Remember when Disney shut down all its UK children’s channels back in 2020, telling us Disney+ would be the “exclusive home” for everything? Well, plot twist – Disney Jr is coming back to Sky next week.
The preschool channel launches on Thursday, November 13, joining the Sky Kids pack alongside Nick Jr., Cartoon Network, and Sky’s own ad-free kids channel.
It’s 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.
Clearly, things have changed.
How We Got Here
Disney Jr has had quite the journey in British television. It started life way back in 1997 as “Disney Channel Underfives” – a programming block for preschoolers on the main Disney Channel.
By 1999, it became Playhouse Disney, and a year later in September 2000, it launched as its own standalone channel on Sky Digital.
If you’re of a certain age, you might remember the live presenters – Dave Benson Phillips and Alex Lovell, known as Big Dave and Little Alex – hosting shows from “the Playhouse”, a colourful set that looked like something out of a Fisher-Price catalogue.
In 2006, Playhouse Disney moved from being a premium add-on to basic Sky packages, and viewing figures shot up. Families clearly loved it.
The channel was rebranded as Disney Jr in May 2011 as part of a worldwide rebrand, and it kept going strong – adding HD in 2013 and even going 24/7 in 2017.
Then Everything Changed
In June 2020, Disney dropped the bombshell. All three of its UK children’s channels – Disney Channel, Disney XD, and Disney Jr – would shut down on 1st October 2020.
The official line was that Disney and Sky couldn’t 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.
“From October 1st, Disney+ will become the exclusive home for content from Disney Channel, DisneyXD and Disney Jr in the UK,” Disney announced.
And that was that. On September 30, 2020, Disney Jr’s final programme was Gigantosaurus.
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.
Virgin Media had already pulled the plug a day earlier. CBBC and CBeebies moved into Disney’s old channel slots, and it genuinely felt like the end of an era.
We all thought that was it – Disney was done with traditional TV in the UK.
What Changed?
Fast forward to 2025 – and it seems Disney’s “streaming-only” strategy hasn’t quite worked out as planned.
Disney+ has seen its growth slow down. Prices have more than doubled since launch – from £5.99 to £14.99 for the premium tier. And the streaming wars have become a bloodbath, with every company scrambling for subscribers.
Earlier this year, Disney did something that would have been unthinkable in 2020 – they struck a deal with ITVX to put premium Disney+ shows like The Bear and Andor on ITV’s free streaming service.
That was the first sign that Disney was willing to play ball with other platforms again.
Now, with Disney Jr returning to Sky, it’s clear Disney has realised that keeping everything locked behind a subscription paywall might not be the smartest move.
Traditional TV still has value – 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.
And – it gives viewers a taste of what they can find on Disney+.
The Kids TV Apocalypse
The timing of Disney Jr’s return is fascinating, because UK children’s television is currently in crisis.
Just yesterday, we reported that the Pop family of channels – Pop, Tiny Pop, and the rest – are shutting down on Sky and Virgin Media this December. Pop on Freeview is becoming streaming-only.
Why? According to Pop’s owner, “commercial value across the UK kids’ TV market is now just 4% of what it was ten years ago.”
CITV shut down in September 2023. With Pop now leaving traditional platforms, the BBC’s CBBC and CBeebies were set to become the only free-to-air linear children’s channels left in the UK.
So Disney Jr coming back to Sky – while everyone else is running away from kids’ TV – is somewhat surprising.
But then again, Disney isn’t relying on advertising revenue like Pop was. Disney Jr will be part of the paid Sky Kids pack, and it’s effectively a shop window for Disney+ subscriptions.
What You Need To Know
Disney Jr HD launches on Sky Satellite, Sky Glass and Sky Stream on November 13. Sky hasn’t confirmed the channel number yet.
The channel will be part of the Sky Kids pack, which now includes 10 live channels – including the ad-free Sky Kids channel, Nick Jr., Cartoon Network, and now Disney Jr, plus on-demand content.
You’ll be able to watch Disney Jr via the TV guide or on demand on all Sky devices, as well as the Sky Go app.
The channel will not be coming to Virgin Media at this time.
However, before you ask – yes, Disney Jr content will still be on Disney+ as well. This isn’t replacing the streaming option, it’s just giving families another way to watch.
So What’s Next?
Does this mean Disney Channel and Disney XD could come back too? Who knows. For now, Disney seems to be testing the waters with Disney Jr – which makes sense, given that preschoolers and their parents are probably the demographic most likely to appreciate traditional linear TV.
Shows like Bluey and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse work brilliantly as background viewing that parents can trust to keep little ones entertained while they’re making dinner or folding laundry.
You don’t need to curate a playlist or worry about what’s coming up next – you just turn it on and let it run.
Whether this is a one-off or the start of a broader return to UK TV remains to be seen. But one thing’s for sure – Disney’s “Disney+ or nothing” approach from 2020 is well and truly gone.
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