Disney XD was an Italian television channel aimed primarily at children and teenagers, specifically boys. The channel was owned by Walt Disney Television Italia, a subsidiary of

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

. The channel was launched exclusively on the

Sky Italia Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo and Sky TG24. As of 2018, following an ag ...

platform on 28 September 2009, and closed on 1 October 2019. The channel's official announcer was the voice actor Maurizio Merluzzo.

History

Fox Kids/Jetix

The channel launched as Fox Kids on 1 April 2000 on the Stream DTH platform, airing from 6:00am-7:00pm every day. By July 2001, the channel reached 650,000 subscribers. On 19 July 2001, Fox Kids Italia announced the launch of a free-to-air programming strand under the name that would air on syndicated television stations such as Antenna 3, Lombardia and Super 3 every day 6pm-7pm, and launched on 1 September 2001. In September 2002, the Fox Kids syndicated block was extended to start at 5:30pm, with a 6:45am-8am morning slot added. A one-hour timeshift was launched on July 31, 2003. With the Jetix rebranding, Fox Kids launched a Jetix-branded primetime block that ran from 7pm-10:30pm every day in mid-2004. the syndicated Fox Kids block was separated and rebranded as K-2 in October 2004 In 2009, it was launched as its own digital terrestrial television channel., and the Fox Kids channel was rebranded as Jetix on 1 March 2005. In May 2005, a sister channel aimed at a male teenage audience - GXT, was launched, exclusively for

. In October 2006, an Italian version of Jetix Magazine launched. On 1 July 2009, K-2 re-launched as a standalone free-to-air television channel, and was rebranded as K2.

As Disney XD

On 15 July 2009, it was announced that the Italian subsidiary of Jetix Europe, Jetix Italy S.r.l., would undergo a management buyout under the name of

Switchover Media Switchover Media (SOM) was an Italian broadcaster of television channels. The company first operated as a subsidiary of Netherlands-based broadcaster Jetix Europe to being purchased out by its management and rebranding to Switchover Media in June ...

, and would purchase the GXT and K2 networks and blocks from The Walt Disney Company. The company also agreed to operate Jetix Italy for Disney until its rebranding as Disney XD Italy would go to fruition. On 7 September 2009, it was officially announced that the rebranding to Disney XD would occur on 28 September 2009, and on that date, channel operations transferred from Switchover Media to The Walt Disney Company Italia. On 1 October 2011, Disney XD +2, a two-hour time shift of the channel, was launched. The channel also switched to the 16:9 widescreen ratio on 9 May 2012. On 15 September in the same year, a high definition simulcast was also launched. From 8 to 21 June 2015, the channel's +2 timeshift temporarily rebranded to a pop-up channel solely airing '' Hannah Montana''. On 1 October 2019, due to Disney’s failure to renew their contract with

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

, the channel, along with Disney in English, Fox Animation,

Fox Comedy Fox Comedy is a television network, launched by the Fox Networks Group, which airs in Poland and Portugal. Its basic programming include numerous comedy series and films. It was launched in Italy on November 1, 2014, Poland on January 16, 2015, an ...

and

Nat Geo People Nat Geo People was an international pay television channel owned by National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (73%) and the National Geographic Society (27%). Targeted at female audiences, with programming fo ...

, was shut down. The Swiss version of the channel would be replaced by a local version of

Disney Junior Disney Junior is an American pay television network owned by the Walt Disney Television (part of Disney General Entertainment Content) unit of The Walt Disney Company through Disney Branded Television. Aimed mainly at children two to seven y ...

starting from 27 November of that year, which would later close on 1 April 2020.

Logos

File:Logo Disney XD.svg, 28 September 2009 - 1 February 2016 File:Disney XD - 2015.svg, 1 February 2016 - 1 October 2019

References

{{reflist Disney XD Italian-language television stations Television channels and stations established in 2009 2009 establishments in Italy 2019 disestablishments in Italy Television channels and stations disestablished in 2019 Defunct television channels in Italy