La Chaîne Disney was a Canadian French-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment under license from The Walt Disney Company, and launched on September 1, 2015, replacing Télétoon Rétro. It was a localized version of the U.S. subscription network Disney Channel, broadcasting live-action and animated programming aimed at children in French in Canada.
 Final logo used from September 1, 2015 to September 1, 2025 | |
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Network | Disney Channel |
| Headquarters | Montreal, Quebec |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | French |
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to letterboxed 480i for the SDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Teletoon Canada, Inc. (Corus Entertainment) (branding licensed from Disney Branded Television) |
| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Launched | September 1, 2015 |
| Replaced | Télétoon Rétro |
| Closed | September 1, 2025 |
| Links | |
| Website | La Chaîne Disney (archived July 2025) |
The launch of the network came alongside a licensing deal reached between Disney and Corus, who acquired Canadian rights to Disney Channel's programming library, and the announcement of a Canadian version of Disney Channel broadcasting in English that launched concurrently. Previous rightsholder DHX Media never operated any Disney Channel-branded services in English or French, and its only French-language Disney-branded property was a French-language Canadian version of the preschool children's brand Disney Junior.
History
editFrench-language dubs of Disney Channel programs were historically aired by Radio-Canada and later Vrak.TV. The latter channel was co-owned with Family Channel. Vrak.TV was separated from Family with the acquisition of Astral Media by Bell Media; in an attempt to relieve concerns surrounding Bell's total market share in English-language television following the merger, Bell elected to divest Family Channel and its sister networks to DHX Media, which included Astral's French-language version of Disney Junior.[1]
On April 16, 2015, Corus Entertainment announced that it had acquired long-term, Canadian multi-platform rights to Disney Channel's programming library; the cost and duration of the licensing deal were not disclosed. Alongside the licensing deal, Corus announced that it would officially launch a Canadian version of Disney Channel; the service will consist of linear television channels in English and French, along with TV Everywhere and video-on-demand services for digital platforms.[2][1]
The French-language service, La Chaîne Disney, launched concurrently with its English-language counterpart on September 1, 2015. It replaced Télétoon Rétro in its previous channel allotments, operating under the same CRTC license.[3][4]
In 2018, the channel was rebranded to match its English-language counterpart modifying slightly its logo.
Closure
editOn July 10, 2025, Corus announced that they would close La Chaîne Disney alongside a selection of children's channels (Nickelodeon, Disney XD, Disney Jr. and ABC Spark) at midnight on September 1, 2025 (due to existing financial pressure at the company), the 10th anniversary of the channel's launch.[5] Despite the closure, Corus confirmed that it would continue to air Disney content on its other channels. For the time being, the English-language counterpart was not affected. The last show to air on the channel before midnight was the French dub of 3 Amigonauts.[6]
Programming
editLa Chaîne Disney's programming mainly consisted of French-language dubs of existing programs from Disney Channel. As no French versions of each brand ever existed, Disney XD and Disney Junior programs were also included, as part of their respective programming blocks, Disney Junior sur la chaîne Disney[7] and, previously, XD Zone (shown on air as Disney XD Zone). They also used to air Disney Channel shows on blocks based on their respective themes.[8][9]
References
edit- ^ a b "Corus Entertainment snaps up Disney content from DHX Media, plans to launch Disney channel in Canada". Financial Post. Postmedia Network. April 16, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
- ^ "Corus Entertainment and Disney/ABC Television Group join forces in landmark licensing agreement" (Press release). Corus Entertainment. CNW Group. April 16, 2015. Archived from the original on April 17, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
- ^ "Corus speciialty services - Ownership chart" (PDF). CRTC. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
- ^ "Corus trading Télétoon Rétro for La chaîne Disney". Cartt.ca. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
- ^ "Corus to pull plug on some kids channels amid financial pressure". Cartt.ca. July 10, 2025. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
- ^ "TV Schedule for La Chaine Disney". TV Passport. Archived from the original on August 29, 2025. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
- ^ "Le monde de Disney Junior | La chaîne Disney". www.disneylachaine.ca. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015.
- ^ "La chaîne Disney : New TV Offer for the Whole Family Starting September 1!". Corus Entertainment. Corus. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
- ^ "Get Ready Canada! Disney Channel Arrives on September 1!" (Press release). Toronto: Corus Entertainment. August 11, 2015. Archived from the original on August 15, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
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