Disney XD was a Dutch

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

channel owned by

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

. It broadcast 14 hours a day between 04:00–18:00, time-where it shared with Dutch TV station Veronica, and was primarily aimed at children roughly between the ages of 7 and 15. The channel used to have a pay television 24-hour feed that was distributed throughout the Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders); however, it was closed down on 31 July 2018. Viewers in Belgium (

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

) and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

received the French feed of Disney XD, which was shut down in 2020. All series on the channel air in Dutch, either dubbed or originally produced in that language. However, the 24-hour feed of the network used to offer an optional English audio track for most programming. Dutch subtitles were distributed through

teletext Teletext, or broadcast teletext, is a standard for displaying text and rudimentary graphics on suitably equipped television sets. Teletext sends data in the broadcast signal, hidden in the invisible vertical blanking interval area at the to ...

-page 888, as there is currently no DVB subtitle track available. Prior to its aforementioned shutdown near the end of July 2018, the 24-hour version of Disney XD used to broadcast certain shows in English subtitled in Dutch, mainly in the evening and night.

History

Disney XD was first launched as

Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...

in the Netherlands on 2 August 1997 and later it expanded its coverage area to Belgium. Saban International bought Dutch

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...

television network A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television show, television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or ...

TV10 in January 1997 and started broadcasting Fox Kids, a joint venture with

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...

later on in that same year, making TV10 and Fox Kids a time-sharing channel on terrestrial television; in the daytime it was Fox Kids, and at night TV10. In 2001 Saban wanted to sell its share in Fox Kids to the News Corporation. In the end, Murdoch decided to sell Fox Kids to

so he would have the money to acquire

DirecTV DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...

. Fox Kids was rebranded as

Jetix Jetix (stylized in all caps) was a children's entertainment brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The brand was for a slate of action and adventure-related programming blocks and television channels. Jetix programming mainly originated fr ...

on 13 February 2005, now time-sharing with Veronica. On 1 January 2010, the Dutch Jetix channel was rebranded as Disney XD, making it the last Jetix feed to be relaunched under the brand in Europe. One month later, a 24-hour feed of the channel was launched as a

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 ...

network. In 2012, Disney extensively promoted the 24-hour feed in magazines like

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...

and Tina under the banner of "Disney XD Extra". It featured extra programming added after 18:00, when the free-to-air feed closed down to timeshare with Veronica. On 25 March 2015, Disney XD launched an HD simulcast of the 24-hour feed of the channel, which was available at the time on KPN, XS4All and Telfort. The 24-hour feed closed on 31 July 2018. Due to this, the channel ceased broadcasting on Belgian carriers. The free-to-air channel time-sharing with Veronica continues to remain available, but only in the Netherlands. As a consequence, there is no optional English audio track anymore, due to that only being available on the 24-hour version. Alongside the Polish and

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

versions of Disney XD, the Dutch version of Disney XD was one of the last three remaining Disney XD feeds broadcasting outside the United States until May 1, 2025, when it would become a new version of Disney Jr. in the Dutch market; the previous iteration of Disney Junior closed on 1 April 2019.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Children's television networks Television channels in the Netherlands Defunct television channels in the Netherlands Television channels and stations established in 1997 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2025 1997 establishments in the Netherlands 2025 disestablishments in the Netherlands