Editing Disney Channel (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Disney Channel}}
Disney Channel launched nationally as a premium channel at 7:00&nbsp;a.m. [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern Time]] on April 18, 1983, under the name '''The Disney Channel'''.<ref name="vernon">{{cite news|title=Disney invades cable TV|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=P2YeAAAAIBAJ&pg=1920,4087795&dq=disney-channel&hl=en|author=Vernon Scott|agency=[[United Press International]]|newspaper=[[TimesDaily]]|page=8|date=April 19, 1983|access-date=October 31, 2010|archive-date=17 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517050808/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=P2YeAAAAIBAJ&pg=1920,4087795&dq=disney-channel&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Mickey to star on Disney Channel|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jsxRAAAAIBAJ&pg=7193,677930&dq=good+morning+mickey&hl=en|author=Win Fanning|newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|publisher=[[Cox Enterprises]]|page=31|date=April 5, 1983|access-date=October 31, 2010|archive-date=18 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518060259/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jsxRAAAAIBAJ&pg=7193,677930&dq=good+morning+mickey&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref> The channel's development with help from its founding president [[Alan Wagner]], and formally announced the launch of its family-oriented cable channel in early 1983. The channel – which initially maintained a 16-hour-per-day programming schedule from 7:00&nbsp;a.m. to 11:00&nbsp;p.m. Eastern and [[Pacific Time Zone|Pacific Time]] – would become available on cable providers in all 50 U.S. states by September 1983, and accrue a base of more than 611,000 subscribers by December of that year.<ref name="vernon" />{{sfn|Grover|1991|p=148}}<ref name="ks" /> In October 1983, the channel debuted its first made-for-cable movie, ''[[Tiger Town]]'', which earned the channel a [[CableACE Award]].<ref name="ks">{{cite news|author=Kidscreen Staff|title=A Salute to Disney Channel: Disney Channel time line|url=http://kidscreen.com/1998/04/01/21442-19980401/|newspaper=KidScreen.com|date=April 1, 1998|access-date=April 12, 2014|archive-date=30 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630112321/http://kidscreen.com/1998/04/01/21442-19980401/|url-status=live}}</ref> The channel had reached profitability by January 1985, with its programming reaching 1.75&nbsp;million subscribers by that point.

In September 1990, [[Tele-Communications, Inc.|TCI]]'s [[Montgomery, Alabama|Montgomery]], [[Alabama]], system became the first cable provider to carry the channel as a basic cable service.<ref name="ks" /> Between 1991 and 1996, a steadily increasing number of cable providers began shifting The Disney Channel from a premium add-on offering to their basic tiers, either experimentally or on a full-time basis; however, Walt Disney Company executives denied any plans to convert the channel into an ad-supported basic service, stating that the premium-to-basic shifts on some providers was part of a five-year "hybrid" strategy that allowed providers to offer the channel in either manner.<ref>{{cite news|title=Jones to offer Disney on basic tier in Fla.|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-10493789.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624034122/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-10493789.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 24, 2011|periodical=[[Multichannel News]]|publisher=[[Reed Business Information|Cahners Business Information]]|date=February 25, 1991}}</ref><ref name="highbeam1991">{{cite news|title=More systems trying Disney on expanded basic|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-11343830.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624034253/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-11343830.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 24, 2011|periodical=Multichannel News|publisher=Cahners Business Information|date=September 30, 1991}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Marcus moves Disney; Marcus Cable makes The Disney Channel part of its basic service; analysts wonder if Disney is planning major changes|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18333380.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624034330/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-18333380.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 24, 2011|periodical=[[Broadcasting & Cable]]|publisher=Cahners Business Information|date=May 27, 1996}}</ref> On April 6, 1997, the channel officially rebranded as '''Disney Channel''', although occasionally marketed as "'''Disney'''" from 1997 to 2002.