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Disney Jr. (formerly Disney Junior) is an American
pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...
network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...
owned by the
Disney Branded Television Disney Branded Television is 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. ...
sub-division of the
Disney Entertainment Disney Entertainment is one of the three major divisions of the Walt Disney Company created on February 8, 2023. It consists of the company's entertainment media and content businesses, including its motion picture film studios, television divi ...
business segment of
the Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
. Aimed mainly at children two to seven years of age, its programming consists of original first-run
television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
, films, and select other third-party programming. , Disney Jr. is available to approximately 45,000,000 pay television households in the United States—down from its 2015 peak of 74,000,000 households. In recent years, Disney Jr. has lost carriage with the growth of streaming alternatives including its parent company's
Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
, and has generally been depreciated by Disney in current retransmission consent negotiations with cable and streaming providers. Notably, the channel has recently been dropped in negotiations with
Charter Spectrum Spectrum is the trade name of Charter Communications. The name is widely used by both market consumers and commercial businesses. Services that Spectrum offers include cable television, internet access, internet security, managed services, mo ...
in 2023 and with Verizon Fios in 2025.


History


Origins

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
first attempted to launch a 24-hour subscription channel for
preschooler A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin c ...
s in the United States, when the company announced plans to launch Playhouse Disney, a television offshoot of
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
's daytime programming block of the same name, which launched on the channel on February 1, 1999 (airing during the morning hours seven days a week, with the weekday blocks lasting until the early afternoon). Plans for the United States network were ultimately shelved. However, channels using the Playhouse Disney moniker were launched in other countries internationally.SOAPnet Will Go Dark to Make Way for Disney Junior
, ''Entertainment Weekly'', May 26, 2010
The development of Disney Junior began on May 26, 2010, when Disney-ABC Television Group announced the launch of the channel as a pay television service, which would compete with other subscription channels targeted primarily at preschool-aged children in addition to the Playhouse Disney branded blocks and channels being rebranded under Disney Junior. The flagship channel in the United States intended to replace
Soapnet Soapnet was an American basic cable network owned by the Disney–ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network's programming was oriented towards the soap opera genre; on launch, Soapnet carried primetime encores of ABC' ...
, a Disney-owned channel featuring daytime
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
s seen on the major broadcast networks (including sister network ABC) and reruns of former primetime drama series, due to the continued decline in popularity and quantity of soap operas on broadcast television, along with the growth of
video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...
services (including the online streaming availability for soap operas) and
digital video recorder A digital video recorder (DVR), also referred to as a personal video recorder (PVR) particularly in Canadian and British English, is an electronic device that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card, SS ...
s that negated the need for a linear channel devoted to the genre.


Network and block launches

Disney Junior first launched as a
programming block Block programming (also known as a strand in British broadcasting) is the arrangement of programs on radio or television so that those of a particular genre, theme, or target audience are united. Overview Block programming involves scheduling a ...
on
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
on February 14, 2011. The Disney Junior channel was originally scheduled to launch in January 2012, but on July 28, 2011, the Disney-ABC Television Group pushed back the channel's launch date to an unspecified date in early 2012, then on January 9, 2012, the Disney-ABC Television Group announced that Soapnet's closing date for most cable providers was scheduled for March 22, 2012. Disney Junior's 24-hour subscription channel counterpart officially launched the following day on March 23, at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Programming featured on the channel's initial lineup included ''
Jake and the Never Land Pirates ''Jake and the Never Land Pirates'', titled ''Captain Jake and the Never Land Pirates'' for the fourth season and associated merchandise, is an American animated Interactivity, interactive preschool children's television series for Disney Jr. Bas ...
'', ''Mickey Mouse Clubhouse'' and freshman original series ''
Doc McStuffins ''Doc McStuffins'' is an animated children's television series created by Chris Nee and produced by Brown Bag Films. It aired for five seasons on Disney Jr. from March 23, 2012, to April 18, 2020. The series centers on a girl who fixes toys, w ...
''; the channel also had new episodes of the short-form series ''A Poem Is.'' as well as the weekend movie block, the '' Magical World of Disney Junior''. Though it in effect took over the channel space held by
Soapnet Soapnet was an American basic cable network owned by the Disney–ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network's programming was oriented towards the soap opera genre; on launch, Soapnet carried primetime encores of ABC' ...
, an automated feed of that channel continued to exist for providers that had not yet reached agreements to carry Disney Junior, or held out to not lose subscribers due to the immediate loss of that network. These included some providers such as
Cox Communications Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable), is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services comp ...
,
Optimum Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criteria, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfiel ...
,
DirecTV DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...
, Verizon FiOS, and
Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, o ...
, which continued to carry Soapnet while having added the Disney Junior channel onto their channel lineups in turn. Soapnet's operations continued sixteen months later than had been originally planned, until the network finally ceased operations on December 31, 2013, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. In 2012, Disney Junior launched a movie night anthology as the ''Magical World of Disney Junior''. The channel also premiered its first Disney Junior Original Movie, ''Lucky Duck'' during Magical World on June 20, 2014. The morning block of Disney Junior programming on Disney Channel itself is currently known as ''Mickey Mornings''.


Television carriage

Since its launch, Disney Junior became initially available to subscribers of
Xfinity Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications business segment and division of the Comcast Corporation. It is used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless servic ...
,
Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, o ...
,
Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...
,
Bright House Networks Bright House Networks, LLC also simply known as Bright House, was an American telecom company. Prior to its purchase by Charter Communications, it was the tenth-largest multichannel video service provider and the 6th largest cable internet provi ...
, and Verizon FiOS; other providers would sign carriage agreements to run the network following its launch. Disney–ABC Television Group announced that it had reached a distribution agreement with the National Cable Television Cooperative to carry Disney Junior, which negotiates carriage deals on behalf of many of America's smaller cable providers. In December 2012, Cox signed a distribution deal with Disney adding Disney Junior to its cable plans. On July 13, 2012,
DirecTV DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...
announced that the Disney Junior network would be added to its lineup the following day on the 14th, a Saturday. Industry observers questioned both the unexpected announcement and untraditional weekend launch of the network as being timed to a nine-day carriage dispute between DirecTV and Viacom and the loss of the
Nick Jr. Channel The Nick Jr. Channel, sometimes shortened to Nick Jr., is an American pay television, pay television channel owned by the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. An offshoot of Nickelodeon ...
four days previously as a result of the dispute. On December 31, 2012,
Charter Communications Charter Communications, Inc., is an American telecommunications and mass media company with services branded as Spectrum. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. With over 32 million customers in 41 states as of 2022, it is the ...
(later purchasing
Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, o ...
and
Bright House Networks Bright House Networks, LLC also simply known as Bright House, was an American telecom company. Prior to its purchase by Charter Communications, it was the tenth-largest multichannel video service provider and the 6th largest cable internet provi ...
and becoming
Spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...
) came to terms with Disney–ABC Television Group on a new wide-ranging multiple-year carriage agreement for ABC, all of the U.S.-based Disney Channels Worldwide and ESPN networks and ABC Family, which included the addition of Disney Junior to Charter systems throughout the first quarter of 2013. The channel ended carriage on August 31, 2023 as Disney and Spectrum were in dispute for several days, before coming to agreement on September 11 to restore Disney's networks to their service while removing several others, including Disney Junior. On January 15, 2013,
AT&T U-verse U-verse TV is an internet protocol television (IPTV) service operated by DirecTV. Launched on June 26, 2006, U-verse was originally a triple play package that included broadband Internet (now AT&T Internet or AT&T Fiber), IP telephone (now AT& ...
also reached a deal with The Walt Disney Company on a new wide-ranging multi-year agreement to carry the Disney–ABC Television Group family of networks and ESPN, which included the addition of Disney Junior.
Dish Network DISH Network L.L.C., often referred to as DISH, an abbreviation for Digital Sky Highway, is an American provider of satellite television and IPTV services and wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation. The company was originally establ ...
, the last major television provider to have not signed a carriage deal for Disney Junior, added the channel on April 10, 2014; after a long period of acrimony and a six-month extension of their past carriage agreement with The Walt Disney Company for a few select networks (some of which were not available in HD, partly as a result of a 2011 dispute with the company), Dish and Disney came to full terms on carrying all of Disney-ABC's networks in both standard and high definition on March 3, 2014, with the resolution of legal issues involving Dish's Hopper DVR system, which also included streaming rights for the networks as part of Dish's IPTV streaming service
Sling TV Sling TV is an American streaming television service operated by Sling TV LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dish Network. Unveiled on January 5, 2015, at the Consumer Electronics Show, the virtual multichannel video programming distributor aim ...
.


Programming


Disney Junior Night Light (block)

''Disney Junior Night Light'' is the former name of Disney Junior channel's overnight programming block, running daily from 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific. The block, which debuted on September 4, 2012, was sponsored by the Disney-owned parenting site
Babble Babble may refer to: * ''Babble'' (That Petrol Emotion album), 1987 album by That Petrol Emotion * ''Babble'', 1979 album by Kevin Coyne and Dagmar Krause * Babble (band), a later incarnation of the Thompson Twins * Babble (company), a British ...
, consisting of short-form programs intended for co-viewing among parents and their children. Features seen as part of the block included ''Picture This'' (a drawing segment), ''Sesh Tales'' (a segment featuring costumed finger puppets with twists on traditional fairy tales) and ''That's Fresh'' (a segment featuring cooking tips aimed at parents, presented by
celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in Books, printed publications. While telev ...
Helen Cavallo). Additional series under development at the block's launch included a photography series, a series that follows parents through the day their new baby comes home after being born, and a show about stay-at-home dads. Since 2017, Disney Junior's overnight programming has run unbranded and without the ''Night Light'' continuity.


Related services


International

Disney Jr. is currently broadcast globally, but some channels were closed or shut down from 2020 onwards to prioritize
Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
, which features its current and library programming.


Reception


Ratings

In 2013, since its launch, Disney Junior has experienced significant growth, while Nick Jr. saw a decline in ratings of over 50% by 2013. Despite being available in 75 million homes, Nick Jr. was surpassed by Disney Junior in several areas, including having the top three preschool cable programs. Merchandise tied to Disney Junior shows also saw growth, with sales expected to surpass $1.5 billion for the fiscal year, a 50% increase from the previous year. In the summer of 2014, Disney Junior became the No. 1 preschool-dedicated TV network for the second consecutive year, averaging 498,000 total viewers. The channel saw growth compared to the previous year, surpassing Nick Jr., which had 301,000 viewers, and nearly tripling Sprout, which had 133,000 viewers. Disney Junior also ranked first among preschool networks in key demographics, including 238,000 viewers for kids aged 2-5, 117,000 viewers for girls 2-5, and 121,000 viewers for boys 2-5. In 2024, Disney Jr. had four shows in the top 10 most-watched among preschoolers across both linear and streaming platforms: ''Bluey'' (No. 1), ''Marvel’s Spidey and His Amazing Friends'' (No. 3), ''Mickey Mouse Clubhouse'' (No. 6), and ''SuperKitties'' (No. 10). Furthermore, Disney Jr. ranked as the No. 1 cable network for kids aged 2-5 for the third consecutive year. The network also achieved significant success on YouTube, reaching 21 million subscribers and over 21 billion views, surpassing both Nick Jr. and Netflix Jr.


References


External links

*
Disney Junior Press
{{U.S. family-oriented television channels 2012 establishments in California American companies established in 2012 Preschool education television networks Children's television networks in the United States Disney Channel Disney television networks Commercial-free television networks Television programming blocks in the United States Television channels and stations established in 2012 English-language television stations in the United States