Disney Channel was a pan-Asian pay television children's channel owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia.
It began broadcasting its own Taiwanese feed on 29 March 1995, until its main Asian feed launch on January 2000 across Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and the Philippines; until its later expansions to most of Southeast Asia in the following years. The channel was closed on 1 October 2021, while Taiwan's version closed on 1 January 2022, as part of a wider switch to streaming services Disney+.
Disney Channel Asia's programming consisted of original first-run television series, theatrically released and original made-for-television films, selected other third-party programming, and Malaysian-based originals.
History
Pre-launch
The Walt Disney Company opened an office in Hong Kong in December 1994 to manage its television interests in the Asia-Pacific region, with the aim of starting a television channel in Taiwan with a 20-hour schedule. The channel's distributor was Po-Hsin Entertainment,[1] a company partly owned by the then-ruling Kuomintang and was frustrated during the legalization of cable television in Taiwan.[2]
The company announced plans in January 1995 to launch a satellite television station in Singapore, with its Singaporean television subsidiary running the facility. The facility was "not designed for a Singapore Disney Channel", pursuing the goal of launching the network in Singapore in order to explore business opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region.[3] The license was awarded by the Telecommunications Authority of Singapore on 1 March 1995, the first to be used entirely for and by a single company.[4]
The facilities were formally open on 26 March 1995, three days before the launch of the Taiwanese channel, with a speech by Minister of the Arts Brigadier-General George Yeo, who delivered a speech mainly centered on the American cultural industry and the contrasts between the wholesomeness of Mickey Mouse and the cynicism of Beavis and Butt-Head, and how the rest of the world felt unsure about American culture as a whole. About 150 people attended the ceremony. Yeo affirmed that the resurgence of interest in Disney and similar products reflected a "deeper renewal of human society" and that even in a conservative country like Singapore, a country still dominated by "old-fashioned" values, products and programs from Disney were seen as "very comfortable" with consumers. Moreover, Singapore was the world's largest consumer of Disney products per capita at the time.[5] The satellite station alone cost S$14 million with the possibility of Singapore being the second country in Asia to receive Disney Channel, pending negotiations with Singapore Cable Vision, which was set to start its regular cable service in June. In addition, the facility was also used for dubbing content in other languages, as well as moving more of the facilities done in Hong Kong to the new ones in Singapore.[6]
The Disney Channel began broadcasting in Taiwan on 29 March 1995 at 2:00 pm (Taipei), marking its first Disney Channel overseas, with Po-Hsin Entertainment as its distributor, available in both English and Mandarin.[7][8][9] The ceremony took place at Grand Hyatt Taipei in Taiwan. The channel operated from Walt Disney Television's facilities in Loyang, Singapore using the Apstar-1 satellite; negotiations with Singapore Cable Vision to include the channel on its package were underway.[10] On 1 October 1996, another feed was launched in Malaysia, where it was available exclusively on the satellite TV platform Astro broadcasting solely in English.[11]
First launch and expansion
Between January and February 2000, Disney Television International Asia-Pacific launched Disney Channel in more countries and was made available for Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines;[12][13][14][15][16][17][18] broadcasting with an English audio track with Mandarin subtitles.
On 1 June 2002, the channel was launched in the South Korean market,[19]
Closure
Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior closed in Singapore on 1 June 2020 after failing to renew their contracts, on both Singtel and StarHub.[41]
On 1 January 2021, Disney Channel and Disney Junior closed in Malaysia on Astro due to its children's offerings being refurbished,[42] and the preparation of the launch of Disney+ (Disney+ Hotstar) in the country. It closed down while airing Bolt at midnight.[43]
After 21 years on the air, Disney Channel, including Disney Junior and most of its Fox channels officially closed in the rest of Asia; and Hong Kong on 1 October 2021.[44]
Presentation and logos
With the launch of the channel in 2000, Disney Channel Asia began to use the "Circles" presentation package,[54][55] until the end of April 2003, when the US logo (and design package by CA Square) as the "Bounce" graphics,[56] it became the channel's on-air presentation format, then later rebranded using the "Ribbon" graphics from 2007 until 2011. Two more redesigns were made in 2012, then on 1 August 2014, with the current wordmark logo.
Disney Channel Asia started using parts of the US "Social Media" rebrand from 1 December 2017 and rebranded fully on 1 January 2018 at 6 am. As of 2020, it has also used elements of the US "Item Age" graphics, while Hong Kong and Taiwan keep its old branding before the closure.
Final feeds
Southeast Asia
The pan-Asian feed was available in Thailand, Fiji, Palau, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Myanmar, and Bangladesh.[57] This feed ceased airing movies and started sharing the same schedule with the Indonesian feed on 1 February 2021. This feed officially closed on 1 October 2021.
Singapore
The schedule was similar to the main feed, along with local advertisements. Some programming was replaced by sitcoms. This feed was closed on 1 June 2020, after failing to renew their contracts on both StarHub and Singtel.[41]
Malaysia and Brunei
Same schedule as the Asia feed, with local advertisements; began early on 15 January 2000. It was available in four languages: English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil
Sister channels
Disney Junior
Disney Junior was a 24-hour television preschool channel, and the sister channel of Disney Channel, aimed at children and preschoolers from 2–7 years old. Originally launched as a morning block on Disney Channel as Playhouse Disney in 2000;[28] and officially launched as a television channel on 2 April 2004 in Hong Kong and Indonesia.[30] It was later expanded in Singapore,[64] Malaysia,[65] Brunei,[66] Thailand,[33]
Programming
During the launch, the channel featured premiere movies, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, Hercules, George of the Jungle, The Parent Trap and the live action version of 101 Dalmatians, including the series The Wonderful World of Disney. It was also featured American television series Hercules The Series, Timon and Pumbaa, Bear in the Big Blue House, and The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, as well as children's drama series Crash Zone and Flash Forward. It also had local content, with Disney Buzz (Studio Disney),[76] and its morning block Playhouse Disney (Disney Junior).
Programming Blocks
Final
References
- Walt Disney's regional office will go for more TV business South China Morning Post, 1994-12-14, retrieved 2024-07-29^
- Cable TV goes legit Taiwan Today, 1993-11-01, retrieved 2024-07-29^
- Walt Disney to set up satellite earth station in Singapore