Remember when Disney shut down all its UK children\u2019s channels back in 2020, telling us Disney+ would be the \u201cexclusive home\u201d for everything? Well, plot twist \u2013 Disney Jr is coming back to Sky next week.<\/p>\n
The preschool channel launches on Thursday, November 13, joining the Sky Kids pack alongside Nick Jr., Cartoon Network, and Sky\u2019s own ad-free kids channel.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a move that would have seemed utterly bizarre five years ago, when Disney was adamant that streaming was the future and linear TV was dead.<\/p>\n
Clearly, things have changed.<\/p>\n
How We Got Here <\/p>\n
Disney Jr has had quite the journey in British television. It started life way back in 1997 as \u201cDisney Channel Underfives\u201d \u2013 a programming block for preschoolers on the main Disney Channel.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
By 1999, it became Playhouse Disney, and a year later in September 2000, it launched as its own standalone channel on Sky Digital.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re of a certain age, you might remember the live presenters \u2013 Dave Benson Phillips and Alex Lovell, known as Big Dave and Little Alex \u2013 hosting shows from \u201cthe Playhouse\u201d, a colourful set that looked like something out of a Fisher-Price catalogue.<\/p>\n
In 2006, Playhouse Disney moved from being a premium add-on to basic Sky packages, and viewing figures shot up. Families clearly loved it.<\/p>\n
The channel was rebranded as Disney Jr in May 2011 as part of a worldwide rebrand, and it kept going strong \u2013 adding HD in 2013 and even going 24\/7 in 2017.<\/p>\n
Then Everything Changed <\/p>\n
In June 2020, Disney dropped the bombshell. All three of its UK children\u2019s channels \u2013 Disney Channel, Disney XD, and Disney Jr \u2013 would shut down on 1st October 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n The official line was that Disney and Sky couldn\u2019t agree on a new carriage deal. But really, Disney was going all-in on Disney+, which had launched in the UK just six months earlier.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom October 1st, Disney+ will become the exclusive home for content from Disney Channel, DisneyXD and Disney Jr in the UK,\u201d Disney announced.<\/p>\n And that was that. On September 30, 2020, Disney Jr\u2019s final programme was Gigantosaurus<\/a>.<\/p>\n After a few promos and a Vampirina music video, the channel cut to a still image of Mickey Mouse, Animal from Muppet Babies, and Vampirina, before vanishing from channel 605 and 606 on Sky.<\/p>\n Virgin Media had already pulled the plug a day earlier. CBBC and CBeebies moved into Disney\u2019s old channel slots, and it genuinely felt like the end of an era.<\/p>\n We all thought that was it \u2013 Disney was done with traditional TV in the UK.<\/p>\n What Changed? <\/p>\n Fast forward to 2025 \u2013 and it seems Disney\u2019s \u201cstreaming-only\u201d strategy hasn\u2019t quite worked out as planned.<\/p>\n Disney+ has seen its growth slow down. Prices have more than doubled<\/a> since launch \u2013 from \u00a35.99 to \u00a314.99 for the premium tier. And the streaming wars have become a bloodbath, with every company scrambling for subscribers.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Disney did something that would have been unthinkable in 2020 \u2013 they struck a deal with ITVX<\/a> to put premium Disney+ shows like The Bear and Andor on ITV\u2019s free streaming service.<\/p>\n That was the first sign that Disney was willing to play ball with other platforms again.<\/p>\n Now, with Disney Jr returning to Sky, it\u2019s clear Disney has realised that keeping everything locked behind a subscription paywall might not be the smartest move.<\/p>\n Traditional TV still has value \u2013 especially for parents of young kids, who often prefer the simplicity of just turning on a channel rather than navigating through yet another streaming app.<\/p>\n And \u2013 it gives viewers a taste of what they can find on Disney+.<\/p>\n The Kids TV Apocalypse <\/p>\n The timing of Disney Jr\u2019s return is fascinating, because UK children\u2019s television is currently in crisis.<\/p>\n Just yesterday, we reported that the Pop family of channels<\/a> \u2013 Pop, Tiny Pop, and the rest \u2013 are shutting down on Sky and Virgin Media this December. Pop on Freeview is becoming streaming-only.<\/p>\n Why? According to Pop\u2019s owner, \u201ccommercial value across the UK kids\u2019 TV market is now just 4% of what it was ten years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n