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Disney Channel

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Disney Channel
CountryUnited States
HeadquartersBurbank, California
Programming
Language(s)English
Ownership
OwnerThe Walt Disney Company
Disney Channel headquarters in Burbank

Disney Channel is a cable television channel specializing in children's entertainment television programming through original series and movies as well as third party programming. It is marketed to mostly children; however, in recent years the orientation of viewers has shifted to attract teen audiences. Presently available on basic cable and satellite television, the network is part of Disney-ABC Cable Networks Group, a division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is based in Burbank, California, U.S.A, and also runs a website called DisneyChannel.com.

History

Disney Channel: The Beginning (1983-1997)

The Disney Channel was formed in 1983 under the leadership of its first president Alan Wagner. The channel's first broadcasting day aired on April 18, 1983. At this time, Disney Channel was a premium channel and only aired 18 hours a day, from 6:00AM to 12:00AM EST. The program that kicked off the channel's first day on the air was an episode of the 1950s-era The Mickey Mouse Club. The first Disney Channel-produced series were Good Morning, Mickey!, Welcome to Pooh Corner and You and Me Kid.

The original late night schedule featured reruns of the classic The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet; more of them are included in Disney Channel Original Series. Disney Channel received a special citation from the United States president Ronald Reagan in 1984. In December 1986, Disney Channel commenced full-time broadcasting 24 hours everyday. During the early years, Disney Channel aired several foreign animated series and movies including Asterix, The Raccoons, and Paddington Bear. The Australian western, Five Mile Creek, was shown during this time period also.

During the 1980s, the channel debuted a few programs that later became part of the cultural lexicon of sorts. Early on, in 1986, the musically-oriented sitcom Kids Incorporated became a hit, about a pre-teen (and later teen-to-young adult) gang of friends who formed a pop group, mixing their everyday situations with variety-show and music video style performances. During its nine year run, the series spawned many future stars in both music and acting, the most notable being Martika (who went by her real name of Marta Marrero in the show's first season), eventual Party of Five co-stars Scott Wolf and Jennifer Love Hewitt (billed as Love Hewitt) and, not to mention, Stacy Ferguson (Fergie).

In early 1989, The Disney Channel revived one of the company's early TV staples with The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, which was an immediate hit and proved the basic Disney variety show formula could still work, unlike in the short-lived 1970s revival. The latest version contained many of the classic elements, from "theme days" to updated mouseketeer jackets, but the scripted and musical segments were more contemporary. MMC had a stellar young cast, launching more careers of today's big stars than the shows previously mentioned; Christina Aguilera, JC Chasez, Ryan Gosling, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, are just a few of the many "mice that soared".

One of the channel's signature programs of the 1980s was D-TV, which featured clips from classic Disney animated movies, set to classic hit songs from the 1930s through the 1950s. D-TV continued to air on Disney Channel until 2002, when the Vault Disney block was dropped from the schedule. In September 1990, The Disney Channel picked up the Walt Disney anthology television series, known at the time as The Magical World of Disney, after NBC dropped it after a two-year run. The channel ran The Magical World of Disney periodically on Sunday nights until 1996, when it moved to ABC (which had then been recently purchased by the Walt Disney Company) and was renamed The Wonderful World of Disney. By 1995, Disney Channel was seen in more than 8 million homes across the United States.[1]

The Zoog/Vault Disney Era (1997-2002)

In 1997 (but in some markets, starting around 1994), Disney Channel began transitioning from a premium cable channel to being offered via expanded basic cable, officially doing so by 2000.[2] It was at this time that Disney Channel started to gain viewers. Prior to 1997, Disney Channel would air a free preview weekend periodically two times a year (with ads targeted to non-subscribers), in the same manner that HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and Starz have.

That year, Disney Channel took on a revamped look and dropped the word "The" in the network's name (However, promos often referred to the channel as simply "Disney" and the logo often omitted the "Channel" in the network's name also), and split the network into three programming blocks: Playhouse Disney, comprising of shows aimed at preschoolers; Vault Disney, featuring classic Disney material such as Zorro, The Mickey Mouse Club, the Walt Disney anthology television series, older television specials and feature films such as The Love Bug; and the most distinct one, running from afternoon to late evening on weekends for teenagers, called Zoog Disney, and the block featured anthropomorphic characters called "Zoogs", who resembled robots (but the Zoog characters were given human voices). By 2001, the Zoog Disney block was expanded from a three-hour weekend afternoon block, to taking up the entire weekend afternoon and evening schedule, becoming known as "Zoog Weekendz" until August 2002. Of the three blocks introduced in 1997, only Playhouse Disney continues to air on the channel to this day.

The Zoogs original look was one-dimensional, however, the Zoogs were redesigned in 2001, with a more three-dimensional design and mature voices, but were phased out after less than a year. A new channel logo (which featured a 1930s-era Mickey Mouse on a black Mickey ear-shaped TV), was also introduced in 1997. The channel also began to carry break interruptions (not advertising commercials, but promos for network programming).

Disney Channel's original programming during this period began to skyrocket. First, with the channel's first original program Flash Forward (which was co-produced with Family Channel in Canada) in 1997 and then continuing with shows like The Famous Jett Jackson and So Weird in 1999, The Jersey and Even Stevens in 2000, Lizzie McGuire in 2001, and Kim Possible in 2002, among others. Lizzie McGuire was the most popular of the early original series, launching the acting and singing career of star Hilary Duff (the first Disney Channel star to be a music artist on Disney-owned Hollywood Records, which has become more common in recent years), and spawning a feature film that was released by Walt Disney Pictures in 2003.

In 1998, the channel debuted Movie Surfers, a movie preview series similar to shows like HBO First Look, but featuring only behind-the-scenes information on Disney feature films with teenagers as hosts. In 2004, Disney Channel scaled back the length of Movie Surfers from a half-hour series to a series of five-minute featurettes scheduled after certain programs or 2½ minute segments airing during commercials.

Music videos featuring more recent artists began being incorporated onto Disney Channel's schedule also with the introduction of Zoog Disney, first featuring artists like Britney Spears and N*Sync; later transitioning to featuring videos for songs from recent Disney films and soundtracks, and increasingly in more recent years, songs performed by Disney Channel stars.

Disney Channel: Relaunched (2002–2007)

In September 2002, Disney Channel went through a major overhaul. First, the "Zoog" brand name was phased out from on-air usage; the "Zoog" name continued under a separate website until 2003, when it was merged with Disney Channel's main website. Then on September 9, 2002, the vintage material aired under the Vault Disney banner was discontinued (primarily to contribute to the network's new "hip" image) in favor of same-day repeats of the channel's original programming and off-network series. As a result, primetime movies were also cut to one a night (from two). The channel also ceased producing drama and reality series, shifting focus to live-action comedies and animated series, and Disney Channel usually premieres about two or three new original series a year (typically two animated series and one live-action series). The current logo was implemented a month later. As a result of these changes, of the three blocks introduced in 1997, only Playhouse Disney continues to this day.

Anne Sweeney, a veteran cable executive, took control of Disney-ABC Television Group in 2004 and successfully remade Disney Channel into "the major profit driver in the company."[3] Disney Channel has had a significant effect on tween pop culture as of recent, that many in the entertainment industry have noticed and are quick to point out about the cable channel. By 2008, Condé Nast Portfolio was able to note that the Channel "has been adding a million viewers a month — every month — for the last five years," and also called the Channel "the greatest teen-star incubator since the NBA stopped drafting high schoolers."[3] Sweeney's successful strategy was to discover, nurture, and aggressively cross-promote (female) teen music stars whose style and image were carefully targeted to pre-teen and teenage girls.

Disney Consumer Products has also mass-marketed product lines, many of them successful, based on the channel's original programming. Lizzie McGuire, That's So Raven, Hannah Montana, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and most recently Wizards of Waverly Place have launched extensive product lines, ranging from clothing to video games to tote bags, backpacks, etc. High School Musical, Camp Rock, The Cheetah Girls and Princess Protection Program are the only DCOMs thus far to do the same.

While Disney Channel's intended target audience are preschoolers, pre-teens and young adolescents, the channel has gained popularity and also has viewers outside the main target audience and has even made teen idols out of some of the channel's stars. The channel has become well known in recent years for its Disney Channel Original Series, and because of them, Disney Channel is one of the most-watched cable channels in the United States, with some series averaging around four to six million viewers (which is considered impressive for cable television).

In 2005, That's So Raven, which premiered in 2003, became the network's highest-rated series since the network's move to basic cable; as well as being the first Disney Channel Original Series to beat the 65-episode limit (eventually hitting 100 episodes) and to be the first to spawn a spin-off (Cory in the House, which aired from 2007 until its 2008 cancellation). Making That's so Raven the most successful Disney Channel Original Series ever.

2006 saw the premieres of the channel's most popular original movie and series franchises of all time. In January, the channel premiered the original movie High School Musical, which has been watched by an estimated 180 million viewers worldwide (and skyrocketed the careers of its stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale, the latter of whom was already starring in the original series The Suite Life of Zack and Cody), and launched two sequels, with a fourth to air on Disney Channel in 2010 featuring an entirely new cast. Then in March came the debut of Hannah Montana, starring a then-unknown Miley Cyrus as a teenager leading a double life as a teen pop superstar, launching Miley's career (and revitalizing the career of her father Billy Ray Cyrus, who also stars in the series), and also making co-stars Mitchel Musso and Emily Osment, and recurring guest star Cody Linley also popular with tween audiences).

Disney Channel: Today (2007–present)

In 2007, Disney Channel remodeled its look; not as extensive as the change from 2003. As part of the change, instead of the logo bouncing around the screen, turned into a ribbon and swirled around the screen until forming the logo. The background for promo cards and bumpers turned into an abstract atmosphere, as opposed to abstract objects bouncing and moving in the screen. Also, the font was updated from Digital to bold. Bumpers were updated as well. Instead of the logo popping up and delivering a message, the ribbon swirled up, formed the logo, and another ribbon swirled out with the message and were themed to the programs. In addition, the female announcer was dropped, leaving Buzz Brainard (who has been the announcer for the channel since 2000) as the primary announcer for the channel.

Disney Channel also cut down on the number of original movie and series premieres over the course of the calendar year, limiting to four Disney Channel Original Movies and two new Disney Channel Original Series per year. The most successful DCOM was High School Musical 2 which debuted in August 2007 with 17.2 million viewers, ranking as the highest-rated made-for-TV movie in cable television history.

In the spring of 2007, Disney Channel also started running "Short Shows", five-minute interstitials airing in-between programs, with As the Bell Rings being the first to debut (as of 2009 the only remaining short series beside Brian O'Brian and the Movie Surfers segments). October of that year saw the debut of Wizards of Waverly Place, about three teen wizards-in-training (starring Selena Gomez, Jake T. Austin, and David Henrie) who deal with the trials of everyday life and keeping their powers a secret.

Programming

Disney Channel mostly airs original sitcoms that are geared toward teenagers and sometimes airs its original cartoons geared more towards upper-elementary and middle school-age children. However, as of 2008 the only original cartoons it airs are The Replacements and Phineas and Ferb. Disney Channel also has a programming block that airs in the morning hours geared toward pre-schoolers called Playhouse Disney, which airs daily from 6:00 AM until noon (ET). During the summer, the Playhouse Disney lineup ends at 11:00 AM/ET and Disney Channel's daily summer schedule begins.

Series produced by Walt Disney Television or production companies unrelated to the Walt Disney Company used to make up most of the schedule; nowadays, with the explosion of Disney Channel Original Series, fewer of these series have aired on the channel. As of January 2008, the only non-original productions airing on Disney (not including the Playhouse Disney lineup, movies, and short series Minuscule and Shaun the Sheep) are Life With Derek, The Little Mermaid and Recess. As of February 2008, the only programming featuring classic Disney characters is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Playhouse Disney. In the 1980s and 1990s, Disney Channel aired classic Disney cartoons (that were usually made in the original Golden & Silver Age of Disney). They were for the most part taken off the lineup in 2000.

Much of Disney Channel's programming seems to appeal to teenage girls with shows like Hannah Montana. Disney Channel has aired programming more appealing to teenage boys with Aaron Stone and other original series from Disney XD in 2009. New programs are expected to premiere on Disney Channel in 2010, beginning with the original sitcom Good Luck Charlie.

Disney Channel's live-action series usually have no more than six contract cast members, and have between 6 to 8 credited staff writers (fewer than the typical 8 to 11). Its multi-camera sitcoms, which use the classic studio audience/laugh track format, are shot on videotape (note that these shows have Video Control Operators, Video Tape Operators and Technical Directors listed in the closing credits) and use some type of simulated film look: former series That's So Raven, Cory in the House and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, and current series Hannah Montana use the FilmLook image processing; while Sonny with a Chance, The Suite Life on Deck (starting with its second season) and Wizards of Waverly Place, (beginning with its 3rd season) use a 'filmized' appearance, but are shot on videotape. This has become standard on Disney Channel's multi-camera sitcoms ever since the transition to high definition.

Programming Blocks

Disney Channel, since 1998, has been know for changing its programming schedules during each of the four seasons of the year, with adding or applying special events or programs to attract more viewers.

Summer

Disney Channel's latest summer programming block, Summer of Stars, began on May 30, 2009 and ended September 7, 2009. Previous blocks have been Totally Rockin' Summer! (May 17, 2008-September 7, 2008),Summer! (May 24, 2007-September 8, 2007) and So Hot Summer! (June 1, 2006-August 31, 2006) and Summer 2005! (June 10, 2005-August 28, 2005).

Disney Channel Games

Debuting in 2006, the Disney Channel Games includes stars from Disney Channel original series and movies. After the kick-off Games in 2006, the 2007 and 2008 Games included stars from across the world, making room for the addition of a Yellow Team (Added to Blue, Red and Green) during the 2007 event. In 2008, the games featured four teams: Cyclones, Comets, Lightning and the Inferno. No Disney Channel Games were held in 2009, citing the schedules of the Disney Channel stars' might make it hard to hold the games. The DC Games will be held in 2010.

Halloween

Every night during the month of October, Disney Channel has aired Halloween-themed months of programming. There were many new Halloween films introduced in 2006 such as Twitches and many others and more recently Twitches Too in 2007.The next Halloween special is called Halloween of Stars.

New Year

Disney Channel stars host New Year events every New Year's Eve followed by a series marathon on New Year's Day. This tradition began with the annual Zoogin' New Year's Eve events in 1998, which continued until the dissolving of the Zoog Disney block in 2002. The next New Year Block will be titled New Year of Stars.

Movies

A film is broadcast almost every night, but not necessarily a theatrically released feature film. Disney Channel airs new original made-for-cable films, called Disney Channel Original Movies (or DCOMs), about four to six times a year, and those are frequently broadcast during that timeslot. The Disney Channel Original Movies began in 1997 with Northern Lights. The amount of DCOMs per year began to increase — from two in 1997 to three in 1998 to a high of twelve in 2000. In 2000, Disney Channel claimed to produce a new movie each month; this only lasted throughout that same year.

High School Musical 2 is the most successful DCOM in popularity and awards, setting a cable record for most viewers of a basic cable program, when its August 2007 debut scored 17.2 million, a record that stood until the December 3, 2007 Monday Night Football matchup between the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens on corporate sibling ESPN surpassed it with 17.5 million viewers (it still remains the most watched made-for-TV movie in cable television history). The Cheetah Girls films are also notably successful, with huge merchandise, sold out concert tours and soundtrack sales.

The channel will occasionally secure the rights to air a picture released by a non-Disney studio, most notably Warner Bros.' Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Universal Pictures' Beethoven, The Weinstein Company's Hoodwinked and Doogal, Sony Pictures' Stuart Little and Stuart Little 2, Lionsgate's Happily N'ever After, 20th Century Fox's Catch That Kid and Paramount's Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown. Also, another non-Disney Christmas themed film, such asThe Polar Express have aired. Other non-Disney films may include Little Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown, Her Best Move, Another Cinderella Story and Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird just to name a few.

Between 1986 and 1998, films made up most Disney Channel's evening and overnight schedule. It now only airs usually around 12 hours of movies per week, occasionally 14 or 15. Many of the channel's earliest original movies (particularly those made from 1997 to 2002) have seldom been aired by Disney Channel in recent years, except for some holiday-themed movies. This changed in January 2009 when the channel began airing these early original movies in late night on Fridays and Saturdays. A Disney Channel Original Movie used to air twice in a row on the night of its Friday night premiere; this tradition ended with the January 2006 premiere of High School Musical. Encore presentations of Disney Channel Original Movies however, still air on the channel in primetime on the Saturday and Sunday after its original Friday night debut.

Because of this, Disney airs programming following the film:

  • If it lasts 1:25 to 1:35, an Original Series will air (Disney used to air syndicated series that aired on the channel). In primetime, various original series will air and in daytime, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody will air, followed by another episode airing at its regularly scheduled time.
  • If it lasts 1:40 to 1:45, a miniature episode of an Original Animated Series will air (most likely an 11-minute episode of an Animated Original Series).
  • If it lasts 1:50 to 1:55, either a music video will air (e.g. Disney Channel Circle of Stars) along with a Disney Channel promos music video, or an episode of a Disney Channel Short Series such as Shaun the Sheep, As the Bell Rings, or Brian O' Brian.

Disney Channel HD

Like most other Disney-owned cable channels, starting on March 19, 2008, Disney Channel began broadcasting in High Definition[4][5] (the only Disney/ABC-owned cable networks which did not add an HD feed were ESPN Classic and SOAPnet). The channel broadcasts a limited schedule of programming in the Disney/ABC networks' preferred format of 720p high definition, which is offered on some cable providers, as well as both satellite providers and telco IPTV providers on a simulcast schedule which programs on separate East Coast and West Coast feeds. Original movies were produced (but not broadcast) in the format as early as 2006, but its live action shows did not begin being produced in the format until February 2009 with the debut of Sonny with a Chance. Starting with the debut of the second season, "The Suite Life on Deck, began to be broadcast in High Definition , and other original sitcoms will transition to HD with the debut of the following season.

Slogans

  • 1987-1989: Disney is our Channel
  • 1989-1992: America's Family Network

Criticism

Disney Channel programming has had heavy criticism since its switch from limited, premium cable to basic, more wide spread cable. Most criticism lies in the fact that executives at Disney Channel have pulled away from the characters on which its parent company, The Walt Disney Company was based on: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. Other criticism leads to the idea that Disney Channel has been geared towards only tween girls since the relaunch in 2003. Anne Sweeney is under most criticism due to her strategy to aggressively cross-promote female only teen music stars who target audience is pre-teen and teenage girls. Executives hope to become more "boy friendly" in 2010 when Good Luck Charlie premieres and when Aaron Stone and Zeke and Luther join the main Disney Channel line-up next spring.

See also

References

  1. ^ Bryant, J. Alison (November 7, 2006 (2006-11-07)). The Children's Television Community. Lawrence Erlbaum. p. 149. ISBN 0-805-84996-3. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Cable TV Arlington's Archived Lineup. Disney is channel 21 under the basic lineup.
  3. ^ a b Karl Taro Greenfeld, "How Mickey Got His Groove Back," Condé Nast Portfolio, May 2008, 126-131 & 150.
  4. ^ "DirecTV to Add Disney, ESPN HD Services". MulitChannel News. March 13, 2007. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
  5. ^ "Toon Disney available in HD". DirecTV. Retrieved 2009-01-09.