Disney Jr. is a children's television channel brand owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company, aimed at audiences aged 2 to 7 years old.[1] It debuted in the United States on February 14, 2011[2] and has since expanded worldwide and also as a replacement for Playhouse Disney.
Background
On September 28, 1999, the Playhouse Disney brand was extended internationally with the launch of a self-branded block on Disney Channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland.On September 29, 2000, Disney Television International expanded the block with the launch of a channel in the country alongside the launch of Toon Disney and Disney Channel +1 on the Sky Digital platform.[3] On April 4, 2009, Egmont Group launched a companion Playhouse Disney magazine in the United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland that focused on the channel's four most popular shows: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, My Friends Tigger & Pooh, Handy Manny and Little Einsteins. Each issue included "to do" pages and suggested activities for parents and children based on an educational theme. The Playhouse Disney block on Disney Channel UK & Republic of Ireland was eventually disposed of in July 2004 after reducing hours of programming.[4] The Playhouse Disney channel available there, however, continued to air until it was replaced by Disney Junior on May 7, 2011.[5]
On November 30, 2007, Astral Media launched a Canadian version of Playhouse Disney Channel under a brand licensing agreement with Disney-ABC Television Group (now
Current channels
Except for DirecTV, which replaced NASA TV, which moved to another channel and is still airing today. In DirecTV's case, Soapnet was replaced by an Informercial Channel.
, which had long maintained a programming distribution agreement with Disney Channel for the domestic rights to the U.S. channel's series until January 2016.
A Canadian-French version of Playhouse Disney was launched on July 5, 2010, also by Astral Media.
The English & Canadian-French channels were both replaced by Disney Junior on May 6, 2011.[6]
The first Disney Junior to launch outside the U.S. was in Latin America on April 1, 2011,[7] replacing the Playhouse Disney Channel, it later rebranded in most countries replacing their Playhouse Disney brands mostly in 2011, such as Canada on May 6, the United Kingdom and Ireland on May 7,[8] Italy on May 14, France on May 28, Australia and New Zealand on May 29, the pan-CEMA feed (Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) on June 1, and Spain on June 11.[9]
Japan and India's programming blocks were rebranded on July 3 and 4 respectively, with channels in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and South Korea on July 11,[10] along with Germany, Austria and Switzerland on July 14, Israel on July 18, and Scandinavia and the Benelux (Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg) on September 10.[11]
The Romanian channel launched on March 1, 2012,[12] India and Japan's channels were also launched on October 1 and 15 respectively, It became available in Portugal since November 1, 2012,[13] and Russia's block rebranded on September 1, 2013, concluding the Playhouse Disney brand.
The Hungarian feed was launched on July 1, 2015, but shut down in late 2017 due to lack of distributing for most of the Hungarian pay TV providers.[14] It would plan to cease on October 12, but moved instead to December 5,[15] discontinuing the Hungarian language audio track.
Disney Junior in Canada (both English and French), originally owned by WildBrain (at the time known as DHX Media), discontinued on September 18, 2015 as Corus Entertainment acquired Disney's rights in Canada.The English version relaunched on December 1, 2015, however, La Chaîne Disney's block, Disney Junior sur La Chaîne Disney, carries most preschool shows in French.
On April 1, 2019, Disney Junior discontinued in the Netherlands,[16] while it continues broadcasting in Belgium (particularly the Flanders), however after a year of absence, most programs returned to Mickey Mornings on Disney Channel since November 17, 2020. Some Disney Junior channels were discontinued in favor of Disney+, such as Australia and New Zealand on April 30, 2020, Italy on May 1, and the United Kingdom and Ireland on October 1.
The same closure occurred in Malaysia on January 1, 2021, the German channel on September 30, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and South Korea on October 1, Taiwan's programming block on Disney Channel on December 31, 2021, and the Brazilian feed on April 1, 2022, with the Russian block halted in December that year and in Scandinavia on April 1, 2024, due to the channel merging with Disney Channel to launch a new version of the channel.[17]
