The Walt Disney Company, which renamed the network to Freeform on January 12, 2016.
Jetix Europe N.V. was a European television broadcasting company that owned children's television channels and programming blocks across the Europe and Middle East, such as Jetix and Jetix Play.
Disney Channel was a Russian free-to-air television channel, serving as a local version of the American Disney Channel. It launched its cable service on August 10, 2010, and its terrestrial broadcast on 31 December 2011. The channel ceased broadcasting on 14 December 2022, due to content licensing issues.
On December 3, 2009, telecommunications company Comcast announced its intent to acquire mass media company NBC Universal from General Electric (GE). The acquisition was subject to scrutiny from activists and government officials; their concerns primarily surrounded the potential effects of the vertical integration that the acquisition could create, as Comcast is also heavily involved in cable television and internet services in many media markets. The deal went through on January 28, 2011, resulting in Comcast owning 51% of the company until March 19, 2013, when GE divested its stake to give Comcast sole ownership. Through this acquisition, Comcast gained ownership of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), the film studio Universal Pictures, cable channels such as Syfy, CNBC and MSNBC, and Universal Parks & Resorts, among other assets owned by NBC Universal. It has also integrated its own cable channels – including E! and Golf Channel – into NBC Universal. As a result of the acquisition, NBC Universal slightly changed its name to "NBCUniversal", rendered in camel case, to indicate the integration between NBC and Universal Studios.
The Walt Disney Company France, formerly Walt Disney Mickey Mouse, S.A. and Walt Disney Productions France, is one of The Walt Disney Company's international divisions and also European divisions. It is headquartered in Paris, Île-de-France.
Twenty First Century Fox, Inc, which did business as 21st Century Fox (21CF), was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the two companies formed on June 28, 2013, following a spin-off of the publishing assets of the old News Corporation as News Corp.
Disney XD was a British and Irish pay television channel. First launching in October 1996, it originated from the United States block of the same name. and was operated under a joint-venture between Fox Television Entertainment and Saban Entertainment, before moving along to the Euronext-operating Fox Kids Europe. It rebranded itself to Jetix in January 2005 after The Walt Disney Company's prior-purchase of Fox Family Worldwide in October 2001, and then reached its final name in August 2009 after Disney acquired Jetix Europe.
The acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company was announced on December 14, 2017, and was completed on March 20, 2019. Among other key assets, the acquisition included the 20th Century Fox film and television studios, U.S. cable channels such as FX, Fox Networks Group, a 73% stake in National Geographic Partners, Indian television broadcaster Star India, and a 30% stake in Hulu. Most remaining assets were not part of the deal and they were spun off into a new company called Fox Corporation on March 19, 2019. Other 21st Century Fox assets such as the Fox Sports Networks and Sky were divested and sold off to Sinclair and Comcast, respectively.
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