The Disney Network

**The Disney Network** (originally the **Walt Disney Network** from its 1988 launch until 1989), simply known as **Disney Network**, and abbreviated as **TDN** (which the network has been branded as since 2005), is an American commercial broadcast television network. Created in 1988 by the Walt Disney Company in conjunction with its cable channel The Disney Channel, the Disney Network is owned by the Walt Disney Company, and is a member of the Disney Broadcasting Alliance. It also serves as the alliance's flagship property.

## HistoryEdit

The Disney Network traces its roots to premium cable network The Disney Channel, which began on-air operations on April 18, 1983. By 1985, the channel had the highest viewership of any cable channel, and it lead Disney to create a commercial broadcast television network that would air alongside the Disney Channel. Michael Eisner, the company's president, wanted a commercial television network that would be free to air for non-cable users.

In November 1987, the Walt Disney Company made an agreement to purchase seven of the primary market independent television stations, including WPIX in New York and KTLA in Los Angeles, both of which had been independent from when they first signed on. The result of Disney's purchase of these seven television stations would be the creation of the Walt Disney Television Stations group, which was formed in March 1988.

Then, in May 1988, the Walt Disney Company announced a new broadcast television network which would compete with CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox. The network made a soft launch on September 9, 1988, under the name "The Walt Disney Network." Its inaugural program was a repeat of the *Wonderful World of Disney* episode, "Great Moments in Disney Animation." The first independent television station to become a Walt Disney Network affiliate was New York station WPIX, which became a network owned-and-operated station after switching from indie broadcasting. On September 1, 1989, the network changed its name to "The Disney Network." The first prime-time animated series, *Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers*, which debuted on the same day as the name change, was one of Disney's first animated series to air at night. The Disney Network also branded its Friday night schedule lineup as *Crazy Cartoon Nights*/*Toonight*. However, until the Disney Network expanded its schedule to 7 days a week, all of the TDN O&O stations and affiliates were programmed as independents.

From 1992 to 1995, Eisner had a three-year venture of persuading several of the big Three-affiliated stations to switch to the Disney Network. Although most of the Disney Network's affiliates were established on the UHF frequency, he began searching for several VHF stations to switch to the Disney Network, which was previously affiliated with CBS, NBC, ABC, or Fox (whose stature was growing at the time). For instance, Ocean Falls, Louisiana station WOF-TV, channel 2, which was previously an ABC affiliate since its initial sign-on, switched to the Disney Network on September 6, 1992, after 35 years, under Michael Eisner's request. Then, on July 3, 1994, former CBS affiliate WSEA-TV in Seabust, Virginia, became a Disney Network affiliate, as a result of Eisner's request. On September 1, 1995, Tailsouth, Kentucky station WTIO-TV, which had been affiliated with NBC for more than 27 years, became a Disney Network affiliate, under his request.

In 1998, with the formation of four new cable networks (Toon Disney, The Ident Channel, Retromercial Television, and Promo Central), the Walt Disney Company created the Disney Broadcasting Alliance, which made the Disney Network part of the alliance and brought the Walt Disney Television Stations division under its aegis.

## List of programs broadcastEdit

Read more: List of programs broadcast by the Disney Network

## List of affiliatesEdit

*Read more: List of Disney Network affiliates and List of The Disney Network affiliates (September 2002)*

Currently, outside of the core Walt Disney Television Stations group, Weigel Broadcasting is the Disney Network's largest affiliate group by numerical total; Tribune Broadcasting is the largest operator of TDN-affiliated stations in terms of market share.

## BrandingEdit

Beginning in the 1990s, the Disney Network began having its stations use a combination of half of "The Disney Network" name and the channel number, followed by the callsign and the city the station serves. For instance, after switching to the Disney Network, WTIO-TV dropped its NBC-era "Tailsouth 9" branding in favor of "The Disney 9."

Many of TDN's stations formerly owned by Hearst differenated from the typical TDN branding; for example, in 2000, WESH abandoned its NBC-era branding in favor of "WESH Disney 2," rebranding further to "WESH 2 TDN."

## Slogan historyEdit

* 1988-1989 - *Prepare for the Walt Disney Network*
* 1989-1991 - *An Uplifting New Experience for Disney Network*
* 1991-1992 - *Disney Network. The Place We Are.*
* 1992-1993 - *Tune In to the Best of Disney Network*
* 1993-1995 - *Catch the Stars on Disney Network*
* 1995-1997 - *Meet the New Face of Disney Network.*
* 1997-1998 - *The Disney Network. The Return of the Mouse.*
* 1998-2000 - *This Place is Disney Network. Welcome Home.*
* 2000-2001 - *Why Watch TV, When You Can Watch the Disney Network?*
* 2000-2012 - *Fresh from the Magic Castle.* (used in promos advertising new episodes of Disney Network shows)
* 2000-present - *Express Yourself.*
* 2001-2002 - *The Disney Network. Simply Good Magical TV.*
* 2002-2003 - *Mickey's Stared Network!*
* 2003-2004 - *You're Watching the Disney Network. Watch the Mouse*
* 2004-2006 - *Straight from the Mouse House.*
* 2006-2007 - *Return of the Mouse House.*
* 2007-2008 - *See It. Share It. Imagine It.*
* 2008-2009 - *Upgrading Your Favorite Shows on TDN!*
* 2009-2010 - *America's Number One Network in the Mouse House*
* 2010-2012 - *Magic in a New Dimension*
* 2012-2013 - *Anything Can Happen on TDN!*
* 2013-2014 - *TDN Rules!*
* 2014-2015 - *Now, That's Magic!*
* 2015-2017 - *Best Shows, All The Time!*
* 2017-2018 - *Feel-Good Magic TV*
* 2018-2019 - *This is TDN. Television from the Magic Castle.*
* 2019-present - Fresh from the Magic Castle

## Programming Schedule

The Disney Network is also the syndication services for 9:00-5:00 series. The programming is the nightly version and Saturday and Sunday Schedule.

The Syndication Hours included

* Wheel of Fortune(6:30)
* Jeopardy(6:00)
* Tamron Hall(9:00)
* 25 Words or Less(4:00/4:30)
* Right This Minute(10:00/10:30)
* Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Rerun(11:00/11:30)
* FABLife