Disney XD

**Disney XD** is a US digital cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney–ABC Television Group division of the Walt Disney Company. It is also the sister channel division of the Disney Channel, Disney XD mostly airs action-oriented children's animated television series, with some live-action programming and movies aimed at ages 6 to 14.

Disney XD airs original content, such as *Zeke and Luther*, *Kickin' It*, *I'm in the Band*, and *Pair of Kings* and some of Disney Channel's most popular programming, including recent and archived original series, such as *The Suite Life of Zack & Cody* and *Phineas and Ferb*, as well as some made-for-TV movies.

It is offered with the Spanish language audio, either via a separate channel as part of a Spanish language network package sold by cable and satellite providers or a separate audio track with the SAP option, depending on the system. The channel also offers a video-on-demand service to digital cable and IPTV subscribers, offering free programming.

## Overview

The network launched on February 13, 2009 at 24:00 (EST) on (technically, it started replacing Toon Disney on February 12, 2009 it premiered at Midnight on EST), replacing Toon Disney and its evening programming block Jetix, the latter of which targeted a similar audience as Disney XD. Its target market is from 2 to 15, though it also airs programming aimed at older audiences.

Like its predecessor Toon Disney, yet unlike its sister network Disney Channel, Disney XD is advertiser-supported and sometimes runs commercials for mostly non-Disney branded products during the ad breaks, as well as some network promos. Despite Disney XD's relationship to Disney Channel and airing some Disney Channel series, there is little cross-promotion of Disney Channel shows on the channel, though Disney Channel cross-promotes Disney XD programming within their promo breaks and has aired some of Disney XD's original programming. However, cross-promotion is more common for networks such as ABC or ESPN.

According to Gary Marsh, President of Entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide, "XD" does not even "stand for anything" and was chosen simply because it looked "cool." Marsh notes that "the letter X has many cool associations" and that "the beauty of it is the audience can imbue it with all sorts of positive attributes." Coincidentally though, the name "Disney XD" was previously used as the name for an online media player and interactive web portal on the Disney.com website, which in that case stood for Disney Xtreme Digital. "XD" is also an emoticon for laughter.

Since Disney XD's launch in the U.S., localized versions have launched in other countries, typically replacing international versions of Toon Disney or Jetix, depending on which network was available in the particular market.

Begining in 2019, with the build up towards the launch of Disney+ and especially during its international expansion during 2020, several Disney XD channels worldwide have began to shut down, mostly in regions where Disney+ is already available.

As of February 1, 2021, only 5 Disney XD channels remain active, with these being present in the following countries: **United States**, **Canada**, **Latin America**, **Netherlands** and **Poland**, with the last one being the only one to cover an area where Disney+ is still absent.

## Programming

*Main article: List of programs broadcast by Disney XD*
Disney XD broadcasts original series such as *Aaron Stone* and *Zeke and Luther*, as well as some reruns of older Disney Channel and Jetix shows, such as *American Dragon: Jake Long* and *Recess*, as well as some from other channels. A large amount of the channel's schedule consists of action-oriented animated series, like *The Spectacular Spider-Man*, and several others. The channel airs a limited amount of Disney Channel series, particularly *Phineas and Ferb* (for which Disney XD had aired premieres of first-run episodes before Disney Channel, though Disney Channel Original Productions still produces the series, however, as of the episode "Wizard of Odd", first-run episodes went back to Disney Channel, and later became on XD in 2014 for most of the eps), *Cory in the House*, *The Suite Life of Zack & Cody* and its spinoff *The Suite Life on Deck* had also been run. Original series include the Marvel Comics-produced animated series *The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes* or *Crash & Bernstein*, and later Season 2 eps of *Gravity Falls* and episodes of *Wander Over Yonder* (despite them starting as a DCOS).

A notable aspect of Disney XD's original series is that they tend to feature predominately male casts, and as such, its original programs feature very few females as main characters (with most live-action originals typically featuring only one female in its main cast) in comparison to Disney Channel's original programs, which tend to feature an equal or nearly equal amount of main characters of either gender. New episodes of live-action original series are usually aired on Monday nights, while new episodes of animated original series air on Saturday mornings. Also, Disney XD sometimes airs movies, but unlike Disney Channel, movies are typically not aired in primetime; instead, films generally air at 5 pm ET with double features airing a few times a week. The channel's first made-for-TV movie, *Skyrunners*, premiered on November 27, 2009. The second wasn't made until November 9, 2014 with *Pants on Fire* - nearly five years later.

In addition to the full-length live-action and animated original series, the channel also debuts short-series similar to those seen on Disney Channel during the commercial breaks, such as *Moises Rules*, *The Next X*, and its spinoff *The Next Winter X*. These shows often follow other network shows and last about two to three minutes or sometimes fifteen minutes, except for a few short-form series. Often, these shows are televised in the last two minutes of the program, except for the Disney XD Shortstop, or following the ending of a movie. ESPN's *SportsCenter* provides youth-oriented sports updates periodically between shows. Edited segments of ABC's *Wipeout* are also broadcast.

Allegedly multiple shows have been pulled from this network and will air on the Disney Channel. Examples: Star vs. the Forces of Evil, DuckTales (even though the latter it was was pulled back to Disney XD after the end of its second season.)

When Disney XD was originally launched, re-runs of archival content that were shown on predecessor Toon Disney (such as *Gargoyles*, *Kim Possible*, and *Recess*) were carried over and continued to air in the network's graveyard timeslots until 2011, with some shows continuing to air until 2013. This was even more apparent in Europe, as even older shows (such as *Darkwing Duck*, *Goof Troop* and *Quack Pack*) were still re-runing on the channel.

## Programming blocks

### Anime Block

On February 18, 2017, Disney XD launched the Anime Block which showcased the various anime programs that were featured on the channel. Series include *Pokémon*, *Beyblade Burst*, and *Yo-kai Watch*. Anime Block airs on Saturdays.

### Marvel Universe

On April 1, 2012, Disney XD launched a block called the Marvel Universe, with the premiere of *Ultimate Spider-Man*, followed by the returning *The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes*. The block is a result of Disney's 2009 acquisition of Marvel. The block also includes new short-form animation series and live-action interstitials.

Marvel Animation announced in May 2013, that its new shows, *Avengers Assemble* and *Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.*, would be shown on Disney XD as part of the Marvel Universe block and would be a part of the same fictional universe.

## XD in HD

Disney XD HD is the branding used for the high-definition feed of the network. It is offered on some cable providers, as well as both satellite providers and telco IPTV providers in the Disney/ABC television networks preferred HD picture format of 720p. The high-definition feed airs a limited amount of programming in High Definition, mainly Disney XD's original programming as well as certain films and some episodes of Disney Channel series made after 2009. A high-definition simulcast of an international version of Disney XD HD in The Netherlands launched on April 15, 2010. Disney XD UK released Disney XD HD on October 18, 2010. Dish Network currently does not carry the HD version of Disney XD due to a dispute with Disney/ABC.

## International

*Main article: Disney Channels Worldwide* Disney XD, similarly born of a merger between Jetix and Toon Disney, is also available on cable systems in France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latin America, Malaysia, Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Spain, and United Kingdom. A Canadian channel has launched on June 1, 2011~September 2013, and returned in December 2015.
## Trivia

* According to Gary Marsh, President of Entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide, "XD" does not "stand for anything" and was chosen simply because it looked "cool".