Disney Channel is a Scandinavian children's channel owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company Limited, broadcasting in the Nordic and Baltic countries.

History

On February 28, 2003, almost 80 years since the founding of

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

and almost 20 years since the launch of the original Disney Channel in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, the Disney Channel was launched, and was then at the time exclusive to the Viasat satellite platform (Sirius 4). Later that year, it became available on digital cable networks, such as the Swedish

Com Hem Com Hem was a Swedish brand owned by Tele2 AB which supplied Triple Play services that included cable television, broadband internet and fixed-line telephone. Founded in 1983 as Televerket Kabel-TV as part of the former state-owned Televerke ...

. Once the channel was originally launched, the only programs aired were animated, many of which were not Disney Channel Original Series (as they are called in the U.S.). The first live-action series aired on Disney Channel was '' Smart Guy'', which debuted in 2005. In 2003, the channel also applied for a license to broadcast in the Swedish digital terrestrial television network. The Disney Channel was among the channels recommended by the Swedish Radio and TV Authority, and the government granted the Disney Channel a broadcasting license on January 29, 2004. The terrestrial transmissions could start on February 15 via the Boxer TV Access platform. Soon after that, the channel celebrated its first anniversary by dropping encryption for one weekend. On August 1, 2005, the channel became available to subscribers of the

Canal Digital Canal Digital was a Nordic pay TV and internet service provider in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland that was founded in March 1997 as a joint venture between the French pay TV company Canal+ and the Norwegian telecommunications operator ...

(Thor 2) satellite platform. Simultaneously, a sister channel called Toon Disney was launched. A third sister channel, Playhouse Disney, was launched on October 1, 2006. In the fall of 2009, the channel started broadcasting its first original productions. Among these are a sitcom called ''Når klokkerne ringer'', produced by the Danish production company Nobody, and the music competition '' My Camp Rock'', produced by Titan Television. In January 2012, Disney Channel Scandinavia got the same on-air logo and graphics as the UK version of Disney Channel at the time. Later in May 2012, the channel updated to 16:9 (widescreen). Since August 1, 2012, the channel has been airing advertisements between the shows. In the fall of 2012, the Disney Channels in Sweden, Norway and Denmark split feeds during the commercial breaks so it would be easier to air local advertisements; however, the promos and schedule are the same in the Nordic countries. In October 12, 2012, a Russian audio track was added. In October 2013, Disney Channel Scandinavia introduced its own locally produced mini-series, ''Violetta: The Scoop'', in which they catch up with Violetta, show sneak peeks, and talk about "secrets" from the show. On May 29, 2014, Disney Channel Scandinavia began using new on-air graphics and a new logo, both created by BDA Creative. The new logo was first introduced on the German Disney Channel in January 2014 when it went free-to-air and later on May 23 in the U.S.

Programming

The channel is mainly aimed at children, broadcasting Disney television series 24 hours daily. Disney feature films are also an important part of the channel's programming. All of the programs are dubbed into local languages. Since autumn 2012, Disney Channel broadcast with different video streams between the countries with its audio stream, but schedule is still the same. Many syndicated programs have been aired on Disney Channel, such as '' The Fairly OddParents'' and '' Scaredy Squirrel''.

Other channels and services

Disney Junior

Disney Junior is a channel aimed at preschoolers which was launched in October 2006 on the

and Viasat satellite operators as Playhouse Disney. Later on, the channel was launched on cable operators. On

, the largest cable operator in Sweden, the channel was launched on April 2, 2007. On September 10, 2011, Playhouse Disney was rebranded as Disney Junior.

Disney XD (closed)

Disney XD was a male-skewed children's channel which broadcasts 16 hours a day between 6:00 AM CET and 10:00 PM CET. It replaced Jetix and Toon Disney on September 12, 2009. Jetix used to end its daily broadcasts at 6:00 PM. Disney XD is funded by advertising, as was Jetix, while Toon Disney was commercial-free. It closed down on December 31, 2020.

External links

Official Swedish Schedule

Official Norwegian Schedule

Official Danish Schedule
* YouTube full-color icon (2017)

Disney Channel Sverige (Sweden)
* YouTube full-color icon (2017)

Disney Channel Norge (Norway)
* YouTube full-color icon (2017)

Disney Channel Danmark (Denmark)

Logos

File:Disney Channel logo.svg, alt=, 2003-2012 File:2010 Disney Channel logo.svg, alt=, 2012-2014 File:2014 Disney Channel logo.svg, alt=, 2014-2017 File:Disney Channel logo (2014).svg, alt=, 2017-2022 File:DisneyChannelEMEA.svg, alt=, August 2022

References

{{Greenlandic television channels

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...