The Walt Disney Co. and ABC Television Group have announced a new 24-hour basic cable and satellite channel for preschoolers called Disney Junior.
Disney Junior will feature animated and live-action programming aimed at children ages 2-7 and their families. The channel will air 200 new episodes a year of new series such as Jake and the Never Land Pirates, current hits like Special Agent Oso, and Disney feature films including 101 Dalmatians and The Little Mermaid.
The network will include a video-on-demand offering, an HD feed and Spanish SAP audio. In the United States, Disney Junior will replace ABC’s SOAPnet channel and is expected to launch in 2012. SOAPnet currently reaches about 75 million homes.
Disney Junior will be introduced on the Disney Channel’s daily Playhouse Disney block for preschoolers prior to the launch of the full channel.
‘The launch of Disney Junior in the U.S. is the next step in our global preschool strategy, which began 10 years ago with the premiere of our first dedicated preschool channel in the U.K.,’ says Anne Sweeney, co-chairwoman of Disney Media Networks and president of the Disney/ABC Television Group.
