Disney Junior to Launch in 2012 - replacing SOAPnet

[Goofster]

Disney/ABC Television Replacing SOAPnet Channel With “Disney Junior”
Posted on 26 May 2010 by Bill Gorman

via press release:



DISNEY/ABC TELEVISION GROUP ANNOUNCES DISNEY JUNIOR, A NEW24-HOUR CHANNEL FOR PRESCHOOLERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

Disney/ABC Television Group will launch Disney Junior, a new multiplatform brand and 24-hour basic cable/satellite channel and online site devoted to preschool-age children. Scheduled to debut in the U.S. in 2012, Disney Junior will invite mom and dad to join their child in the Disney experience of magical, musical and heartfelt stories and characters, both classic and new, while incorporating specific learning and development themes designed for kids age 2-7.

The new Disney Junior brand will also provide affiliate partners with a robust Video-On-Demand offering, a High-definition network and a Spanish language SAP feed.

Disney Junior’s animated and live action programming will blend Disney’s unparalleled storytelling and characters kids love deeply with learning, including early math, language skills, healthy eating and lifestyles, and social skills.

The 24-hour Disney Junior schedule will include 200 new episodes annually of both new series, including “Jake and the Never Land Pirates,” and current hits, including “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” “Handy Manny,” “Special Agent Oso,” “Imagination Movers” and “Jungle Junction.” Disney’s vast array of classic and contemporary movies, including among others “101 Dalmatians,” “Aladdin” and “Little Mermaid,” will be showcased.

In the U.S., the new Disney Junior channel will take the place of the SOAPnet channel, currently available in 75 million homes. Prior to the launch of the 24-hour channel, the Disney Junior brand will be introduced on Disney Channel’s daily programming block for preschoolers (currently branded Playhouse Disney).

Anne Sweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks and president, Disney/ABC Television Group, said: “The launch of Disney Junior in the U.S. is the next step in our global preschool strategy, which began 10 years ago with the premiere of our first dedicated preschool channel in the UK. The decision to ultimately transition SOAPnet to accomplish this was not arrived at lightly. SOAPnet was created in 2000 to give daytime viewers the ability to watch time-shifted soaps, before multiplatform viewing and DVRs were part of our vocabulary. But today, as technology and our businesses evolve, it makes more sense to align this distribution with a preschool channel that builds on the core strengths of our company.”

Carolina Lightcap, president, Disney Channels Worldwide, said: “Around the world, our Disney-branded channels are burgeoning, distinguished by the special place Disney has in the hearts of kids — who delight in our characters and stories — and parents who trust our commitment to entertaining and helping their preschoolers, kids and tweens grow through engaging, relevant programming.” She continued, “By adding a dedicated U.S. channel for preschoolers to our global portfolio, we look forward to enhancing that sense of magical storytelling and parental trust, and expanding our offerings, locally and globally, from morning to night, to deliver more Disney-quality content that will resonate with generations to come.”

Outside the U.S., the 22 Playhouse Disney channels and blocks, currently available in 29 languages in 156 countries/territories, reaching over 45 million households, will be rebranded Disney Junior beginning in 2011.

Disney’s flagship TV content provider, Disney Channel, is the leader in the Kid and Tween (age 6-14) demographic with hit series (including “Hannah Montana,” “Phineas and Ferb” and “Wizards of Waverly Place”), and the gold-standard in original movies for kids and families (including “Camp Rock,” “High School Musical”). In the U.S., across all basic cable, Disney Channel Original Movies have produced basic cable’s #1 movie with Kids 6-11 and/or Tweens from 2002-09.

For 2009, Disney Channel U.S. was TV’s #1 network in Total Day among Tweens 9-14, recording its largest annual Total Viewer and Kid 6-11 audiences in the channel’s history, and tied 2007 as its top-rated year in Tweens 9-14. Disney Channel was cable’s #2 channel in primetime in Total Viewers, the fourth consecutive year it has ranked either #1 or #2 among all cable networks. Among its target demos, Disney Channel primetime was #1 for the seventh consecutive year among Kids 6-11 and for the ninth consecutive year among Tweens 9-14. Disney Channel’s daily Playhouse Disney block delivered all-time highs in Total Viewers, Kids 2-5, Girls 2-5, Boys 2-5 and Women 18-49 for the year.

Disney XD was introduced in February 2009 with a demographic target of Kids age 6-14, especially boys, and has 2010-to-date exceeded the year-ago equivalent period by 32% in Boys 6-14, by 30% in Boys 6-11 and by 34% in Boys 9-14.

About Disney Channels Worldwide:

Disney Channels Worldwide is a portfolio of Disney’s successful and burgeoning global kids’ TV business — Disney Channel, Disney XD and Playhouse Disney channels and blocks (soon to be rebranded Disney Junior), which in total reach more than 600 million viewers in over 100 countries in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Africa. This month the Company announced it plans to launch Disney Channels in Russia and South Korea. Radio Disney Network, which has set the radio industry standard for kid and family content over the past decade, is also part of the portfolio. Disney Channels Worldwide is part of the Disney/ABC Television Group and Disney Media Networks, a division of The Walt Disney Company.

[wdwluv]

Jake and the Never Land Pirates

?!?!!!!

Ooohhhh, I'm not going to have a preschooler anymore in 2012! :-(

[DisnIse]

I know it's probably impossible, but I'd LOVE it if they'd bring back Bear, Rolie Polie Olie, PB & J Otter, Out of the Box..... ahhhhhh.... miss those!

[Buttercup]

Sounds like Playhouse Disney up here in Canada. I love that channel! We still have Out Of The Box...

[alicefan76]

Oh, no...they are getting rid of soapnet

I love that channel if only to watch reruns of The OC and Beverly Hills 90210.

And let's be honest, they are more than enough children's channels out there! What about a channel for 30-somthings to watch the shows they grew up on

I'd love to see Disney do a channel with all their classic stuff...like it was when it first started (I know I'm dreaming and they'll never do it).

[fernsmommy]

I love this idea! Playhouse Disney is only on until 12pm here and it would be wonderful for my daughter to be able to watch her shows when my older daughter is still at school! I know Playhouse Disney starts at like 5am but we don't wake up that early. I can't wait for it!

[ShanPooh]

Almost makes me want to get cable!
I like that Disney is remembering that there are more children (and kids at heart) than just "tweens" out there.

[ShanPooh]

Oh, no...they are getting rid of soapnet

I love that channel if only to watch reruns of The OC and Beverly Hills 90210.

And let's be honest, they are more than enough children's channels out there! What about a channel for 30-somthings to watch the shows they grew up on

I'd love to see Disney do a channel with all their classic stuff...like it was when it first started (I know I'm dreaming and they'll never do it).

Our library has full seasons of the OC and 90210 on DVD, if yours doesn't see if they can inter-library loan them to you.

[Ian]

I know it's probably impossible, but I'd LOVE it if they'd bring back Bear, Rolie Polie Olie, PB & J Otter, Out of the Box..... ahhhhhh.... miss those!

I was thinking the same thing!

[Goofster]

We drove to NYC last Fall from Michigan and we checked out a bunch of Rollie Pollie Olie DVDs from the library...the kids loved them. I would think Disney Junior would show some of the older shows given that they'd have 24 hours of programming to fill rather than few hours of Playhouse Disney. That stuff is timeless...

[BellesRose]

I don't like this idea. How many preschoolers do you know stay up all night watching cable tv? I mean, making it an actual DISNEY channel (Not the "Disney" channel they have now) would be different...playing old Disney Classics and stuff that adults would enjoy at night, playing preschool and kids shows during the day. The adults should get something for losing SOAPnet.

[MidnTPK]

Oh, no...they are getting rid of soapnet

I love that channel if only to watch reruns of The OC and Beverly Hills 90210.

And let's be honest, they are more than enough children's channels out there! What about a channel for 30-somthings to watch the shows they grew up on

I'd love to see Disney do a channel with all their classic stuff...like it was when it first started (I know I'm dreaming and they'll never do it).

It's not about you...it's about me. Or more precisely what I spend my money on today and for the next 20 years or so.

I have an almost 3 year old, and another on the way. Despite not having any advertising, my house is full of Playhouse Disney merchandise. I have a shower curtain, balls, step stools, eating utensils, plates, cups, fake cell phone, stickers, pop-up houses, tooth brushes, books, iPod apps, and toys....lots and lots of toys. All of which are branded with Playhouse Disney characters.

And guess where my my DD has been talking about visiting for the past six months: WDW.

SoapNet was a single stream of advertising revenue distributing something they are making less and less of (scripted serial dramas).

Playhouse Disney is building life-long brand loyalty and getting people to indoctrinate their children at a very impressionable age. And generating fantastic merchandise sales as well as stimulating movie ticket sales, and vacations to theme parks and timeshare sales.

Add in that there are the competing Nick Junior and PBS' Sprout channels and you see that Disney was a little behind some of its competitors in this arena.

[misspriss]

My son misses Stanley. He is older now, but would still watch it if it was available. I'm not sure that we would watch this channel, but my daughter loves Handy Manny and right now the timing is always off for us with this show. So I guess we would welcome more opportunities to catch this on TV.

[Strmchsr]

I know it's probably impossible, but I'd LOVE it if they'd bring back Bear, Rolie Polie Olie, PB & J Otter, Out of the Box..... ahhhhhh.... miss those!

While I 100% agree with you on those, I'd love it if they went even more old school. Loved me some Dumbo's Circus back in the day! And, of course, all the classic cartoons.

[Imagineer1981]

FINALLY...Nick JR kills Disney in the afternoons and almost all day. Playhouse Disney is fantastic, but as soon as it ends, preschoolers and younger kids get Hanna Montanna or the Suite Life, so the only programming available is Nick JR, and then we are forced to watch shows like Yo Gabba Gabba...AAAHHH!!!! I can't wait for this to happen!

[sportsguy2315]

I like this idea...I do crave a sort of "original" Disney Channel as well, but this channel's still 2 years away from launch, there's still plenty of time to change things up. One can only hope for an "old school" Playhouse Disney in the morning, a mixture of Zoog and old school Disney (Adventures in Wonderland, Talespin, etc.) with actual family programming and Disney movies at night (i.e. Avonlea, Anne of Green Gables, etc.). I'm sure I'm not the only person who would subscribe to this channel...