Walt Disney Company UK has announced that it will launch an all-new multiplatform brand named Disney Junior on May 7.
Aimed at children aged 2-7 and their families, it will effectively be an evolution of the Playhouse Disney channel, which has been present in the UK since September 1999 and currently airs in 109 countries around the world.
Disney Junior will broadcast daily content across TV, an integrated website, VOD, mobile and paid download platforms.
Separately, Disney Channels UK has announced that it will be inviting tenders from the UK’s leading creative independent production companies for new multiplatform content to air on Disney Channel, Playhouse Disney and Disney XD in 2011.
The company has already had success with a number of local productions and recently commissioned Sassy Films to make a football magazine format called Back of the Net for Disney XD and plans for Maverick to produce a second series of the fashion based show Get the Look for Disney Channel.
Speaking to Broadband TV News, Jonathan Boseley, VP, programming and production, Disney Channels UK & Ireland and Beth Gardiner, VP original programming and development, Disney Junior EMEA, said that Disney Junior will launch in the US on February 14 and following its debut in the UK will next become available in France. By year’s end, it will be distributed in a total of 23 countries.
With its launch, Disney will have a complete proposition for viewers.
They added that what differentiates the company from the competition is the brand name Disney and its values. Disney is above all else about content.
