Disney Junior was a British and Irish

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

kids channel that was owned by

Disney–ABC Television Group Disney General Entertainment Content, doing business as Walt Disney Television, is an American entertainment company that oversees television content and assets owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. Forming the company's General Enterta ...

that focused on preschool programming. It was launched on 29 September 2000 as Playhouse Disney. The channel was rebranded as Disney Junior on 7 May 2011, it later ceased broadcasting on 30 September 2020.

History

During the rebrand of Disney Channel in 1997, a block titled "Disney Channel Underfives" was added, featuring programming aimed towards a young audience. On September 28, 1999, it was rebranded as Playhouse Disney (thus expanding the Playhouse Disney brand outside the US) with the introduction of live presentation. On September 29, 2000, Disney Television International launched Playhouse Disney as a standalone channel alongside Toon Disney and Disney Channel +1 on the Sky Digital platform. Since the channel was exclusive to Sky Digital at this time, the Playhouse Disney block continued to broadcast on Disney Channel during school-term weekdays. Playhouse Disney was later launched on

NTL NTL may refer to: Companies * NTL Incorporated and NTL Internet, later Virgin Media, communications media company ** NTL Ireland, later Virgin Media Ireland * Arqiva, UK company formerly ''NTL Broadcast'' and ''National Transcommunications L ...

and

Telewest Telewest (previously Telewest Broadband and Telewest Communications) was a cable internet, broadband internet, telephone supplier and cable television provider in the United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was also onc ...

in 2002 and 2003 respectively. The Playhouse Disney block later reduced its hours of programming featured and was eventually disposed of in July 2004. In June 2006, a Playhouse Disney block was added to the morning schedule of

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel an ...

. It was removed after Disney ceased transmission of ABC1 in September 2007. ABC1's slot itself on Sky would be used to launch a 25-minute timeshift of Playhouse Disney in October 2007. Playhousedisneyint1999

Launch

Playhouse Disney, which existed as over 22 channels or blocks in 156 countries and territories, rebranded as

Disney Junior Disney Junior is an American pay television network owned by the Walt Disney Television (part of Disney General Entertainment Content) unit of The Walt Disney Company through Disney Branded Television. Aimed mainly at children two to seven y ...

in 2011. In the UK and Republic of Ireland, Disney Junior began on May 7, 2011, with the first program to air being '' Handy Manny''. At the same time, Disney Junior (which replaced Playhouse Disney Canada the day before) started broadcasting in 16:9 widescreen. The last show that aired on Playhouse Disney before it became Disney Junior was '' JoJo's Circus''. A high-definition simulcast of Disney Junior was made available to Sky+ HD subscribers in April 2013. In September 2017, Disney XD +1 was turned into a pop-up channel titled Mickey and Pals, which aired various programming from Disney Junior.

Closure

Disney Junior, along with its sister channels

Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven yea ...

and Disney Channel, closed in the UK on 30 September 2020, after 20 years on-air, due to Disney failing to reach a new carriage deal with Sky and Virgin Media. The closure was previously announced on 25 June that year. All of the channels' content were transferred to Disney's streaming service,

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

. The final programme to be broadcast before it ceased operations was ''Gigantosaurus'' (specifically the episodes "The Floating Stone/The Light in the Storm"). It then showed a selection of promos and advertisements and a music video from '' Vampirina''. Following a good morning song on the channel, it was officially shut down after cutting to a still image featuring Mickey Mouse in his Roadster Racer getup holding a trophy, alongside

Animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

(as his '' Muppet Babies'' form) and Vee from ''Vampirina''. Virgin Media removed the channels a day before their closure on 29 September, with

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

and

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...

taking over the network's former Sky EPG slots on 1 October.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Disney Junior (Uk and Ireland) Disney television channels in the United Kingdom Children's television channels in the United Kingdom Television programming blocks in Europe Television channels and stations established in 2000 1999 establishments in Ireland 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom 2020 disestablishments in Ireland 2020 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Television channels and stations disestablished in 2020 UK and Ireland Defunct British television channels Television channel articles with incorrect naming style Television stations in Malta