Disney XD (Southeast Asian TV channel)

This article is about Disney XD in Southeast Asia. For the original American version, see Disney XD. For other international versions, see List of Disney XD TV channels.

Disney XD

Broadcast area	Singapore (until May 31, 2020) Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand (until December 31, 2020)
Headquarters	1 Fusionopolis View, #06-01 Sandcrawler Building, Singapore 138577
Programming
Language(s)	English Chinese (dubbing/subtitles) Malay (dubbing/subtitles) Indonesian (dubbing/subtitles) Thai (dubbing/subtitles) Tamil (dubbing/subtitles)
Picture format	1080i HDTV
Ownership
Owner	The Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia) Pte. Ltd. Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific
Sister channels	Disney Channel Disney Junior
History
Launched	15 September 2012; 11 years ago (2012-09-15) (Malaysia)[1] March 16, 2013; 11 years ago (2013-03-16) (Singapore)[2] 19 October 2013; 10 years ago (2013-10-19) (Indonesia & Thailand)[3] 31 May 2014; 10 years ago (2014-05-31) (Philippines)[4] 2016; 8 years ago (2016) (Bangladesh)
Closed	1 March 2019; 5 years ago (2019-03-01) (SD feed, Malaysia) 1 June 2020; 4 years ago (2020-06-01) (Singapore) 1 January 2021; 3 years ago (2021-01-01) (Southeast Asia & Bangladesh)[5]
Replaced by	Metro Channel (Cignal channel space, Philippines) TA-DAA! (Astro channel space, Malaysia)

Disney XD is a former Southeast Asian pay television channel owned by The Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia) Pte. Ltd. and part of the Disney Branded Television unit of the United States-based Walt Disney Television, it was also operated by Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific during the acquisition on both Disney and Fox in 2019. It was aimed primarily at children, 6–15 years old on the namesake television channel in the United States.

Its programming lineup included Marvel and Star Wars shows, reruns of programs previously aired on Disney Channel and certain action series. It also aired some pre-school related programs from Disney Junior.

History

Disney XD first began broadcasting in Malaysia on 15 September 2012.^[1] The channel was expanded to Singapore on 16 March 2013,^[2] Indonesia and Thailand on 19 October 2013, and lastly, the Philippines on 31 May 2014 on the original channel.

After the ban of Disney Channel India and Disney XD India in Bangladesh due to broadcasting in Hindi language and heavy localisation of the Indian feeds,^[6] Disney XD Asia was made available on few digital cable platforms there in 2016.

Due to Astro's Refreshed Kids Pack on 14 December 2020 and the launch of Disney+ Hotstar on 1 June 2021, the channel, along with Disney Junior, ceased broadcasting on Astro and Astro-owned TV providers (including NJOI and Kristal-Astro). Therefore, there's the only impact that The Walt Disney Company will be shutting down Disney XD in Southeast Asia on the same date and time by following the review of Disney's business in the region, just before Astro have already confirmed with this statement before Astro shutting down both Disney Channel and Disney Junior on the same date and time. However, The Walt Disney Company didn't announce that Astro will be shutting down Disney Channel and Disney Junior on New Year's Day 2021 at midnight.

On 28 February 2019, the Malaysian feed of Disney XD Asia was merged into the main feed, with timings on promos now saying MAL/PHIL instead of SIN/PHIL. Astro, the sole operator in Malaysia that formerly carried Disney Channels made Disney XD an HD only channel from 1 March 2019 and the SD version on Disney XD (617) ceased broadcasting from the Astro list on 14 March 2019.

Disney XD was not distributed to Hong Kong and Vietnam, and therefore selected programs from Disney XD was available on Disney Channel Asia.

Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior ceased transmission in Singapore on June 1, 2020 on both Singtel and StarHub. Selected programs from these 3 channels were moved to Disney+ on 23 February 2021.^[7]

Because of a review of Disney's business in the region and after more than 8 years of broadcasting, Disney XD ceased operations at 1:10am on 1 January 2021, simultaneously with the discontinuation of Scandinavian version of the channel.^[8] Disney XD's content were moved to Disney Channel (which already ceased transmission in Malaysia and Singapore but continued to broadcast in other Southeast Asian countries until its shutdown on 1 October 2021), Disney+ Hotstar (in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand) and Disney+ (in Singapore and the Philippines).^[5] The last programme to air on the channel was an episode of Counterfeit Cat. After the episode ended, it shows an episode of The Tiniest Man in the World. Following that, some of the promos, commercials, bumpers are shown here, and there are a lot of Blam! clips. After that, it officially cuts to a black screen.

In the Philippines, it showed a test card at 2:15 am. The channel space was replaced by Metro Channel on January 4, 2021 on Cignal.

In Malaysia, it showed a grey message at 12:05 am while airing Counterfeit Cat. The channel space was replaced by TA-DAA! (now DreamWorks Channel since February 1, 2023) on March 15, 2021 on Astro.

External links

• Disney XD Asia Schedule (now closed)

References

1. "Malaysia to premiere Disney XD". Kidscreen. 19 July 2012. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
2. "Marvel Mania, and More!". Television Asia Plus. 22 March 2013. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
3. Gopi, Shreya (21 October 2013). "Disney XD launches in Indonesia and Thailand". On Screen. Archived from the original on 16 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
4. "Disney XD Launches in the Philippines beginning May 31". Smart Parenting. 31 May 2014. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
5. "Astro's kids offering gets a makeover!". Astro. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
6. "Bangladesh bans cartoons to halt Hindi invasion". Hindustan Times. 15 February 2013. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
7. Baroness, The (1 June 2020). "Disney+ Singapore Incoming: Disney Channels Dropped From Starhub & Singtel". Geek Culture. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
8. "DC TV Schedule | Disney TV Shows | Malaysia". 1 January 2021. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.