Along with its English-language sister channel Family Jr., it is available in over four million Canadian households as of 2013.[1]
History
As Playhouse Disney Télé and Disney Junior
The channel was licensed in 2006 as Vrak Junior, a sister channel to Astral's Vrak TV, though, aimed at younger viewers than Vrak.[2] It was launched on 5 July 2010, as Playhouse Disney Télé.[3] Three years prior, an English language version (then known as Playhouse Disney) was launched on 30 November 2007, as a multiplex channel of Family. The network took on the new Disney Junior brand in 2011.[citation needed]
On 4 March 2013, following the Competition Bureau's approval of Bell Media's takeover of Astral, it was announced that Family Channel and its sister networks (including the Disney Junior services, Disney XD, and MusiquePlus) would be divested in an attempt to relieve CRTC concerns regarding the takeover.[4] On 28 November 2013, DHX Media announced it would acquire the four channels for $170 million pending CRTC approval.[5][6] On 24 July 2014, the CRTC approved DHX's purchase of the networks,[7][8] and the deal was closed on 31 July 2014.[9]
As Télémagino
On 16 April 2015, it was announced that Corus Entertainment had acquired Canadian rights to Disney Channel's program library and would launch a Canadian version of Disney Channel that September, and that its sibling brands of Disney Junior and XD would be re-launched at a later date. In anticipation for this transition, DHX concurrently announced that its Disney-branded networks would be re-branded as spin-offs of Family Channel. The re-branding of Disney Junior's French feed was tentatively announced as Famille Junior, but was later changed to Télémagino. The new name was officially introduced on 18 September 2015, alongside the re-branding of its English-language counterpart as Family Jr.[10][11][12]