Posts for 'Disney Channel' Category

USA Network hit a ratings speed bump last week on its dominant run of the summer ratings charts as Disney Channel last week tied the "Characters Welcome" network for top honors. Disney, on the strength of the season four premiere of hit show Hannah Montana, averaged 2.7 million viewers, finishing in a first place tie with USA during the week of July 5 to July 11, according to an Disney-ABC TV analysis of Nielsen data. USA had won the previous five summer 2010 weekly ratings races.

TNT finished third for the week with 2.4 million viewers followed by History and ABC Family Channel, with both networks averaging 1.8 million watchers. Nick-At-Nite, Fox News and ESPN (all tied with 1.7 million viewers), A&E (1.5 million viewers) and Syfy (1.4 million) rounded out the top 10. NBA star LeBron James' much ballyhooed July 8 The Decision special on ESPN drew nearly 10 million viewers to finish as the most watched show during the week among all key audience demos, according to Turner Research.

Celebrities ranging from Disney Channel star Vanessa Hudgens to actor Wayne Brady strolled a blue carpet Thursday night before a major show premiered at Disney California Adventure. (UPDATE: Story was updated at 9:50 p.m.)

“World of Color,” a major water-and-light show, officially debuted at 9 p.m. Thursday in the major waterway at the Anaheim park. The show, with a platform that is larger than a football field, is part of a $1 billion expansion of the 9-year-old park. General park visitors can see the show for the first time Friday.

The opening ceremony began with emcee Mickey Mouse, who greeted actress Teri Hatcher and songwriter Richard Herman, before launching the 25-minute show. Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said this is a show unlike any done by Disney.

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The Disney Channel, owned by Disney (NYSE:DIS), carries programming targeted at children and constitutes nearly 7% of our $37 Trefis price estimate for Disney’s stock.  In comparison, Disney owned ESPN constitutes about 32% of the company’s value while channels like ABC Family and Lifetime each represent about 3% of the stock.

The Disney Channel airs popular programs, such as High School Musical and Hannah Montana, and competes with other children’s channels like Viacom’s (NYSE:VIA) Nickelodeon and Time Warner’s (NYSE:TWX) Cartoon Network.

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Teen star Jennifer Stone of 'Wizards of Waverly Place' hasn't lived in L.A. long, but she's already conjured up a handful of favorite haunts.At just 17, actress Jennifer Stone knows her way around showbiz. The star of the new Disney Channel movie "Harriet the Spy:

Blog Wars" and the hit series "Wizards of Waverly Place" says she's been at it since she was a toddler. "I started in theater when I was 6 back in Texas," said the Studio City resident.

"I started to get work in commercials and small parts in films and then begged my mother to let me come out to L.A. She thought it would just be for one summer, but it didn't turn out that way." Here's how this career girl handles her downtime.Hitting the town.

The Silent Movie Theatre is one of my favorite places. There's such a camaraderie among the people who go there because they love movies. And that's my life -- I love movies, everything about them. That's how this whole industry got started, and I love paying homage to that.

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 Disney Channel is all set to reintroduce to the younger generation the ancient Tamil literature Thirukkural with the first ever animated TV serials based on this celebrated text. The series developed as animal fables by Accel Animation Studios, Chennai, is titled ‘Ek Tha Jungle' and showcases couplets from Thirukkural  one of the most important and celebrated works in Tamil literature written by noted Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar. Each episode has a universal theme presented in modern day, 3D animated format.

Set for a premiere on Disney Channel on April 5, every episode will showcase a universal theme and strong life lessons. The stories are laced around strong ethics and family values with a moral that is applicable to the present and future generations.

N. R. Panicker, Chairman of Accel and Executive Producer of ‘Ek Tha Jungle' said in a release, “When Accel Animation Studios set out to create its own properties for television media, we decided to embark on socially relevant subjects. There is no better way than adapting the evergreen Thirukkural to narrate stories to the young audience. We are delighted to partner Disney Channel to bring this classic work to the Indian audience."

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Walt Disney Television International India (WDTVI) has appointed Arnab Chaudhuri as director - content and creative. In this role, Chaudhuri will oversee the creative and content strategy for Disney's TV network in India comprising Disney Channel, Disney XD and Hungama TV.

As part of his new mandate, Chaudhuri will be responsible for aligning local content acquisition, local production, animation projects, interstitials and on-air promotions to support the programming priorities for the network.

Says WDTVI VP and general manager Natasha Malhotra, "Creating compelling content, channel environments and engaging and entertaining our audience with locally relevant initiatives is a key strategic priority for Disney Channel, Disney XD and Hungama TV. As we continue to deliver on this commitment, the creative expertise and experience Arnab brings with him from India and international markets will play a crucial role in driving the growth of our channels."

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Disney Channel lost at sea. Lost at Sea is a comedy/romance graphic novel by Bryan Lee O'Malley. First published in 2003 by Oni Press, it tells the coming-of-age story of shy 18-year-old Raleigh who thinks she has no soul — a cat stole it from her — and who is now on a road trip across the United States with some kids from her school she barely knows.

Raleigh is on a road trip from visiting her boyfriend (and her dad) in California back home to Vancouver with Stephanie, Dave and Ian, some kids from her high school she hardly knows and met in California by accident after she missed her train.

During the trip she has a lot of time to think about her boyfriend Stillman, whom she had met on the internet, and her belief that she has no friends because she has no soul, for her mother sold it to the devil (who gave it to a cat) when she was fourteen, in the summer her parents got divorced and her best friend moved away to Ottawa.

OK, she's not whining about it. Demi Lovato is just being, like, matter of fact. The latest tween princess in the Disney empire seldom gets to, um, act her age.

"I'm doing the job of an adult; I work with adults," Lovato, 16, said last week when she had the nation's No. 1 album, "Here We Go Again."

That job means: getting up in the morning to sing on "The View," calling music writers old enough to be her father and signing autographs at the mall (she'd rather be shopping, starting at Bath & Body Works, thank you).The only time Lovato feels 16 is when she's home: "My mom goes, like, 'Go clean your room.'"

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MUSIC and comedy come together in Jonas, a new series starring recording artistes of Hollywood Records including the ever popular Jonas Brothers. Jonas follows the fictional Lucas Brothers through the unexpected, unpredictable and often absurd situations these rock and roll superstar brothers face as they try to live ordinary lives.

The series features original Jonas Brothers songs created especially for the show. In the premiere episode entitled Wrong Song, Nick Lucas writes a love song for a girl he has just met - fellow student and aspiring singer Penny - despite warnings from Kevin and Joe that he was moving too fast with the brand new crush.

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Disney Channel's crossover special "Wizards on Deck With Hannah Montana" was the most-watched scripted telecast on cable so far this year. The 90-minute Friday night event, which featured episodes of "Hannah Montana," "The Suite Life on Deck" and "Wizards of Waverly Place," was seen by a massive 9.3 million viewers.

It also marked TV's top scripted telecast this year among kids 6-11 and tweens 9-14. Disney Channel out delivered second-place CBS for the evening by than 4 million viewers. The program marked the best time-period numbers for Disney Channel since the 2007 premiere of "High School Musical 2.

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