Credit: Inside the MagicThe Disney Channel, along with Disney+, will change drastically in early 2025 for international customers.
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Disney’s deal with the French media group Canal+ will not be renewed, according to Advanced Television. Canal+ has historically included access to Disney movie releases six months after their release, as well as access to Disney TV channels and Disney+.
The contract between Disney and Canal+ expires on December 31, 2024, meaning access to Disney Channel France will end on January 1, 2025. The deal between Disney and Canal+, first signed in 2019, has allowed users to enjoy first-window broadcasts of movies and other releases from Disney brands like Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars.
“From January 1st, 2025, Canal+ customers will no longer be able to watch our films or access Disney+ or our television channels with their subscriptions,” Disney told AFP, a French press agency. The announcement came on Canal+’s 40th anniversary.
“However, all of our productions, films, series, documentaries, will remain accessible to all directly on Disney+” the company added.
Due to a regional theatrical release rule, viewers will now have to wait up to 17 months after a movie’s theatrical release before it becomes available to stream on Disney+ in France.
In response, Gérald-Brice Viret, CEO of Canal+ France, stated that Disney content accounts for a decent amount of consumption among its subscribers, though users still prefer other channels like Max, Paramount+, Netflix, Apple TV+, and Ciné+.
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The Walt Disney Company founded the original Disney Channel back in 1983, a move that would fundamentally alter the world of broadcast television. Over the last forty years, Disney’s TV channel has continued to be regarded as a popular and consistent source of entertainment aimed at kids, tweens, and teens.
Some of the world’s biggest shows and celebrities originated on the Disney Channel, like Miley Cyrus in Hannah Montana, Selena Gomez in Wizards of Waverly Place, and Zendeya in Shake It Up. These shows defined the early 2000s and 2010s, with new series and projects constantly in the works for the channel.
Animation is also a big piece of the Disney Channel puzzle, with shows like Phineas and Ferb and Gravity Falls becoming classics as well.
What do you think about this story? Do you use the Disney Channel often?