Country United Kingdom
Ireland | Headquarters Chiswick, London | |
 | ||
Launched As Playhouse Disney:
28 September 1999 (Block)
29 September 2000 (Channel)
As Disney Junior:
7 May 2011 Picture format 576i (16:9 SDTV)
1080i (HDTV) Audience share 0.40%
0.14% (+) (September 2015 (2015-09), BARB) Formerly called Playhouse Disney
(29 September 2000 – 7 May 2011) Owned by Disney–ABC Television Group | ||
Disney Junior is a British television channel owned by Disney–ABC Television Group.
Contents
History
The channel launched on 29 September 2000 as Playhouse Disney, on the same day as the now defunct sister channel, Toon Disney.
Presenters were added to the channel in September 2009; they appear on air between 6pm and 8pm.
The Playhouse Disney brand, which existed as 22 channels or blocks in 156 countries and territories, rebranded as Disney Junior in 2011. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Disney Junior began on 7 May 2011, with its first show as Handy Manny. At the same time the channel started broadcasting in 16:9 widescreen.
A high-definition simulcast of Disney Junior was made available to Sky+ HD subscribers on 9 April 2013.
Presentation
When Playhouse Disney was launched, it had the same logo style as Disney Channel, with 2D idents featuring lines and circles. The idents were also carried on Disney Channel.
In September 2007, the channel logo in the external promotionals (programme press releases, promos for terrestrial television) were changed to include the inscription "Channel" as in all Playhouse Disney Europe channels, but on the channel itself the logo was not changed. This move probably is to differentiate the channel from the "Playhouse Disney" block, shown all mornings on the American Disney Channel.
Disney Junior +
A one-hour timeshift service of the channel, Disney Junior +, launched on 30 October 2007 as Playhouse Disney +, replacing the now defunct channel ABC1. It launched on the same day that the Disney Channels were reshuffled on Sky, involving Disney Cinemagic and Disney Cinemagic +1 moving down the EPG, to enable Playhouse Disney to move up the EPG to allow Playhouse Disney + to launch next to it on Sky 611 and 612 respectively. Playhouse Disney + was initially a 25-minute timeshift service until 11 April 2011 when it became a 1-hour timeshift service.
Playhouse Disney Live Tour
A live tour took place in 2008. It was shown in several cities, across the United States and Europe. In the United Kingdom, the tour included Bristol, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Brighton.