Disney Worldwide Closure

With the declining ratings of television channels and the rise in popularity of streaming services throughout the 2010s, and prior to the launch of its streaming service Disney+, several Disney Branded Television channels they began to close as of 2019.
==History==
On January 9, 2019, Disney India Media Networks shut down Disney XD India and replaced it with Marvel HQ, a channel featuring shows and movies from Marvel Entertainment as well as some acquired programming.
Shortly after the November 2019 launch of Disney+ in New Zealand, Disney shut down its linear channels there. In June 2020, Disney Channels Worldwide announced that all three of the networks owned by Disney Channels Worldwide in the United Kingdom would be shut down on October 1, with content thereafter to be available via the Disney+ streaming service, as the extension of a carriage deal with Sky and Virgin Media could not be reached.
On May 25, 2021, Disney announced that they would close 100 TV channels internationally by the end of 2021 following the 30 closures that occurred in 2020; this not only included Disney-branded channels, but also Fox Networks Group channels inherited from Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019. The closure was mostly targeted in Asian countries.
The closure of the global channels is still going as of 2022, as closures in Latin American and Turkey have taken place during the first half of the year, and in Russia during the second half of the year (albeit in this case as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine).
==List==
*On December 1, 2018, it was announced that Disney XD will shut down in Australia and New Zealand on January 6, 2019 with the selection to move all shows to Disney Channel.
*On October 1, 2019, the Italian Disney XD shut down alongside the Italian counterparts of Fox Life, Fox Comedy, and Fox Animation, due to Disney not renewing its contract with Sky Italia, with this also being the main reason for eventual closure of the Italian counterparts of Disney Channel and Disney Junior.
*On October 31, 2019, Sky Movies Disney in New Zealand was shut down.
*On November 7, 2019, Disney ended its output agreement with Foxtel Movies. Foxtel Movies Disney was shut down and was replaced by Foxtel Movies Kids.
*On November 30, 2019, New Zealand's Disney and Disney Junior channels were shut down due to the launch of Disney+. However, Sky Movies Disney was replaced by the 24/7 version of Sky Movies Family.
*On February 29, 2020, Australia's Disney and Disney Junior channels were shut down on Foxtel due to the launch of Disney+.
*On March 31, 2020, Dlife, a women and family targeted channel of The Walt Disney Company Ltd. Japan and Disney Channels Worldwide, and through Broadcast Satellite Disney Co., Ltd., was officially shut down.
*On April 1, 2020, Spain and Germany's Disney XD channels were permanently shut down, one week after the release of Disney+ on those countries.
*France's Disney XD was also planned be to shut down on the same day but due to Disney+ in France being delayed until April 7, 2020, the closure of the channel was delayed as well, only happening on the day of the release of the streaming service, although it still closed down on the services of Canal+ on April 1.
*On April 30, 2020, by 23:50 PM AEST, the Australian Disney Channel and Disney Junior have permanently shut down, making this the first time a vanilla Disney Channel became completely defunct.
*Shortly after, on May 1, 2020, by 0:00 AM CEST, the Italian Disney Channel and Disney Junior shut down permanently as well, and by 0:00 AM BST on the same day, Disney XD +1 on the UK became defunct too.
*On June 1, 2020, by 0:00 AM, the Southeast Asian Disney Channel, Disney Junior, and Disney XD became unavailable in Singapore, despite the channels still being active in other countries.
*On October 1, 2020 by 0:00 AM BST, Disney Channel, Disney XD, and Disney Junior in the UK were permanently shut down, due to Sky UK and Virgin Media declining to renew its carriage deal with Disney, with its content moving exclusively to Disney+.
*On October 19, 2020, it was announced that Disney XD in Japan would shut down on February 1, 2021, by 0:00 AM JST. The following day, it was also announced that Disney XD in Scandinavia would shut down after December 31, 2020.
*On December 10, 2020, it was confirmed that Disney XD in Southeast Asia and Disney Channel in Malaysia would both shut down on January 1, 2021, by 0:00 AM.
*Disney XD also closed down in Greece, Serbia, and Turkey at the end of January 31, 2021.
*On April 27, 2021, it was confirmed that Disney Channel and Disney Junior in Southeast Asia, with the exception of Taiwan, would both shut down on October 1, 2021, alongside multiple Fox, Star and Fox Sports channels.https://geekculture.co/disney-shutting-down-18-cable-channels-in-southeast-asia-and-hong-kong-from-1-october-2021/
*On May 1, 2021, by 5:00 AM (UTC-4) the Pacific feed for Disney Channel and Disney Junior in Latin America became defunct and was replaced by the South feed of the region. On the same day by 8:00 AM (UTC-3), the South feed for Disney XD in Latin America also became defunct, and it was replaced by the feed utilized for the Andes region.https://www.tvlaint.com/2021/04/disney-reducira-los-feeds-de-sus-canales.html
*On May 17, 2021, it was confirmed that FOX in the UK, would shut down by 6:00 AM BST on July 1, 2021, given the success of Disney+ in the UK and the addition of the adult section Star.https://whatsondisneyplus.com/the-walking-dead-war-of-the-worlds-coming-to-disney-when-fox-channel-closes-in-the-uk/
*On June 10, 2021, it was confirmed that FOX Crime in Italy, would also shut down on July 1, 2021, by 0:05 AM CEST.https://www.teledigitale.it/cultura/tv/fox-crime-chiude/
*On July 4, 2021, it was confirmed that Disney Channel and Disney Junior in South Korea would also shut down on October 1, 2021, alongside the Southeast Asian versions.https://www.etnews.com/20210702000174
*On July 6, 2021, it was confirmed that Disney Junior and FOX in Germany would also shut down on October 1, 2021, with their content being transferred to Disney+ or, in the case of Disney Junior, to the German Disney Channel (which since January of 2014 has become a free to air channel in Germany).https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2021/07/06/disney-to-close-fox-and-disney-junior-in-germany/
*On August 24, 2021, it was announced that FOX in the Sub-Saharan Africa, would shut down also on October 1, 2021.https://www.news24.com/channel/tv/news/disney-ends-the-fox-channel-in-africa-rips-away-the-walking-deads-final-season-20210824
*On August 27, 2021, it was confirmed that Disney Channel in Taiwan would shut down on January 1, 2022, by the official Disney Taiwan Website, thus bringing a definitive end to Disney Channel in Southeast Asia.
**In addition to that, the FOX and FOX Movies channels in Taiwan got rebranded as Star branded channels.
*On September 25, 2021, it was announced that all the Star Premium Channels in Latin America (previously known as Fox Premium Channels) would close on February 1, 2022. Despite this, Star Channel, Star Life, FX and FXM will continue operating after this date.https://pisapapeles.net/disney-anuncia-el-fin-de-los-canales-star-premium-para-el-31-de-enero-de-2022/
*On October 17, 2021, it was announced that Marvel HQ in India, which took the place of Disney XD in India on January 20, 2019, would be rebranded as "Super Hungama", becoming a sister channel to Hungama TV, an Indian kids channel owned by Disney (albeit entirely absent of any Disney owned content), thus removing the channel of any direct connections with the Disney brand.https://animenewsindia.com/2021/10/07/disney-india-will-rebrand-marvel-hq-as-super-hungama-soon/ The rebrand was supposed to take place on December 1, but was later delayed indefinitely due to changes in telecommunications rules imposed by the Indian Government, until March 1, 2022 when the rebranding finally took place.
**Despite this, Super Hungama will still be airing Disney owned TV shows such as Big City Greens, Milo Murphy's Law and, surprisingly, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.
*On December 2, 2021, it was announced that FOX Life in Spain alongside the traveling channel Viajar (a traveling channel originally owned by Canal+ Spain, and later sold to Fox), would both end their transmissions on January 1, 2022. https://www.neeo.es/2021/12/02/disney-decide-cesar-dos-de-sus-canales-en-espana/
*On December 22, 2021, various TV Operators in Latin America were informed that Disney XD, Star Life (Previously FOX Life), FXM, Nat Geo Wild and Nat Geo Kids in Latin America will all close down on April 1, 2022.https://twitter.com/OjoalaTele/status/1480554387420291075 This was later made public on the beginning of January 2022.https://tavilatam.com/latinoamerica-confirmado-disney-cierra-en-la-region-disney-xd-nat-geo-kids-nat-geo-wild-fxm-y-star-life/
**In addition, Disney also announced plans to discontinue Disney Junior already in Brazil by April 1, 2022, and to replace Star Life in Brazil with Cinecanal, a movie channel previously only avalible to Spanish speaking countries in Latin America
*On March 21, 2022, it was announced that Disney Channel would close in Turkey ahead of the release of Disney+ in the region in June 14.https://www.instagram.com/p/CbXYBKilDFt/ It was later confirmed that the channel would close on April 1, 2022https://twitter.com/Platformlar1/status/1508023800910200835, with the channel's license expiring at the end of the month.
*On July 1, 2022, FOX in Italy had closed down.
**This marked the end of any Pay-TV channels that are part of Disney Branded Television (not counting BabyTV or any channels from the National Geographic Lineup) in any territories where Sky Europe operates as a Pay-TV Operator (UK, Germany and Italy).
*On October 1, 2022, the VOD service FOX+ was discontinued in Portugal with its content being transferred to Disney+.
**The service had been also discontinued in Germany and Hungary a few months prior to the release of Disney+ in the corresponding countries.
*Also, on October 1, 2022, FOX Crime in Turkey has shut down with its content being transferred to FX Turkey, in addition to the National Geographic, National Geographic Wild and BabyTV channels in Italy also shutting downhttps://www.tvdigitaldivide.it/sky-il-1-ottobre-2022-chiude-il-canale-national-geographic/.
**This not only marks the first definitive closure of a National Geographic channel worldwide, but also marks the definitive end of any linear TV services in Italy under the control of The Walt Disney Company.
*Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, all Pay TV channels in Russia under the control of Disney were discontinued (FOX, FOX Life, National Geographic, National Geographic Wild, and Baby TV), and mostly replaced by original Russian channels on October 1, 2022, and all of the Russian Disney social media accounts were deleted including Youtube channels, leaving the Russian Disney Channel as the only active asset from Disney in Russia until December 14, 2022, when it also closed down and was replaced by an original russian channel named "Solntse" (Солнце), thus discontinuing any activities from The Walt Disney Company in the Russian market.
**The Pay TV channels are, however, still active in CIS regions outside of Russia.
*On December 1, 2022, FX, FOX Crime, FOX Family Movies and Fox Rewayat were all discontinued in Middle East, without any announcement.
*On January 26, 2023, it was announced that National Geographic and National Geographic Wild will be closing down in Australia and in New Zealand on April 1, 2023https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2023/01/26/fox-funny-nat-geo-and-nat-geo-wild-channels-to-be-removed-from-foxtel-and-fetch-platforms/https://help.sky.co.nz/s/article/Nat-Geo-Changes, marking the definitive end of any linear TV services in Australia and New Zealand under the control of The Walt Disney Company, with the exception of the channels ESPN, ESPN 2 and BabyTV.
==References==
Category:The Walt Disney Company
Category:Chaos in television
Category:Disney Channel
Category:Disney XD
Category:Disney Junior
Category:Fox Networks Group
Category:2019 debuts