The Magic at Home: Celebrating 40 years of the Disney Channel

Ready to journey through time, and revisit the golden age of cable television when Disney Channel reigned supreme? We promise you an intriguing exploration into the origins and evolution of this beloved entertainment staple in today's podcast episode. Buckle up as we take you back to 1977 the channel was first proposed and follow its journey to its launch in 1983. We'll be lifting the lid on how the channel grew to run round-the-clock and transformed from a premium channel to a go-to entertainment source in nearly every American home.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

It's hard to comprehend now, but not too long ago we were engrossed in a different way of consuming media. Cable television.

Speaker 1: 0:09

It ruled the American living room From humble origins in the spring of 1948 to an all-time high of users in the late 70s. Cable TV was king. Anyone who was savvy enough to see the writing on the wall that the cable TV platform was going to be the new medium for home entertainment would see a monumental success, not being one to miss out on being on the frontier of new ventures or being afraid of the unknown. It wouldn't be long until the mouse would make his way into people's homes via cable box. But how did it get to that point? Or movie theaters and theme parks not enough, or was it more than that? Was this a new way to be able to tell stories? A new format, a new audience, a new horizon, and it was all contained neatly in your television set. Since the inception of Disneyland, we have had a steady stream of Disney on the television, from the Disneyland ABC special to the wonderful world of color and beyond. The Disney name is synonymous with entertainment and with family. Disney was a sure bet that you and the entire family could enjoy with no worry. So the leap from the silver screen to the little black box made sense. Cable was on the rise in the United States. So, naturally, making a move to cable was logical for Disney. Before the launch of what would become the Disney Channel in 1983, the project would get some static.

Speaker 1: 1:52

In 1977, jim Jimmerow would bring up the idea of a Disney cable channel, but since the development of Epcot was underway, the idea was shelved by Disney Chairman Card Walker. Instead, disney signed a deal with HBO to air a selection of Disney movies and cartoons. A few years later, in 1981, disney would again consider entering the cable TV market with the Group W. Group W had recently sold shares of Showtime to Viacom and was now needing a media company to partner with. That, however, did not pan out as expected, as Group W couldn't come to agreements with Disney over operating costs and creative control. Not all was lost, though. Seeing the exceeding speed of cable TV popularity, disney took matters into their own hands and, with Alan Wagner, the first CEO of the Disney Channel, announced the arrival of the family-oriented channel in 1983. With the date in mind, the team at Walt Disney Productions got to work, purchasing two transponders on the Hughes Communication Satellite named Galaxy One, an investment costing over $11 million. Disney Productions would also spend an additional $20 million on developing programming exclusively for the Disney Channel A grand total of $31 million, which would be $94,658,002 in one cent today. Not only was this a heavy investment for Disney that had a high probability in paying off, but there was also an empty space left when HBO's venture into the family-frontly cable channel had failed.

Speaker 1: 3:24

Two years after its initial broadcast, hbo's failure had created a vacuum that Disney had the plans and the means to fill. Beginning on April 18, 1983, leading up to the debut and the launch of the channel, disney had a preview showing Mickey and his pals in a TV studio, as well as a space station-like room that would launch the channel from space down to all the set-top boxes. The preview featured a ton of popular celebrities and actors relevant to Disney at the time, and they explained to the viewer what the Disney Channel was, the type of programming you would see eventually, and a countdown. At the end of the countdown, mickey would flip a switch that sent a signal from a Mickey-shaped satellite and began the first-ever Disney Channel broadcast. At 7 am Eastern Standard Time, disney had launched the largest family-oriented premium cable channel in history. Coinciding with the launch of the channel, the first show that was aired was Good Morning Mickey, which was old Disney cartoons. In comparison to other premium cable channels like HBO or Showtime that were on 24 hours a day, the Disney Channel was only on from 7 am to 11 pm Eastern Standard Time, but that didn't stop people from getting the channel. By the fall of 1983, there were more than 530,000 subscribers. That winter over 600,000.

Speaker 1: 4:43

So for some of the listeners you may not remember cable or how big of a deal it was. So odds are you won't remember a thing called the TV Guide. A quick rundown is this TV Guide was a magazine that came out weekly that would show all the times that shows and movies would come on. So if you knew that the episode of Cheers that you wanted to see was coming on and it was going to be on at 8, you could set your VCR for 8 pm, set it and not worry about it. And with that I've now aged myself horribly. But with a new groundbreaking channel like Disney being in the TV Guide, it was simply not enough. No, no, no. They released a monthly, then later by monthly publication solely for the channel, the Disney Channel Magazine, which would have showtimes, interviews and promotions for upcoming shows, movies and park news. Eventually the magazine would end and a new magazine would take its place behind the ears, which I don't believe is the best name, but it ran from 1997 to 2000. In the fall of that year, disney would debut their first made for TV movie, tiger Town, which also snagged Disney their first cable ace award.

Speaker 1: 5:52

Disney wouldn't air its first original classic until January of 1984, which was Alice in Wonderland. The following year, disney would reach another milestone of nearly 2 million subscribers. Then, in 1986, the Disney Channel would start airing 24 hours a day, as well as a brief logo update. Over the next few years, disney Channel would be practically in every American home, presenting wholesome family-friendly entertainment as well as bringing home a multitude of awards. Beginning in September of 1990, montgomery, alabama's TCI System was the first cable provider that offered the Disney Channel as a basic cable channel. A year later, in 1991, eight additional providers would add the Disney Channel as a basic channel. During, the entirety of Disney Channel's run up to this point had been ad-free, since it was a premium channel. With this hybrid model of basic and premium, customers were worried that the beloved channel would be riddled with commercials. Disney was quick to reply to customers' worries with the assurance that the plan was to offer the channel as both premium and basic to maximize market size.

Speaker 1: 6:55

Almost 17 years later to the original launch day in 1997, disney would substantially rebrand the Disney Channel, beginning with the name Disney would drop the THEE and the channel would simply be Disney Channel, but often referred to simply as Disney. The second change would come as a change to the logo, from the Mickey ears in the front of the center of the logo with intersecting bars, to an entirely new design by Lee Hunt. The new design was now a Mickey shaped TV set. The logo would on occasion change color, shape or theme depending on the programming. During this time in the late 90s, disney would continue to shift from a premium channel to basic, in addition to shifting from the family format to kids and young adults. That would come in in the form of removing some of the concerts and including artists that were more relevant to a younger crowd. Disney would also air and edit some more mature content from shows like Boy Meets World. Disney would debut a dedicated block for different demographics as well Playhouse Disney for younger kids, zooog Disney, a block for pre-teens and teens, which would comprise of original programming, and finally, vault Disney, a Sunday night block that would show older Disney cartoons, specials and the Walt Disney anthology from ABC and NBC. All these new segments were very popular and to aid making such a large impact were shows like Bear in the Big Blue House and Lizzie McGuire. Zooog Disney would eventually spread and take over the weekend spots as well, until Vault Disney took over Sunday nights with all the great programming and making a full push to basic cable. Disney would amass more than 35 million subscribers by the end of the 90s.

Speaker 1: 8:45

Disney would make one last big push in 1999 that would force cable carriers to either switch Disney to the basic package or drop the channel entirely. The last two holdouts were Time Warner, cable and Comcast. They both ended up coming to terms and carrying the channel as a basic channel, rolling into the 2000s with a ferocity. Disney would debut two of their biggest hit shows the Proud Family and Kim Possible. However, true to Disney fashion and always changing, in 2002, disney would begin to change yet again. Zooog Disney would be phased out as well as Vault Disney, replacing it with just repeats of the day's aired shows. This would mark the final blow of being strictly a family channel and pushing itself into the kid and teen demographic.

Speaker 1: 9:33

The next update that would come would be the logo and that would also debut on September 30th 2002. Using an outline of Mickey's head slightly tilted towards the right, with Disney Channel in the middle. In addition to this new logo, there was a new mnemonic jingle that would accompany the logo on bumpers. That jingle was written by Alex Lasarenko. Quick side note that jingle has its own incredible story behind it and I simply could not do it, just as trying to cover it. Luckily, one of my favorite YouTubers, defunctland, has covered it and it is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. Please go check it out. A year later, in June, disney would begin to air the Wand Bumpers where Disney Channel stars would introduce themselves. Say you're watching Disney Channel, then draw the logo with a wand.

Speaker 1: 10:24

By 2004, the only block that would remain from the 90s introduction would be Playhouse Disney until 2011, where it would be made into its own separate channel and renamed Disney Junior. At this point, disney was on top in maintaining a massive lead in the children's entertainment department. For Disney, the only way was up. During this era, they would begin to introduce multiple live-action series that would be geared towards the young teen demographic. This would launch the career of Miley Cyrus, further launch Raven Simone into stardom and introduce several new talents and a few deeply beloved made-for-channel movies and original series.

Speaker 1: 11:06

For the next several years, disney would begin to drop large portions of their acquired programs in favor of original material. The found success of the teen-oriented sitcom. Disney Channel began to air less and less animated content. That was until 2007, when two brothers with a pet platypus looking for ways to spend their summer vacation debuted. Phineas and Ferb would make their debut and be the first animated original long-form series to debut in HD until Disney Channel would have a simulcast channel in full HD in the spring of 2008. In a few short years, in 2012, disney would overtake Nickelodeon's 17-year spot as the number one cable channel in the United States. After overtaking Nickelodeon, disney would debut would be one of the most beloved series in the channel's history. I mean, it's great, it's right up there with Phineas and Ferb. Gravity Falls would debut in 2012 and introduce us to the wonderful weirdness of the Pacific Northwest with siblings Mabel and Dipper Pines and their great-uncle Grunkle Stan.

Speaker 1: 12:12

From 2013 onward, disney began to make a big push for animated content that would debut on its Disney XD sister channel. What's Disney XD? Well, he skipped just a little bit of history there. In 1998, disney Channel had a sister channel called Tune Disney, aimed at airing well cartoons. That would get redeveloped into Jetix, with the idea being the same cartoons just aimed at a slightly older demographic. That turned out to be a hit, and the demographic would not change. After that, however, the name would. Jetix would become Disney XD, and remains that way until today. So Disney XD would pump out some of the best animated shows Disney had developed in recent years.

Speaker 1: 12:57

2013 would also mark the start of the Mickey Mouse shorts that we've grown oh so fond of and watch on the resort TV at the theme parks. If you've done it, you know what I'm talking about. There would be two more logo changes in 2014 and 2017 until the current logo, which is the Disney logo with Channel under it and the dot in the eye in Disney is a Mickey head. At this point, how do you stop a Titan? Could another channel come around and dethrone the mouse? Well, the answer to that is no. The only way Disney could lose viewership would be if Disney decided to lower its viewership, and that's exactly what happened when Disney debuted. Disney Plus Viewership dropped 33%, resulting in Disney having to shut down the channel. In some countries. Disney Channel is still going strong, though, still debuting some great cartoons and introducing new generations to the wonderful programming that has been making for the last 40 years. A few logo changes, dropping a word from its name, small changes overall, but still the wonderful Disney Channel is here to stay you.