Disney Channel (Scandinavia)

For Disney Channel in other countries, see Disney Channel (international). For the original version of Disney Channel, see Disney Channel.

Disney Channel Scandinavia
Launched	February 28, 2003
Owned by	The Walt Disney Company
Picture format	16:9 (widescreen)
Audience share	1.1% (Sweden, 2008, [1])
Slogan	"Share the Joy" (May 2014-)
Broadcast area	Nordic countries, Baltic states
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Sister channel(s)	Disney XD Disney Junior
Website	disneychannel.se, disneychannel.dk, disneychannel.no, disneychannel.fi
Availability
Terrestrial
Boxer (Sweden)	Channel 31
PlusTV (Finland)	Channel 52
RiksTV (Norway)	Channel 14
Boxer (Denmark)	Channel 25 [2]
Digitalísland	Channel 60[3][4]
Satellite
Canal Digital (Finland and Norway)	Channel 105
Viasat	Channel 12, Channel 9 or Channel 60
Cable
Com Hem (Sweden)	Channel 154
dna Welho (Finland)	Channel 160
Anvia (Finland)	Channel 78
IPTV
Canal Digital (Sweden)	Channel 90

Disney Channel is a Scandinavian children's channel owned by The Walt Disney Company.

History

On February 28, 2003, the Disney Channel was launched, and was then at the time exclusive to the Viasat satellite platform (Sirius 4). Later that year, it became available on digital cable networks, such as the Swedish Com Hem. Once the channel was originally launched, the only programs aired were animated, many of which were not Disney Channel Original Series (as they are called in the U.S.). The first live-action series aired on Disney Channel was Smart Guy, which debuted in 2005.

In 2003, the channel also applied for a license to broadcast in the Swedish digital terrestrial television network. The Disney Channel was among the channels recommended by the Swedish Radio and TV Authority, and the government granted the Disney Channel a broadcasting license on January 29, 2004. The terrestrial transmissions could start on February 15th via the Boxer TV Access platform. Soon after that, the channel celebrated its first anniversary by dropping encryption for one weekend. On August 1, 2005, the channel became available to subscribers of the Canal Digital (Thor 2) satellite platform. Simultaneously, a sister channel called Toon Disney was launched. A third sister channel, Playhouse Disney, was launched on October 1, 2006.

In the fall of 2009, the channel started broadcasting its first original productions. Among these are a sitcom called Når klokkerne ringer, produced by the Danish production company Nobody, and the music competition My Camp Rock, produced by Titan Television.^[5]

In January 2012, Disney Channel Scandinavia got the same on-air logo and graphics as the UK version of Disney Channel at the time. Later in May 2012, the channel updated to 16:9 (widescreen).

Since August 1, 2012, the channel has been airing advertisements between the shows. In the fall of 2012, the Disney Channels in Sweden, Norway and Denmark split feeds during the commercial breaks so it would be easier to air local advertisements; however, the promos and schedule are the same in the Nordic countries.^[6][7]

In October 2013, Disney Channel Scandinavia introduced its own locally-produced mini-series, Violetta: The Scoop, in which they catch up with Violetta, show sneak peeks, and talk about "secrets" from the show.

On May 29, 2014, Disney Channel Scandinavia began using new on-air graphics and a new logo, both created by BDA Creative. The new logo was first introduced on the German Disney Channel in January 2014 when it went free-to-air and later on May 23th in the U.S.

Programming

The channel is mainly aimed at children, broadcasting Disney television series 24 hours daily. Disney feature films are also an important part of the channel's programming. All of the programmes are dubbed into local languages. Since autumn 2012, Disney Channel broadcast with different video streams between the countries with its audio stream, but schedule is still the same. Many syndicated programmes have been aired on Disney Channel, such as The Fairly OddParents and Scaredy Squirrel.

Website

The website has games, videos, movies, shows, schedules, characters, and shopping. In 2007 a video service called Disney Play was added, which is only available in the region. In 2012 the site was updated because of a new logo. In November 2013 the site was updated again to the same look as the Disney Channel UK's website.

Sister networks

Disney XD

Disney XD is a male-skewed children's channel which broadcasts 16 hours a day between 6:00 AM CET and 10:00 PM CET. It replaced Jetix and Toon Disney on September 12, 2009.^[8][9] Jetix used to end its daily broadcasts at 6:00 PM. Disney XD is funded by advertising, as was Jetix, while Toon Disney was commercial-free.

Disney Junior

Disney Junior is a channel aimed at preschoolers which was launched in October 2006 on the Canal Digital and Viasat satellite operators as Playhouse Disney. Later on, the channel was launched on cable operators. On Com Hem, the largest cable operator in Sweden, the channel was launched on April 2, 2007. On September 10, 2011, Playhouse Disney was rebranded as Disney Junior.

References

1. "Årsrapport 2008" (PDF). Mediamätning i Skandinavien.
2. "Disney Channel på Boxers tv-sendenet" (Press release). Boxer. April 16, 2009.
3. http://www.vodafone.is/sjonvarp/stodvar/disney program cable-tv network provider
4. http://www.stod2.is/Dagskra/dagskra?stod=DISNO program-listing channel subscription provider
5. "Disney Channel stärker upp med lokalproduktioner". Dagens Media. June 5, 2009.
6. "Disney vässar svenska reklamerbjudandet". Resumé. 6 November 2012.
7. "Television Broadcast Licensing Update October 2012". Ofcom.
8. "LANSERINGSDATUM FÖR DISNEY XD" (Press release). Disney Channel. July 29, 2009.
9. "DISNEY LANSERAR DISNEY XD I SVERIGE" (Press release). Disney Channel. June 10, 2009.