Disney Junior4/Wikipedia

**Disney Junior** (formely Playhouse Disney) is an American pay television network owned by the Disney General Entertainment Content unit of The Walt Disney Company through Disney Branded Television. Aimed mainly at children two to seven years old, its programming consists of original first-run television series, theatrically-released and home media-exclusive movies and select other third-party programming.

As of January 2016, the channel is available to 74.0 million households in the U.S.

## History

Prior to Playhouse Disney's launch, Disney Channel had aired a lineup of preschool-targeted programs (which were mixed alongside animated series aimed at older children) during the morning hours since its debut in April 1983. On April 6, 1997, Disney Channel underwent a relaunch that signified the beginning of its full conversion into a commercial-free basic cable channel, and its morning program block now utilized a similar graphics package for its promotions as that used for the channel's afternoon children's programs. After Disney Channel's preschool block premiered three new original series in 1998 (*PB&J Otter*, *Rolie Polie Olie*, and *Out of the Box*), the block rebranded as Playhouse Disney on February 1, 1999.

One of the Playhouse Disney block's most popular series was *Bear in the Big Blue House*, an educational live-action series from Jim Henson Productions that debuted in October 1997, focusing on the adventures of Bear (performed by Noel MacNeal); the series was named by *TV Guide* as one of the "top 10 new shows for kids" that year. For the first three years of its run, the Playhouse Disney block originally aired each weekday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time, and weekends from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Following each program, which usually ran 23 minutes (most of which, with the exception of movies, aired without promotional interruption), the remainder of the time period was filled by either short segments and music videos (the latter of which were originally aired under the banner "Feet Beat") or an episode of an acquired short series.

On April 16, 2001, Playhouse Disney introduced a new on-air graphics package produced by motion graphics company Beehive; actress Allyce Beasley began serving as the U.S. block's promo announcer at this time, a capacity she would hold until March 30, 2007. Radio Disney cross-promoted the block by rebranding its "Mickey and Minnie's Tune Time" block as "Playhouse Disney", and in 2002, the TV block's "Feet Beat" interstitials were renamed "BB's Music Time" to promote the Radio Disney block. On June 25, 2001, Disney-ABC Cable Networks Group (now Disney-ABC Television Group) announced plans to launch Playhouse Disney Channel, a companion digital cable and satellite channel that would have served the same target audience as the Disney Channel block; plans for the network were later scrapped, although Disney-ABC International Television would launch dedicated Playhouse Disney Channels & Blocks in international markets (including Canada, Afro-Eurasia and Latin America) between 2002 and 2007. The Walt Disney Company acquired the broadcast rights to *The Wiggles* as part of their purchase of the Fox Family Channel in 2001; *The Wiggles* moved to Playhouse Disney in June 2002 and became one of the block's most watched shows during its run.

Like Disney Channel, Playhouse Disney was a commercial-free service, but it did show short "promotional spots" (structured as short-form segments for Disney products targeted at the block's demographics) along with – beginning in 2002 – underwriter sponsorships (with companies such as McDonald's) within breaks between programs (preschool-targeted programs that aired between 3:00 and 7:00 a.m. Central Time outside of the Playhouse Disney banner, included the promotional shorts for Disney entertainment products that were seen during Disney Channel's afternoon and nighttime schedule). On September 30, 2002, Playhouse Disney changed its logo to reflect Disney Channel's on-air rebranding. As part of the block's effort to phase out its older interstitial material, it introduced a mascot that month named Clay (voiced by Debi Derryberry), an anthropomorphic clay figure who often used the catchphrases "It's true!" and "Are you with me?".

On March 31, 2007, Ooh and Aah, 2 anthropomorphic monkeys (who served as the main characters for one of the short series featured on the Playhouse Disney lineup, *Ooh, Aah & You*) became the official hosts of the block, replacing Clay. Every summer since 2007, Playhouse Disney's end time was truncated to four hours on weekdays (from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time). Episodes from Disney Channel's original series were aired during the late morning and early afternoon hours. However, the weekend schedule continued to air seven hours. By this point, the Playhouse Disney block had expanded to air from 4:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on weekdays, and 4:00 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time on weekends, each running a different schedule.

### The rename to Disney Junior (2012-future): Origins

The Walt Disney Company first attempted to launch a 24-hour subscription channel for preschoolers in the United States, when the company announced plans to launch Playhouse Disney, a television offshoot of Disney Channel's daytime programming block of the same name, which launched on the channel on May 8, 1997 (airing during the morning hours seven days a week, with the Monday through Friday blocks lasting until the early afternoon). Plans for the United States network were ultimately shelved. However, channels using the Playhouse Disney moniker were launched in other countries internationally.

The development of Disney Junior began on May 26, 2010, when Disney-ABC Television Group announced the launch of the channel as a pay television service, which would compete with other subscription channels targeted primarily at preschool-aged children such as Nick Jr., Qubo, and Sprout (the latter became known as Universal Kids); in addition to the Playhouse Disney branded blocks & channels being renamed under the Disney Junior label.

The flagship channel in the United States intended to replace Soapnet, a Disney-owned channel featuring daytime soap operas seen on the major broadcast networks (including sister network ABC) and reruns of former primetime drama series, due to the continued decline in popularity and quantity of soap operas on broadcast television, along with the growth of video on demand services (including the online streaming availability for soap operas) and digital video recorders that negated the need for a linear channel devoted to the genre.

### The rename to Disney Junior (2012-future): Network and block launches

Disney Junior first launched as a programming block on Disney Channel on February 14, 2011 at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time with the Little Einstein’s Episode “Fire Truck Rocket” as the first program to air on the block. The Disney Junior channel was originally scheduled to launch in January 2012, but on July 28, 2011, the Disney-ABC Television Group pushed back the channel's launch date to an unspecified date in early 2012, then on January 9, 2012, the Disney-ABC Television Group announced that Soapnet's closing date for most cable providers was scheduled for March 22, 2012. Disney Junior's 24-hour subscription channel counterpart officially launched the following day on March 23, at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time with the *Mickey Mouse Clubhouse* episode "Mickey's Big Surprise" as the first program to air on the channel.[*citation needed*] Programming featured on the channel's initial lineup included *Jake and the Never Land Pirates*, *Mickey Mouse Clubhouse* and freshman original series *Doc McStuffins*; the channel also launched a new short-form series *A Poem Is.* as well as the weekend movie block, the *Magical World of Disney Junior*.

Though it in effect took over the channel space held by Soapnet, an automated feed of that channel continued to exist for providers that had not yet reached agreements to carry Disney Junior (similar to other automated channel feeds that continued to operate during the transitions of Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids to The N (now TeenNick) and Fox Reality Channel to Nat Geo Wild), or held out to not lose subscribers due to the immediate loss of that network. These included some providers such as Cox Communications, Optimum, DirecTV, Verizon FiOS, and Time Warner Cable, which continued to carry Soapnet while having added the Disney Junior channel onto their channel lineups in turn. Soapnet's operations continued sixteen months later than had been originally planned, until the network finally ceased operations on December 31, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

In 2012, Disney Junior launched the movie night anthology as Magical World of Disney Junior. The channel also premiered its first Disney Junior Original Movie, *Lucky Duck* during Magical World on Friday, June 20, 2014. The morning block of Disney Junior programming on Disney Channel itself is currently known as *Mickey Mornings*.

In 2020, Disney ceased its traditional wireline networks in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including its domestic Disney Junior network, in favor of Disney+.