Disney International Channel Closures Thread

Red Arrow

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Thanks to @animegamer for finding this article.

This is already being discussed in the International Disney Thread, but I think we can all agree that this is major news and deserves its own thread, no? The international closedown of KidsCo with Nelvana and DIC cartoons also had its own thread in 2013.

Let's take a look at all of the major Disney networks.

1. Disney XD

This channel currently has no new original programs planned and has already closed down internationally except in the USA, Canada, Latin America, the Netherlands and Poland. I expect this channel to close down everywhere.

2. Disney Channel and Disney Junior

These channels closed down in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Southeast Asia will follow on October 1st. Definitely more countries will follow. In the Netherlands, these two channels merged. Disney Junior airs from 06am until 12pm and Disney Channel airs during the rest of the day. This might happen in some other countries as well, especially in the USA (Disney's homeplace). I can imagine the USA will keep Disney Channel the longest.

3. FOX, FOX Life and FOX Crime

FOX recently closed down in the UK, Norway and Sweden. Most of Asia will follow on October 1st and more countries will probably follow. In Latin America, the name changed to Star. Disney is not allowed to keep the FOX name, so it will change its name to Star or FX everywhere.

4. National Geographic and Nat Geo Wild

There are rumours that it will close down in the UK and Italy. (Thanks to @Francisque for finding out about this) Southeast Asia will keep National Geographic.

5. Baby TV and 24Kitchen TV

Strangely enough, these channels are the most likely to survive, since none of their programs are on Disney+ :sweat:
 
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animegamer

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Disney Channel India needs to go. They hardly air anything Disney related for the last few years and show Doraemon and other local content all the time. If this feed is not part of the 100 channel shutdown then I don't know if they really care about their reputation and brand image.

And the main problem with the shutdown of the Asia network channels is that Disney+ currently has no launch plans for smaller markets, meaning it will lead to increase of piracy for those people who watch Disney's content
 
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Francisque

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They won't use the FX name outside of the US anymore, that's too linked and association with Fox, which is why Star came into fruition internationally.
In the US they're just trying to use the historical brand for viewing figures

But yeah, I expect especially the Fox channels will be shut down, especially in Europe, where they're planning and have launched Disney+
A Star rebrand is also likely, but more likely they'll just get away with it

btw Fox Crime Italy will close down in July, so that will leave , until next year, only Fox as the main Fox channel in Italy

After Italy and the UK, I expect a few non-FTA but maybe non-Fta Disney branded stations will get shut down
It's too much of a great news for it to be ignored, so you made the best choice by opening this thread.
 

BlooCNBoy02

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I think Disney Channel HUN-CZE will be also part of this, it is currently almost 12 years old if the predecessors are not counted.
 

Light Lucario

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A part of me thinks that it might be a tad too early for them to put all of their eggs in the Disney+ basket, especially when I'm not sure if their streaming service is available worldwide yet, but traditional TV channels aren't particularly huge anymore either. Most of the big hit shows from the past few years have come from streaming services and they clearly have a lot of plans for Disney+ given all of the shows they announced for it.

Personally, I still have a hard time picturing them removing the Disney Channel and Disney Junior in the U.S. at the moment. Both channels still seem to be pretty successful and there is still a market for preschool channels. However, I can easily see them removing Disney XD. The concept of a rerun channel feels really outdated in the age of streaming and there's little to no new content for XD to begin with. It's easily the most expendable channel Disney has, so I could see it being removed completely sooner rather than later.
 

animegamer

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I remember when they announced the shutdown of the UK channels, they said they were still committed to the kids channels business. Where is that now?
 
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Perla Magica

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I remember when they announced the shutdown of the UK channels, they said they were still committed to the kids channels business. Where is that now?
Exactly.

I think it's going to stay there in place, at least until Disney+ launches in CEE :)

(When?)
Same goes to Poland. At least here all three Disney channels are still premiering new episodes of ongoing shows, same with Fox channels.

Also there's no clue when Disney+ will arrive in Poland.
 

powerjake

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What more can Disney do with channels with limited episode rotations that repeat too much. People also have to put up with the shows being taken off the air randomly.
 

Francisque

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Yeah, for me CEE was about the great area in large including Poland, especially Central Europe will be a very likely next target for Disney to launch Disney+.

Some of the content there is already available in Polish

I could see them launching especially in Poland, Czechia, Romania, maybe Bulgaria?
Russia(n) is a huge market, but with many restrictions

Their expansion is not going as smooth as I previously thought, anyway

Here in Italy Fox channels have been reduced to the bare minimum, they still premiere new stuff of course, but I know that after the death of Fox Crime, premieres will move slowly to Disney+

A bit sad considering this was the series channel par excellence on Sky Italia, since 2003, when Murdoch controlled both Sky and Fox indirectly, but so is life

Fox, Fox Life, Fox Crime main brands.. all gone soon
 

Francisque

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Yes, sorry for forgetting that LOL

Probably at first not the ex-Yugoslavian countries, but probably a Netflix-like expansion is on the cards
 

powerjake

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Yeah, for me CEE was about the great area in large including Poland, especially Central Europe will be a very likely next target for Disney to launch Disney+.

Some of the content there is already available in Polish

I could see them launching especially in Poland, Czechia, Romania, maybe Bulgaria?
Russia(n) is a huge market, but with many restrictions

Their expansion is not going as smooth as I previously thought, anyway

Here in Italy Fox channels have been reduced to the bare minimum, they still premiere new stuff of course, but I know that after the death of Fox Crime, premieres will move slowly to Disney+

A bit sad considering this was the series channel par excellence on Sky Italia, since 2003, when Murdoch controlled both Sky and Fox indirectly, but so is life

Fox, Fox Life, Fox Crime main brands.. all gone soon

You got to accept that not all channels stay good forever and suffer a severe decline. Disney channels happen to suffer that same fate.
 

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