Radio Disney

Radio Disney

File:Radio Disney.PNG
Type	Radio network
Country	United States
Availability	National; also distributed in Canada, Mexico, and Argentina
Owner	The Walt Disney Company
Launch date	November 18, 1996
Official website	radio.disney.go.com

Radio Disney is a radio network based in Dallas, Texas in the United States broadcasting music and other content targeted at children and young teenagers. It is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.

History

Radio Disney was launched on November 18, 1996 (coinciding with Mickey Mouse's birthday) at 4:58 A.M. EST with the song "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)."

When Radio Disney first launched, kids 12 and under were the only ones able to win a prize. In late 2000, the maximum age to win was increased to 14. In 2002, the first Radio Disney Music Awards premiered. It is a music awards ceremony that has been held every year since.

In 2004, Disney paid the former Children's Broadcasting Corporation (which operated Aahs) $12.4 million. Disney had collaborated with Radio Aahs for a time prior to the launch of Radio Disney as a direct competitor to Minneapolis-based company which reached about 30 stations at its height and former Aahs owners sued for damages because of a breached agreement.

2006 marked the 10th year that the station was on the air, the rebroadcast of its first hour of broadcasting was aired on June 6, 2006 at around 4:58pm EDT on select markets such as WQEW. Also, as part of the 10-year anniversary, the concert "Totally 10 Birthday Concert" was held on July 22, 2006 at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. It also included a simultaneous live broadcast on the Radio Disney website. A second one was held in Dallas, Texas on November 18, 2006 at the Dallas Convention Center.

In February 2006, the Walt Disney Company announced that it will be keeping Radio Disney and its owned-and-operated stations while divesting much of its radio holdings to Citadel Broadcasting. Radio Disney will be reporting to the Cable Networks Group. This unit takes care of Disney's cable holdings, except for ESPN.

In April 2007, Radio Disney completely dropped the word "Ears" (from their first slogan; We're all ears!) from their phone number, ear mail, and from Playhouse Disney programming. The call-in number was originally spoken aloud as 1-888-EARS-018, although for the last few years Ernie D. has been announcing it as 3277 instead of EARS. Now all DJs read it as 1-888-3277-018.

Markets airing on HD Radio may have an 8 second delay in its AM broadcast, which makes that station fall behind other Radio Disney stations on AM. A winner of a contest may be chosen before or while the contest details are announced. (In order to keep the analog/digital signals in sync, it is standard practice for Hybrid Digital Radio to delay all content by a few seconds.)

Availability

The network uses primarily AM stations and is available also on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio in both the United States and Canada, both on channel 115. It was carried previously on Music Choice on most digital cable-TV systems. However, on September 18, 2007, Music Choice replaced Radio Disney with their own channel similar to Radio Disney, but with a less interrupted music format. They replaced Radio Disney with a channel called Kids Only! on channel 822 on iO Digital cable service. Radio Disney was aired on channel 840 when it was available on iO Digital cable service. Radio Disney is also available via satellite on XM on DirecTV (channel 867) – the Sirius package on Dish Network currently does not carry Radio Disney. KDIS in the Southern California Los Angeles area is the network's flagship station. The station is also streamed at RadioDisney.com and is also available on iTunes. Well-known Digital Cable Providers with Radio services may offer Radio Disney as a live radio broadcast selection to the listings.

Slogans

These slogans have been said to still be used, however no proof has been produced yet.

• "We're All Ears" (1996–2000)
• "Music And Prizes That Rock!" (2000–2001)
• "Your Music, Your Way!" (2001–Present)

Programming

Music

Currently/recently popular songs

Songs currently/recently on the pop charts that are usually popular with pre-teens and younger teenagers. If the song has a minor amount of "adult" lyrics, (such as "Get the Party Started" by Pink, "My Happy Ending" by Avril Lavigne, "1985" by Bowling for Soup) the song simply gets edited rather than lose airplay. Some good examples of edited songs include music from Rihanna, Usher, Chamillionaire, Soulja Boy, Chris Brown, Elliott Yamin, Black Eyed Peas, Simple Plan, Pussycat Dolls, Gwen Stefani, Sean Kingston, and JoJo. Other songs not on the pop charts that are popular with pre-teens, such as "The Hampster Dance" theme song or Axel F., by Crazy Frog, "Start All Over" by Miley Cyrus.

The record for the longest running Number 1 song on the Top 30 Countdown is held by "[[Pop (song)}|Pop]]" by *NSYNC, which was voted Number 1 for 34 consecutive weeks from June 3, 2001 to January 27, 2002 and an additional two nonconsecutive weeks.

"Classic" Disney songs

Although "classic" Disney songs are (now) rarely played on this radio network, songs from recent cartoons/movies made by Disney or one of its subsidiaries get played. Sometimes, fairly old songs that wouldn't normally play on Radio Disney get airplay for this reason (for example, various Elvis songs played in Lilo & Stitch) (although, back in the network's early years, oldies were a regular part of the format).

Songs from Disney Channel stars

Disney Channel stars songs such as music from Lizzie McGuire, High School Musical and High School Musical 2, Vanessa Hudgens, Jason Collyns, and music by Jonas Brothers, Brenda Song , Aly & AJ, Hilary Duff, Keke Palmer, Emily Osment, Everlife, B5, Jesse McCartney, Lucas Grabeel, The Cheetah Girls,Mitchel Musso, and Raven-Symoné.

Artists that were big in the network's early years

Older artists that are very rarely played now, (or retired from the playlist), but were big in the network's early years include *NSYNC, 2gether, 3 Doors Down, 3LW, 98 Degrees, A*Teens, Aaron Carter, B*Witched, BBMak, Backstreet Boys, Bon Jovi, Britney Spears, Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera, Creed, Donna Lewis, Dream, Dream Street, Hanson, Kelly Clarkson, Hilary Duff, Jessica Simpson, Jump5, LFO, Lil' Bow Wow, Lil' Romeo, M2M, Mandy Moore, Mariah Carey, No Authority, No Secrets, Nobody's Angel, Play, S Club 7, Stacie Orrico, Sugar Ray, MC Hammer, Stevie Brock, Vitamin C, Weird Al Yankovic, Will Smith, and Youngstown. Recently, music from *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and Sugar Ray have been receiving some airtime.

Playhouse Disney

Playhouse Disney (originally "Mickey and Minnie's Tune Time" between 1996-2001) airs on Radio Disney weekdays during the school year at 12:00 ET and ends at 1:00 ET and has been hosted almost exclusively by B. B. Good since its inception. Playhouse Disney was once a two hour block, but has recently been cut back an hour, along with Circle Time Story, (Originally "Mickey And Minnie's Storytime Theatre" between 1996-2001) which featured read-along stories from Disney movies and films. Like Playhouse Disney on Disney Channel, it is targeted towards preschoolers. Songs from Playhouse Disney shows, Disney movies, and songs from other shows such as Sesame Street get played, along with contests with preschool related questions, and questions about Disney characters. During Playhouse Disney, many of Radio Disney's old liners and jingles are played. Mainly the ones that have the first slogan, "We're All Ears."

Current features

• Sound File - The news on what's new. Talks about new artists. (New entries weekly during Top 30 Countdown)
• The Insider - Originally called the Juicy Scoop. Get the inside scoop about the coolest and hottest artists.
• 60 Seconds With - DJ's talk with the hottest artists.
• Radio Disney Review - What was cool in the past years of Radio Disney.
• Playback - A song is played backwards and callers have to guess what song it is.
• Code Word of the Day - The Code Word of the Day is given out about 5 times an hour. If you know the word when they ask for it, (usually around 6:30 PM ET) you can win an awesome prize.
• Snipp it Clip - They play a small part of 3 songs and the person who guesses all three wins
• The Radio Disney Top 30 Countdown - The longest running program. Susan Huber is the host. Songs that got the most requests during the week were on the countdown, starting from 30 to the most requested song of the week. At the end of the year, the same thing was done, only it was the most requested songs of the whole year. The Top 30 Countdown now has new airtimes (effective June 3, 2007): Saturdays - 7am to 10am PT, 10am to 1pm ET and Sundays - 11am to 2pm PT, 2pm to 5pm ET.
• Connect Family - Originally "Family Fun Day" but re-branded early in April 2007 under the "Connect Family" title, Blake hosts the only show on Radio Disney where kids and adults play games and contests together for the entire duration of the show. Connect Family airs every Sunday afternoon after the Top 30 Countdown.
• Music Mailbag - Every Saturday during this segment of Radio Disney, Aaron K introduces a new song and listeners call in to the station or vote online to "Pick It" or "Kick It".
• Radio Rewind - A snippet of a song was played backward and callers would try to guess the name of that song.

• Hogwarts or Hogwash - A game played exclusively by Aaron K. The correct caller must answer three out of four questions from the popular Harry Potter series as true or false, by saying 'Hogwarts' for being true and 'Hogwash' for being false.

Retired features

• ABC News For Kids - Kid friendly, and informational news with Jim Hickey.
• ABC Notebook
• Aptitude Dude
• Backwards Bop - A snippet of a song was played backward and callers would try to guess the name of that song
• Battle Of The Cities - A trivia game that retired DJs, Mark and Zippy hosted. Two contestants from different cities would call in and the caller with the most answers wins.
• Bumbling Bill’s Safety Spotlight - Bumbling Bill and his friend Sally talk about what's safe and unsafe. Bumbling Bill can never seem to get Sally's name right. This program ended near the beginning of 2006.
• Dr. Thinkenstein: RAD Scientist - Dr. Thinkenstein, a wild, hyperactive scientist with a Karloff-esque voice, examined technologies and breakthroughs that other scientists were currently working on to improve the future. He frequently discussed his findings with his computer assistant, "I.gor" (nicknamed "E-dot").
• Frequency Jam - A program which started around 2002/2003. Every Friday night, three songs would be played. The song with the most votes (via Radio Disney's website) would be the next song that will get played. Frequency Jam ended in February 2007 when Disney redesigned their website.
• Grandma Nature
• Gross Me Out - Gross Me Out was a long time program that talked about gross things which kids often like to hear.
• Karaoke - A contest by retired DJ, Kara. She would sing one line of a song and the correct caller would sing the other.
• Lets Make A Deal - Another game/contest hosted by Mark and Zippy. This was also parody of the television game show of the same name.
• Theatre Of The B-zarre - a program that ended around mid 2006. Dr. B and a hair-ball like creature named Critter talked about strange and creepy things.
• The Adventures of Bud and Iggy - Bud and Iggy always get lost. Clues are given out about what city they are lost in. This long-time contest ended near the end of 2003.
• The State Game - Three clues about a state were given out (the state nickname and two facts) and callers would try and guess what state it is.

DJs

Radio Disney has had a number of different DJ's since its launch in 1996. A list of current DJ's and a schedule can be found on Radio Disney's website. Below are a number of DJ's along with their years of employment.

Above are two retired Radio Disney DJ's, "Just Plain" Mark & Zippy.

Present DJs

• Aaron K. (2001)
• Blake (2005)
• Brian (Your Boy Brian) (1997)
• Ernie D. (1999)
• Lenny (2005)
• Penny Nichols (2001)
• Cherami (2008)
• Sherry Rogers (1996)
• Sheryl Brooks (1996)
• Susan Huber (1996)
• Audio Vault (2008)

Former DJs

• “Just Plain” Mark (1997 - 2001)
• B. B. Good (1998 - 2008)
• Candice (2005 - 2007)
• David Jordan (2001 - 2005)
• Dean Wendt (1996 - 2001)
• Don Crabtree (1996 - 2007)
• Giel (?)
• Kara (1997 - 2001)
• Kim Stewart (1997 - 2000)
• Lee Cameron (1996 - 1999)
• Squeege (1996 - 2005)
• Tina (1997 - 1998)
• Terri (2004 - 2008)
• Web Fingors (2001 - 2003)
• Zippy (1997 - 2001)

Stations

The listing below is accurate as of May 2007. Despite their current standing, many of these stations have diverse histories. Many of the current call signs of Radio Disney stations are variations on the Disney name and that of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. At least one appears to be named for Goofy.

AM stations Callsign Frequency Location HD Broadcast KMIK 1580 Phoenix, Arizona Y KKDD 1290 San Bernardino/Riverside N KMKY 1310 San Francisco, California Y KIID 1470 Sacramento, California Y KDIS 1110 Pasadena/Los Angeles, California Y KDDZ 1690 Denver, Colorado Y WDZK 1550 Hartford, Connecticut Y WBWL 600 Jacksonville, Florida Y WDYZ 990 Orlando, Florida Y WMYM 990 Miami, Florida Y WWMI 1380 Tampa, Florida Y WAJD 1390 Gainesville, Florida N WMNE 1600 West Palm Beach, Florida Y WDWD 590 Atlanta, Georgia Y WPGA¹ 980 Macon, Georgia N WNEX¹ 1400 Macon, Georgia N WRDZ 1300 Chicago, Illinois Y KQAM 1480 Wichita, Kansas N WDRD 680 Louisville, Kentucky Y WBYU 1450 New Orleans, Louisiana Y WMKI 1260 Boston, Massachusetts Y WDSS 1680 Grand Rapids, Michigan N WFDF 910 Farmington Hills/Detroit, Michigan Y KDIZ 1440 Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota Y KPHN 1190 Kansas City, Missouri Y WSDZ 1260 St. Louis, Missouri Y KOIL 1020 Omaha, Nebraska N KALY 1240 Albuquerque, New Mexico Y WALL 1340 Middletown, New York N WEOK 1390 Poughkeepsie, New York N WDDY 1460 Albany, New York Y WOLF 1490 Syracuse, New York Y WQEW 1560 New York, New York Y WCOG 1320 Greensboro, North Carolina N WGFY 1480 Charlotte, North Carolina Y WWMK 1260 Cleveland, Ohio Y KMUS 1380 Tulsa, Oklahoma Y KOCY 1560 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma N KDZR 1640 Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington Y WWJZ 640 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Y WWCS 540 Canonsburg/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania N WDDZ 550 Providence, Rhode Island Y WOWW 1430 Memphis, Tennessee N KRDY 1160 San Antonio, Texas Y KMIC 1590 Houston, Texas Y KMKI 620 Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas (flagship) Y KWDZ 910 Salt Lake City, Utah Y WDZY 1290 Richmond, Virginia N WHKT 1650 Norfolk, Virginia N KKDZ 1250 Seattle, Washington Y WKSH 1640 Milwaukee, Wisconsin Y

FM stations

Callsign	Frequency	Location	HD Broadcast
KDIS	99.5	Little Rock, Arkansas	Y
WRDZ	98.3	Indianapolis, Indiana	Y
WDZN²	100.1	Cumberland, Maryland	N

¹ indicates multiple Radio Disney outlets in a single city

² W263AJ 100.5 is a broadcast translator for WDZN

Former Radio Disney stations

Callsign	Frequency	Location
WBBQ	1340	Augusta, Georgia
KDEF	1150	Albuquerque, New Mexico (affiliate moved to KALY).
WMKI	850	Birmingham, Alabama (1997-1999, call letters reused for Boston affiliate and call letters reverted back to WYDE)
WYNK	1380	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
KMAP	1050	Bakersfield, California
KRYS	1360	Corpus Christi, Texas
WDDZ	1500	Zion, Illinois
KADZ	1690	Denver/Boulder, Colorado
KXTP	970	Duluth, Minnesota
KAVT	1680	Fresno, California
WMYR	1410	Fort Myers, Florida
WKEW	1400	Greensboro, North Carolina (affiliate moved to WCOG in 2001)
KQMQ	690	Honolulu, Hawaii
KORL	690	Honolulu, Hawaii
KDYS	1520	Lafayette, Louisiana
KRNN	1380	Little Rock, Arkansas (affiliate moved to FM dial KDIS-FM)
WGSM	740	Long Island, New York (when WQEW became Radio Disney, this affiliate ceased being Radio Disney)
WQUA	102.1	Mobile, Alabama
WBVA	1450	Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia (Contract Problems caused the station to stop broadcasting Radio Disney)
WKYG	1180	Parkersburg, West Virginia
WJDY	1470	Salisbury, Maryland
KBEE	860	Salt Lake City, Utah (affiliate moved to KWDZ in 2001)
KSON	1240	San Diego, California (station became a Vietnamese/ethnic station in 2004)
WBHR	660	Sauk Rapids/St. Cloud, Minnesota
WCHY	1290	Savannah, Georgia
KWTX	1230	Waco, Texas
WOLF	96.7	Syracuse, New York (Now known as MOViN' FM)
WWLF	100.3	Syracuse, New York (simulcast of WOLF-FM)

Albums

In 1999, Radio Disney released their first CD, Radio Disney Kid Jams, containing the top songs from Radio Disney's playlist. Over time, Radio Disney released more volumes of the Kid Jams series. (Commonly known as "Jams" since there was not enough room to put "Kid" and "Vol" on the jams sequels.) Radio Disney also released two Holiday Jams CDs, an Ultimate Jams with select songs from Jams 1-6, Jingle Jams (Series 2004 & 2005), Move It, and Party Jams from their tenth birthday concert.

Available Radio Disney CDs

• Radio Disney Holiday Jams (Volumes 1 & 2)
• Radio Disney Jams series (Volumes 1 - 10)
• Radio Disney Jingle Jams (Series 2004 & 2005)
• Radio Disney Karaoke Series (Volumes 1 & 2)
• Radio Disney Move It
• Radio Disney Party Jams
• Radio Disney Pop Dreamers
• Radio Disney Ultimate Jams
• Radio Disney Jams 10

International

Internationally, Radio Disney can be heard in Australia, Japan, Poland, Argentina, Paraguay, Guatemala, Uruguay,Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. There are plans to resume broadcasting of a Disney branded radio station in the UK in 2008, but this time under the 'Radio Disney' brand, aimed at a younger audience than its predecessor in the UK. It plans to broadcast in the Philippines, Sweden, Mexico and Brazil in the near future.

Latin America

Radio Disney is available in Latin America via terrestrial broadcast. Similar to Radio Disney in the US, it broadcasts in Spanish to Argentina[1], Ecuador[2], Guatemala, Paraguay[3], Uruguay[4], Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica

Europe

Radio Disney will begin broadcasting on the digital radio platform in the United Kingdom by the end of 2008. On July 6, 2007, Ofcom, the communications regulator of the United Kingdom, announced that the 4 Digital Group, a consortium headed by Channel 4 and featuring Emap, UTV, British Sky Broadcasting, Global Radio, Carphone Warehouse and UBC, has been awarded a license to run a new digital radio multiplex which will include Radio Disney as one of ten new national radio stations.

A similar station (if edgier), Capital Disney began broadcasting in 2002 on the DAB digital radio network, on Sky Digital (Digital Satellite) and various digital cable TV operators in the UK. The station was a joint venture between the UK's Capital Radio Group and Disney. The idea being to use Capital Radio's programming experience to assist Disney in launching a radio station in the UK. In early 2007, both Capital Radio (by now called GCap Media) and Disney agreed to pursue diffent goals, and as a result, Capital Disney ceased broadcasting and closed down on June 29, 2007.

See also

• ABC Radio
• ESPN Radio
• Bubblegum pop
• Teen pop
• Hip hop music
• Rock music

External links

• Offical Radio Disney Website
• Radio Disney on Sirius
• Radio Disney on XM Radio