Disney XD is an American digital cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit of the Disney-ABC Television Group, itself a unit of the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company. Aimed primarily at children ages 6-14, its programming consists of original first-run television series, current and former original series and made-for-cable films from sister network Disney Channel, theatrically-released films, and acquired programs from other distributors.
The channel offers an alternate Spanish language audio feed, either via a separate channel with the English track removed as part of a package of Spanish television networks sold by cable and satellite providers or a separate audio track accessible through the SAP option, depending on the provider.
As of January 2016, Disney XD is available to 77.5 million households in America.
Video Disney XD
History
Disney XD was launched on February 13, 2009 at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time, with the Phineas and Ferb episode "Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" as its first program. The channel debuted its first original series, Aaron Stone, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time that day; the first part of the two-part premiere episode aired simultaneously on Disney XD and Disney Channel. New animated series included in the channel's initial lineup were Kid vs. Kat and Jimmy Two-Shoes.
The network took over the channel space of Toon Disney, an animation-focused channel that debuted on April 18, 1998, which eventually launched a live-action/animation block called Jetix in 2004; Jetix channels outside of the United States were relaunched under the Disney XD brand starting with the France-based service on April 1, 2009. Many of the channel's programs - particularly animated series - previously aired on Toon Disney, mainly as part of the Jetix programming block, which ran on Toon Disney until that channel's shutdown. Disney XD carries the same name as an unrelated mini-site and media player on Disney.com, which stood for Disney Xtreme Digital, though it has been stated that the "XD" in the channel's name does not have an actual meaning.
The channel's first original television movie, Skyrunners, premiered on November 27, 2009. On April 1, 2012, Disney XD launched a block called "Marvel Universe", as a result of Disney's 2009 acquisition of Marvel Entertainment.
On November 17, 2016, Disney announced a deal with The Pokémon Company to move the Pokémon anime series to Disney XD from its longtime US TV home of Cartoon Network starting with Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon (Season 20).
Maps Disney XD
Programming
Disney XD's schedule consists largely of animated and live-action programs aimed at pre-teens and young teenagers. Disney XD content is a mixture original series as well as programs inherited from sister network, The Disney Channel. In addition to full-length live-action and animated original series, the channel also debuts short series similar to those seen on Disney Channel during commercial breaks (such as Two More Eggs), which serve as filler for programs scheduled to end during the half-hour and last usually around one to three. The channel also airs a youth-oriented "plays of the week" countdown segment called SportsCenter High-5, which is produced by ESPN's SportsCenter and airs periodically between shows.
New episodes of original series are usually aired at 7:00AM (ET). In addition, Disney XD airs original made-for-TV movies from Disney Channel and theatrically released feature films, but unlike Disney Channel, Disney XD typically does not air these movies in prime time; instead, films generally air during the late afternoon hours at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time with double features airing a few times a week.
Unlike Disney Channel (and similarly, fellow sister network Disney Junior) - whose advertising comes in the form of program promotions, underwriter sponsorships, and interstitials for Disney films, home video and game releases produced by the channel - Disney XD operates as an advertiser-supported service running traditional television commercials in addition to promotions for the channel's shows.
In 2017, the network revived Ducktales. The reboot starred David Tennant as the new voice of Scrooge McDuck along with Danny Pudi, Ben Schwartz and Bobby Moynihan as Huey, Duey and Louie. The cast also included Lunchpad McQuack, Mrs. Beakley and Webbigail Vanderquack.
Programming blocks
Current
- Anime Block - a block showcasing various anime programs featured on the channel, such as Pokémon, Beyblade: Burst, and Yo-kai Watch. It launched on February 18, 2017, and is on Saturdays.
- Marvel on Disney XD - a block of animated series produced by Marvel Animation that airs Sunday mornings from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time, which resulted from The Walt Disney Company's 2009 acquisition of Marvel Entertainment. The block launched on April 1, 2012 as "Marvel Universe", with the premiere of Ultimate Spider-Man, followed by returning series The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. It also features 5 short series using short-form animated and live-action interstitials. Programs currently featured in the block are Spider-Man (2017), Avengers Assemble, Guardians of the Galaxy, "Marvel Mash-Up" which features classic Marvel cartoons mashed up with new twists, and "Fury Files".
Former
- Randomation Animation - Randomation Animation was a morning animation block on Saturdays from 8:30 to 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time, which debuted on July 13, 2013. Programs featured in the block include Packages from Planet X, Camp Lakebottom, Max Steel, Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja, and Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown.
- Animacation - Animacation was a morning animation block and programming stunt used in the summer of 2014 to advertise new episodes of original animated programming, as well as the premieres of Doraemon: Gadget Cat from the Future and The 7D.
- D | XP - a prime-time block that featured video gaming-related programming aimed at teens; the block was introduced on July 15, 2017, and ran from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The block drews upon resources from sister properties, such as the Disney-owned multi-channel network Maker Studios (who produced the weekly Polaris Primetime, and curates content from its member personalities for other programming on the block), ESPN (for e-sports coverage), and Vice Media's Waypoint, as well as outside producers and sources such as IGN. On July 16, DXP presented coverage of the finals of the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Street Fighter V tournaments at Evo 2017, complimenting coverage of the event across ESPN networks and Twitch.
Related services
International channels
Disney XD, similarly born of a merger between Jetix and Toon Disney, is available around the world.
See also
- Disney Channel
- Toon Disney
- Jetix
References
External links
- Official website
- Disney XD Press
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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