Disney Channel was a pan-Asian

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...

children's channel owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia. It began broadcasting in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

on 29 March 1995, until its main launch in January 2000, when it first broadcast in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and the Philippines. It later expanded to most Southeast Asian countries in the months following. The channel was closed on 1 October 2021, while Taiwan's version closed on 1 January 2022, as part of a wider switch to streaming services

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

and

Disney+ Hotstar Disney+ Hotstar, also known as JioHotstar or simply Hotstar, is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Disney Star. The brand was introduced as Hotstar for a streaming service carrying content from Di ...

. Disney Channel Asia's programming consised of original first-run

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

, theatrically released and original made-for-television films, selected other third-party programming, and Malaysian-based originals. Some programming were not aired due to government restrictions.

History

Pre-launch

The Walt Disney Company opened an office in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in December 1994 to manage its television interests in the Asia-Pacific region, with the aim of starting a television channel in

with a 20-hour schedule. The channel's distributor was Po-Hsin Entertainment, a company partly-owned by the then-ruling

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

and was frustrated during the legalization of cable television in Taiwan. The company announced plans in January 1995 to launch a satellite television station in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, with its Singaporean television subsidiary running the facility. The facility was "not designed for a Singapore Disney Channel", pursuing the goal of launching the network in Singapore in order to explore business opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region. The license was awarded by the Telecommunications Authority of Singapore on 1 March 1995, the first to be used entirely for and by a single company. The facilities were formally open on 26 March 1995, three days before the launch of the Taiwanese channel, with a speech by Minister of the Arts Brigadier-General George Yeo, who delivered a speech mainly centered on the American cultural industry and the contrasts between the wholesomeness of

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

and the cynicism of

Beavis and Butt-Head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, Stupi ...

, and how the rest of the world felt unsure about American culture as a whole. About 150 people attended the ceremony. Yeo affirmed that the resurgence of interest in Disney and similar products reflected a "deeper renewal of human society" and that even in a conservative country like Singapore, a country still dominated by "old-fashioned" values, products and programs from Disney were seen as "very comfortable" with consumers. Moreover, Singapore was the world's largest consumer of Disney products per capita at the time. The satellite station alone cost S$14 million with the possibility of Singapore being the second country in Asia to receive Disney Channel, pending negotiations with Singapore Cable Vision, which was set to start its regular cable service in June. In addition, the facility was also used for dubbing content in other languages, as well as moving more of the facilities done in Hong Kong to the new ones in Singapore. Disney Channel began broadcasting in

on 29 March 1995 at 2:00 pm (

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

), marking its first Disney Channel overseas, with Po-Hsin Entertainment as its distributor. The ceremony took place at Grand Hyatt Taipei in Taiwan. The channel operated from Walt Disney Television's facilities in Loyang, Singapore using the Apstar-1 satellite; negotiations with Singapore Cable Vision to include the channel on its package were underway. On 1 October 1996, another feed was launched in Malaysia, where it was available on the satellite TV platform Astro. Between January and February 2000, Disney Television International Asia-Pacific launched Disney Channel in more countries and was made available for Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines; broadcasting with an English audio track with Mandarin subtitles. During the launch, the channel featured premiere movies, '' The Lion King II: Simba's Pride'', ''

Sleeping Beauty "Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...

'', ''

Mary Poppins Mary Poppins may refer to: * Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers * Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny ** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...

'', ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

'', ''

George of the Jungle ''George of the Jungle'' is an American animated television series produced and created by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, who also created '' The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends''. The character George was inspired by the story of ...

'', '' The Parent Trap'' and the live action version of '' 101 Dalmatians,'' including the series '' The Wonderful World of Disney''. It was also featured American television series ''Hercules The Series'', '' Timon and Pumbaa'', ''

Bear in the Big Blue House ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' is an American children's television series created by Mitchell Kriegman and produced by Jim Henson Television for Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney preschool television block. Debuting on October 20, 1997, it a ...

'', and ''

The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ''The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Based on the ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' books by authors A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard, ''The New Adventures'' was the ...

'', as well as children's drama series '' Crash Zone'' and '' Flash Forward.'' It also had local content, with ''Disney Buzz'' (later renamed '' Studio Disney''), and its morning block

Playhouse Disney Playhouse Disney was a brand of programming blocks and international cable and satellite television channels that were owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit (now Disney Branded Television) of The Walt Disney Company's Disney–ABC Tele ...

Expansion

On 1 June 2002, the channel was launched in the South Korean market, with additional Korean

subtitles Subtitles are texts representing the contents of the audio in a film, television show, opera or other audiovisual media. Subtitles might provide a transcription or translation of spoken dialogue. Although naming conventions can vary, caption ...

under English language, in July 2002, Disney Channel expanded to Indonesia, which later aired programs in Indonesian. In December 2002, Disney Channel Asia moved its headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore, seven years after launching its satellite broadcasting center back in 1995. On 2 April 2004, Disney Channel along with

launched in Hong Kong. The standalone Playhouse Disney channel launched in Indonesia as well. Over the first six months of 2005, Disney Channel Asia, along with sister channel Playhouse Disney (later

Disney Junior Disney Jr. (formerly Disney Junior) is an American pay television network owned by the Disney Branded Television sub-division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company. Aimed mainly at children two to seven year ...

) were launched in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, at a time where the country's under-14 population stood at 24 million,

Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. It also launched both channels in

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

, its 11th market on 20 June 2005, with Cambodia Entertainment Production Co. Ltd. as distributor. It later launched Playhouse Disney in some markets from 2004 in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, and South Korea. In December 2006, Disney Channel expanded to

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

on the HiTron cable service. On 1 July 2011, Disney Channel launched its Korean feed separating the pan-Asian feed, which was the first Disney channel to be broadcasting with Korean

dubbing Dubbing (also known as re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and the video production process where supplementary recordings (known as doubles) are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production audio to cr ...

. Later on 11 July 2011, its sister channel

relaunched as

, coinciding the premiere of ''

Jake and the Never Land Pirates ''Jake and the Never Land Pirates'', titled ''Captain Jake and the Never Land Pirates'' for the fourth season and associated merchandise, is an American animated Interactivity, interactive preschool children's television series for Disney Jr. Bas ...

''. On 15 September 2012, Disney Channel's third sister channel

Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Entertainment units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years old ...

launched in Malaysia. It was later launched in Singapore on 16 March 2013, Indonesia and Thailand on 19 October 2013, and concluding in the Philippines on 31 May 2014. After the ban of

Disney Channel India Disney Channel is an Indian pay television channel owned by Disney Star, JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. The channel is the Indian equivalent to the Disney Channel, original American network, and was launched on 16 De ...

and Disney XD India in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

as the networks were constantly broadcasting content in the

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

language and its heavy localization back in 2013, Disney Channel Asia was made available on several digital cable platforms, such as Bengal Digital, in the country in approximately 2016. Due to the closure of the channel, India-based Disney International HD started broadcasting in Bangladesh as a replacement. Most of its programming was available on DisneyLife when it was launched in the Philippines on 25 May 2018. It was later discontinued on 1 April 2020. On 1 September 2020, Disney Channel in Indonesia was separated from the main feed, following of the launch of

on 5 September 2020. It also has a live stream on the website, and airs some idents as well.

Closure

Disney Channel,

and

closed in Singapore on 1 June 2020 after failing to renew their contracts, on both

Singtel Singapore Telecommunications Limited, trading as Singtel, is a Singaporean telecommunications conglomerate, the country's principal fixed-line operator and one of the four major mobile network operators operating in the country. Overview T ...

and

StarHub StarHub Limited, commonly known as StarHub, is a Singaporean multinational telecommunications conglomerate and one of the major Telecommunications in Singapore, telcos operating in the country. Founded in 1998, it is listed on the Singapore Ex ...

. Its content was moved to and replaced with

, since it was launched in the country on 23 February 2021. On 1 January 2021, Disney Channel and

closed in Malaysia on Astro due to its children's offerings being refurbished, and the preparation of the launch of

in the country. It closed down while airing '' Bolt'' at midnight. Disney Channel's content was moved to the streaming service, since its launch on 1 June 2021. Also on 1 January 2021, due to the review of Disney's business in the region, (particularly Singapore), its sister channel

was closed in the said region. After 21 years on the air, Disney Channel, including

and most of its Fox channels officially closed in the rest of Asia; and Hong Kong on 1 October 2021.Multiple sources: * * * It closed at

midnight Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours. ...

( JKT/THAI), after an airing of '' Star vs. the Forces of Evil'' on the pan-Asian feed and '' Bao'' on the Hong Kong feed. After the closure, Disney Channel in Taiwan continued operations, until its closure on 1 January 2022, after a '' Big Hero 6: The Series'' short also at midnight (In Taipei's Time), with

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

serving as its replacement in some cable providers, while most of its content (including third-party programs) were moved to Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar depends on their countries' versions.

Presentation and logos

With the launch of the channel in 2000, Disney Channel Asia began to use the "Circles" presentation package, until the end of April 2003, when the US logo (and design package by CA Square) as the "Bounce" graphics, it became the channel's on-air presentation format, then later rebranded using the "Ribbon" graphics from 2007 until 2011. Two more redesigns were made in 2012, then on 1 August 2014, with the current wordmark logo. Disney Channel Asia started using parts of the US "Social Media" rebrand from 1 December 2017 and rebranded fully on 1 January 2018 at 6 am. As of 2020, it has also used elements of the US "Item Age" graphics, while Hong Kong and Taiwan keep its old branding before the closure. File:1986 Disney Channel logo.svg, 1995-1997 (Taiwan), 1996-1997 (Malaysia) File:1997 Disney Channel logo.jpg, 1997-2003 (Taiwan and Malaysia), 2000-2003 (Asia) File:2002 Disney Channel logo.svg, 2003-2011 (Asia and Taiwan), 2004-2011 (Hong Kong) File:2010 Disney Channel logo.svg, 2011-2014 File:2014 Disney Channel logo.svg, 2014-2018 File:2017 Disney Channel logo.svg, 2018-2020 (Asia), 2018-2021 (Hong Kong), 2018-2022 (Taiwan) File:2019 Disney Channel logo.svg, 2020-2021 (Asia)

Final feeds

Southeast Asia

The pan-Asian feed was available in Thailand, Fiji, Palau, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Myanmar, and Bangladesh. This feed ceased airing movies and started sharing the same schedule with the Indonesian feed on 1 February 2021. This feed officially closed on 1 October 2021.

Singapore

The schedule was similar to the main feed, along with local advertisements. Some programming was replaced by sitcoms. This feed was closed on 1 June 2020, after failing to renew their contracts on both

and

; due to the launch of Disney+ on 23 February 2021.

Malaysia and Brunei

Same schedule as the Asia feed, with local advertisements; began early on 15 January 2000. It was available in four languages: English, Malay,

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

. This channel was only available on Astro in Malaysia and Kristal-Astro in Brunei. Because of Astro's children's package being refreshed on 14 December 2020 and the launch of Disney+ Hotstar, Disney Channel, along with Disney Junior, were removed on Astro and Astro-owned TV providers (including NJOI and Kristal-Astro) on 1 January 2021. Therefore, there was the only impact that The Walt Disney Company would be shutting down Disney XD in Southeast Asia on the same date and time by following the review of Disney's business in this region, just before Astro has already confirmed with this statement before Astro shutting down both Disney Channel and Disney Junior on the same date and time. However, The Walt Disney Company did not announce that Astro would be shutting down Disney Channel and Disney Junior on 1 January 2021 at midnight. This feed closed on that date, along with Disney Junior and Disney XD, on Astro due to their refreshed children's package and the launch of

on 1 June 2021.

Indonesia

Began in July 2002; the schedule was very similar to the main feed, with the exclusions of movies at launch. It was separated from the main feed from 1 September 2020, during the launch of

on 5 September 2020. This feed later started sharing the same schedule with the main feed on 1 February 2021. There are also Disney+ Hotstar idents on this feed. The channel completely closed on 1 October 2021, with its programming moving to the Disney+ Hotstar.

Philippines

Began on January 15, 2000. It had the same schedule as the Asia feed with local advertisements. The channel closed on 1 October 2021, with its programming moving to

from 17 November 2021.

Vietnam

Launched in May 2005. A one-hour time-shifted version of the main Asia feed with local advertisements, Vietnamese translations in promos, and subtitles. The channel closed on 1 October 2021.

HD channel

On 2 May 2015, The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia launched a high-definition simulcast feed of

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, available on

Sky Cable Sky Cable (stylized as SKYcable) is a cable television service of Sky Cable Corporation in the Philippines. It covers areas across the country with both digital and analog cable services, and it has 700,000 subscribers, controlling 45% of th ...

and Destiny Cable distributed by ACCION in that country. Just like its SD counterpart, the HD simulcast of the channel airs the same shows shown in the SD feed. The HD feed was also launched on

TrueVisions True Visions Group Co., Ltd. is the largest provider of a cable analog television (CAtv) and digital satellite television (DStv) in Thailand. TrueVisions is a subsidiary of the business division of True Corporation. Prior to February 2007, ...

on 7 July 2016 as an exclusive for cable subscribers, and on Astro in Malaysia on 15 November 2019 for satellite subscribers. The HD channels closed on 1 October 2021.

Hong Kong

Launched on 2 April 2004, along with Playhouse Disney. The schedule of this feed was shared with the Taiwan feed and was separated from the main feed on 2 April 2004. It was broadcast in English and

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

languages. The channel closed on 1 October 2021, due to the launch of

on 16 November 2021.

Taiwan

It was the first overseas feed launched by Disney Channels Worldwide. It began operations on 29 March 1995. It had its own schedule with local advertisements and broadcasts in English and

Taiwanese Mandarin Taiwanese Mandarin, frequently referred to as ''Guoyu'' () or ''Huayu'' (), is the variety of Mandarin Chinese spoken in Taiwan. A large majority of the Taiwanese population is fluent in Mandarin, though many also speak a variety of Min Chinese ...

. The feed closed on 1 January 2022, after 26 years of broadcasting, due to the launch of

on 12 November 2021.

Sister channels

Disney Junior

Disney Junior was a 24-hour television preschool channel, and the sister channel of Disney Channel, aimed at children and preschoolers from 2–7 years old. Originally launched as a morning block on Disney Channel as Playhouse Disney in 2000; and officially launched as a television channel on 2 April 2004 in Hong Kong and Indonesia. It was later expanded in Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines; between 2004 and 2005 respectively. On 11 July 2011, Playhouse Disney was rebranded as Disney Junior, on both the morning block and the television channel itself. The block was discontinued on 31 July 2018, while the channel was entirely closed in the region on 1 October 2021 along with Disney Channel; excluding Singapore and Malaysia, since it previously closed in those countries on 1 June 2020 and 1 January 2021 respectively.

Disney XD

Disney XD was a Southeast Asian television channel, aimed for older children and teenagers from 6–15 years old, the channels launch on 15 September 2012 in Malaysia, 16 March 2013 in Singapore, 19 October 2013, in Indonesia and Thailand; and 31 May 2014 in the Philippines, concluding its launch. The channel was closed on 1 January 2021, excluding Singapore, since it was discontinued on 1 June 2020.

Programming

Programming Blocks

Final

= ''Movies Unlimited''

= ''Movies Unlimited'' was the film programming block on Disney Channel. It aired at 3:00 pm (UTC+08:00); it ended on 30 September 2021, prior to the closure.

Former

= ''Monstober''

= ''Monstober'' was a halloween programming block with special marathons every October. It ended in 2020.

= ''Disney Junior''

= Disney Junior was the preschool morning block of Disney Channel, began during the 2000 launch as Playhouse Disney. Rebranded as Disney Junior on Disney Channel on 11 July 2011 and was halted on 31 July 2018.

= ''Disney Channel Movie''

= Disney Channel Movie was a film-oriented programming block on Disney Channel from 2005 to 2021, replacing The Wonderful World of Disney.

= ''The Wonderful World of Disney''

= ''The Wonderful World of Disney'' was a film-oriented programming block on Disney Channel from 2000 to 2005 before it was replaced by Disney Channel Movie.

Original series and adaptations

Studio Disney

As the Bell Rings Singapore

Waktu Rehat

Harry & Bunnie (distribution)

Club Mickey Mouse

''Club Mickey Mouse'' was the Malaysian adaptation of ''Mickey Mouse Club'', originally premiered on 15 September 2017.

Wizards of Warna Walk

References

{{Philippine subscription channels

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

Children's television channels in the Asia Pacific English-language television stations in Singapore Mandarin-language television stations Defunct television channels in Singapore Television channels and stations disestablished in 2021 Mass media in Southeast Asia Television stations in Papua New Guinea Television stations in Fiji Television stations in Palau Television stations in Vietnam Television stations in Thailand Television channels and stations established in 2000 Defunct television channels