Disney Channel is a German

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...

television channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...

owned by The Walt Disney Company Germany. The channel is based in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and 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 U.S. counterpart. The channel was originally launched on 16 October 1999 as a subscription television channel on the

Sky Deutschland 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 (through Sky Switzerland). It provides a collection of basic and premium digital sub ...

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 Das Vierte (English: The Fourth) was a German entertainment channel replaced in January 2014 by Disney Channel. History Das Vierte was launched by NBC Universal Global Networks (NUGN) in 2005 as an all-drama programming channel. The channel reach ...

. The network competes with other channels primarily aimed at children such as

Super RTL Super RTL is a German free-to-air television network owned by the RTL Group. 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 ...

(50% owned by

Disney Television This is a list of assets currently or formerly owned by the Walt Disney Company, unless otherwise indicated. Corporate Walt Disney Studios Live-action production Animated production Disney Studio Services Disney Theatrica ...

until March 2000),

KiKa KiKA (contraction of ''Der KinderKAnal von ARD und ZDF'' ARD and ZDF">ARD_(broadcaster).html" ;"title="he Children's Channel of ARD (broadcaster)">ARD and ZDF]) is a German free-to-air television channel based in Erfurt, Germany. It is man ...

and Nickelodeon (Germany), Nickelodeon Germany.

History

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. Disney purchased

(lit. The Fourth), a free-to-air TV station, in December 2012 from

Dmitry Lesnevsky Dmitry Anatolyevich Lesnevskiy (b. February 2, 1970) is a Russian-British-Israeli entrepreneur and producer in television, film, publishing and online media. Early life Dmitry Lesnevskiy was born in a Jewish family. He graduated from Moscow State ...

, a Russian media mogul, and former owner of Russia's

REN-TV REN TV (russian: РЕН ТВ) is a Russian free-to-air television network, was founded on 1 January 1997 by Irena Lesnevskaya and her son, Dmitry Lesnevsky, who had been running REN TV as a production house for other national Russian television ...

. 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. Disney Channel Germany Logo 2014

Initial daytime programming included standard Disney channel fare Jessie,

Austin & Ally ''Austin & Ally'' is an American comedy television series created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert that aired on Disney Channel from December 2, 2011 to January 10, 2016. The series stars Ross Lynch, Laura Marano, Raini Rodriguez, and Calum W ...

Phineas and Ferb ''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated musical-comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the series was originally broadcast as a ...

and

Gravity Falls ''Gravity Falls'' is an American mystery comedy animated television series created by Alex Hirsch for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series follows the adventures of Dipper Pines (Jason Ritter) and his twin sister Mabel (Kristen Schaal) wh ...

while prime time saw Pixar films and older drawing shows like

ABC Family The American cable television, cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and s ...

shows plus 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.Disney: A Date, a marketer and a little program (English Translation)
The channel will also be offered on two online platforms: live-stream and a catch-up service. The channel launched over the air on 17 January 2014 at 6 AM with the classic animated

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

Steamboat Willie ''Steamboat Willie'' is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black and white by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Studios and was released by Pat Powers, under the name of Celeb ...

''. Disney reported that its launch weekend pushed them past Nick in to third place among kid broadcast channels.

Programming

Availability

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.

References

External links

*
Disney Channel
on YouTube
Disney Channel
on Twitter {{Television in Germany

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Television stations in Germany Television stations in Austria Television stations in Switzerland German-language television stations Television channels and stations established in 1999 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2013 Television channels and stations established in 2014 Re-established companies Disney acquisitions Children's television networks 1999 establishments in Germany

History

Programming

Availability

See also

References

External links