Disney Channel UK
| Disney Channel | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Launched | 1 October 1995 |
| Owned by | Disney–ABC Television Group |
| Picture format |
576i (16:9 SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Audience share | 0.23% 0.09% (+1) (September 2015, BARB) |
| Slogan | The Best Place to Be |
| Country |
United Kingdom Republic of Ireland |
| Headquarters | Chiswick, London |
| Formerly called | The Disney Channel (until 1 March 1997) |
| Sister channel(s) |
Disney Junior Disney XD |
| Timeshift service | Disney Channel +1 |
| Website | www.disneychannel.co.uk |
|
Availability
|
|
| Satellite | |
| Sky | Channel 609 (SD/HD) Channel 610 (+1) Channel 631 (SD) |
| Cable | |
|
Virgin Media (UK) |
Channel 724 Channel 725 (+1) TV Choice On Demand |
| Virgin Media Ireland | Channel 613 Channel 633 (HD) |
| IPTV | |
| TalkTalk Plus TV | Channel 480 |
| BT / YouView | Channel 480 On-demand |
| Plusnet | Channel 480 |
| Streaming media | |
| Sky Go |
Watch live (UK and Ireland only) |
| Virgin TV Anywhere | Watch live (UK only) |
| Horizon GO | Watch live (Ireland only) |
| Now TV | Watch live (UK only) |
Disney Channel is a kids and teen's entertainment channel available in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland since 1 October 1995. A one-hour timeshift service called Disney Channel +1 is available on Sky and Virgin Media. Disney Channel currently has two sister channels; Disney Junior and Disney XD. It currently focuses on live-action programming.
Disney Channel was originally planned to launch in 1989 on the newly launched Sky satellite service. It was featured in much of the promotional material surrounding the launch of Sky Television and the Astra satellite. The joint venture with Sky collapsed May 1989 after discussion about the venture had been taking place since November 1988, but Disney felt it was no longer on equal footing on "decision-making responsibility" in 50-50 partnership. Disney was supposed to start up two channels, but when the talks broke down, Sky issued a lawsuit against Disney, claiming £1.5 billion in damages. The suit was later settled with Disney selling its stake in the joint venture back to Sky, and agreeing to licence its movie library for a five-year period.
Super RTL launched in Germany in 1995, as a joint venture between Disney and the Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (or CLT). Disney finally launched in the UK on the Sky platform on 1 October 1995, as the first Disney Channel in Europe and outside the United States. But before that happened however, SES (known as Société Européenne des Satellites at that time), which operated the satellite it broadcast on, first bought Satcom K3 from GE Americom during its construction, as GE Americom was no longer satisfied with the satellite, thus selling it to SES. GE's AstroSpace division (now Lockheed Martin Space Systems) then modified the satellite for DBS usage for SES. It was launched on board the European Space Agency and Arianespace's Ariane 4 rocket on Flight V42, on March 2, 1991, to add extra capacity to the satellite television services from 19.2° east, serving Germany, the UK and Republic of Ireland, as Astra 1B.
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Wikipedia