Disney Junior was a Southeast Asian preschool

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 ...

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Australia in Queensland and pa ...

owned by the Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia that was active from 2 April 2004 to 31 December 2021. Aimed mainly at children between ages 2 to 7 years old, its

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

consisted 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 ...

and theatrically released and made-for-DVD movies, as well as other select third-party programming; some of which originally having aired on

PBS Kids PBS Kids (stylized as PBS KIDS) is the branding used for nationally distributed children's programming carried by the U.S. public television network PBS. The brand encompasses a daytime block of children's programming carried daily by most PBS ...

in the United States. Launched in 2004 as Playhouse Disney, Disney Junior also lent its name to an early morning program block seen on sister channels

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 ...

, where it was branded as ''Disney Junior on Disney Channel'' until 31 July 2018. The channel itself ceased operations at the end of 2021 to due to the launch of

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 ...

in the region.

History

Launch

The Asian version of Playhouse Disney started in 2000 as a block on Disney Channel, with plans for the standalone channel on the cards since October 2002. It later launched as a channel for Hong Kong and Indonesia on 2 April 2004, with the aim of reaching more territories (in South East Asia and Korea) in due course. From 2004 to 2005, it expanded in several Southeast Asian countries.

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 ...

became the third country to receive the channel, launching on

StarHub TV Star Hub TV is a pay television service provided by StarHub in Singapore. It has been a subsidiary of ''StarHub Limited'' since StarHub acquired ''Singapore Cable Vision'' (SCV) in 2001, and was the sole pay-TV operator in the country until 200 ...

on 15 May 2004. It was followed by Korea in June 2004, Malaysia in early July 2004, Brunei in late August, in tandem with Disney Channel, on

Kristal-Astro Kristal Astro ( Jawi: كريستل استرو) was a sole operator of Brunei's multi-channel pay-TV service. It was officially launched on 24 January 2000. The company is a joint-venture between Kristal Sdn. Bhd. and Malaysia's MEASAT Broadca ...

, Cambodia in June 2005, in tandem with Disney Channel, Vietnam in December 2005, also in tandem with Disney Channel, on Hanoi Cable and Ho Chi Minh Cable, entirely in English without Vietnamese dubbing, in a market that at the time had an under-14 population of 24 million and the Philippines in the same month, with a separate feed. At the time, it was the first - and only - preschool-oriented television network in

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 ...

. On 11 July 2011, Playhouse Disney later rebranded as Disney Junior. Due to increasing localization of the Indian feeds of Disney Channel and Disney XD, they were banned from broadcasting in Bangladesh in 2013. Later, in 2016, the Southeast Asian feeds of the Disney channels, including Disney Junior Asia, became available on certain cable operators in Bangladesh.

Closure

On 1 June 2020,

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 ...

and Disney Junior ceased transmission in

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 ...

after failing the contract renewal with both service providers in the country. Select programs from these 3 channels were moved to, replaced by and made it available via

on 23 February 2021. On 5 August 2020, Disney Junior upgraded to HD on

Astro Astro may refer to: Entertainment and media * Astro (South Korean band), a South Korean boy band * Astro (UB40) (born Terence Wilson) (1957–2021), rapper and member of the British reggae band UB40 * Astro (Chilean band), a Chilean indie ro ...

alongside

. On 1 January 2021, the channels ceased operations across

and Astro-owned TV providers (including NJOI and Kristal-Astro) in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

due to the launch of Astro's Refreshed Kids Pack that announced back on 14 December 2020. While its shows moved to

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 ...

in the said country on 1 June 2021. After 17 years of broadcasting, Disney Junior, along with Disney Channel, and most of its Fox channels in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong ceased on 1 October 2021,Multiple sources: * * * at exactly 1:00 am ( UTC+08:00)/12:00 am ( UTC+07:00), concluding with '' Mira, Royal Detective'', thus the channel space originally created by Playhouse Disney Channel in 2004 folded and ceased to exist. Most Disney Junior shows will be shown instead on

and

on selected territories. Nevertheless, the Disney Junior Taiwan block on Disney Channel will continue to operate after this date. But the block ended on

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

(31 December 2021).

Final feeds

Throughout the expansion, it was owned and operated by the former Walt Disney Television International.

''Disney Junior Magazine Philippines''

''Disney Junior Magazine Philippines'' (known as ''Disney Junior Magazine'' and formerly known as ''Playhouse Disney Magazine Philippines'') was an educational magazine published 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 ...

Summit Media Summit Publishing Co., Inc., doing business as Summit Media, is a Philippine digital media and publishing company. Founded in 1995, the company owns several entertainment and lifestyle media websites in the Philippines. Summit Media began as ...

in collaboration with The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia.

Logos

file:2000 Playhouse Disney logo.svg, 2004-2011 file:Disney junior.png, 2011-2021

References

{{Disney Channel

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Children's television channels in the Asia Pacific Defunct television channels Commercial-free television networks Television programming blocks in Asia Defunct television channels in Singapore Television channels and stations established in 2004 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2021 Mass media in Southeast Asia English-language television stations in Singapore