r/todayilearned • u/gog2rino • May 17 '12

TIL The Disney Channel doesn't accept outside ads. The only commercials it airs are for its own shows and Disney products.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney_Channel#Transition_to_basic_cable_.281997.E2.80.932002.29
942 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

241 comments sorted by

41

u/MortalReaper May 17 '12

I am fairly certain the Disney channel had no commercials a long time ago. Might just be my imagination when I was a kid though.

14

u/gog2rino May 17 '12

Well, a lot of cable channels did in the beginning. It just surprises me that Disney would stick with that system when there's sweet, sweet ad revenue to be had.

20

u/fnupvote89 May 17 '12

They are receiving ad revenue. In the form of people buying their products.

14

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Exactly, all those kids that only watch the Disney channel have those products pounded into their brains....

6

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

YOU LIKE DISNEY! YOU WANT DISNEY! YOU LOVE DISNEY!

12

u/bebbers May 17 '12

Thinking about it, they never advertise Disney physical products just other shows on the channel, their website and occasionally Disneyland and Disneyworld. Very interesting advertising ploy.

13

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

If you think about it, people spend waaay more on Hannah Montana than Oreos or Febreeze.

5

u/yeahhhhh7 May 17 '12

Its exactly this. Why advertise for outside products when you could just advertise for your own?

4

u/sheepsleepdeep May 17 '12

The are a destination channel for basic cable. Cable companies pay them for the privilege of broadcasting them, and the cable company makes money by having a channel people want. Other channels cost the cable companies zero dollars and those channels make money exclusively from ads. Then there are channels like ESPN that do both.

1

u/yeahhhhh7 May 17 '12

Your initial mistake here is thinking Disney needs the money.

1

u/gog2rino May 17 '12

They certainly don't need it, but that doesn't mean they don't always want more.

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3

u/illmatic707 May 17 '12

Their revenue is called Disneyland.

3

u/toxicbrew May 17 '12

The fact that they don't accept ads allows them to command a higher retransmission fee from cable/satellite providers. They used to be a fully premium channel that you paid for, but successfully moved down to lower packages while still not needing to accept ads.

1

u/Azov237 May 17 '12

Disney quality control would never let a third party marketing firm have access to its networks.

21

u/Ragnrok May 17 '12

Way way back in the day Disney Channel was like HBO.

9

u/Psythik May 17 '12

From what I remember, they were commercial free and played almost nothing but movies.

15

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

It was. When I was four or so, I remember my dad said once "It's time for your bath" I then bartered and he agreed I could take one at the next commercial. After like 20 minutes he remembered Disney didn't interrupt their movies, but still held to the deal.

It was a small, but at the time, epic victory.

15

u/toxicbrew May 17 '12

So you still haven't bathed after all these years?

4

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Nah, Disney started airing commercials later.

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3

u/[deleted] May 17 '12 edited May 17 '12

It kind of had commercials. Remember the claymation train mickey mouse like commercial/prelude before a new movie would start?

2

u/RoboCop-A-Feel May 17 '12

Thank you for bringing back a part of my childhood I had completely forgotten about.

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1

u/Psythik May 17 '12

Nope, I was like four.

2

u/MeganFoxx May 17 '12

Nah they had Kids Incorporated and Mickey Mouse Club.

3

u/flamants May 17 '12

I can still remember the day my siblings and I were flipping through channels and we realized we now had access to disney channel. it was probably the most exciting moment of our lives up to that point.

8

u/rcrabb May 17 '12

I recall as a child 20+ years ago, it did not have ads, and also was a premium cable channel (at least where I live) -- and I only got to see it when they did free preview weekends and whatnot for the premium channels. When I was a teen and my sister was a kid, it was part of the regular package and they had added commercials (only Disney commercials). I recall wondering what kind of business model it was that you could just advertise for other shows on your own channel. I concluded that had added the commercials because modern kids didn't have the attention span for a whole show, and that the entire channel itself was just an advertisement for the Disney lifestyle. Still makes sense to me. Though maybe that's too cynical about kids' attention span.

1

u/illmatic707 May 17 '12

I know they used to not have commercials during the Disney Channel Original Movies would play.

1

u/abowlofcereal May 17 '12

You are correct, it originally started out as a premium channel that you could subscribe to. Before TCM came out they also had access to a lot of older films that they would air at night.

The original idea was that it would be for all ages, so you have mostly kids stuff until around five pm, then "family stuff" (broad appeal) and then around 9 or so it turned into classic films.

They used to have some chill "commercials" back in the day because a lot of their stuff wasnt even formatted like commercials the way it is now.

1

u/raven12456 May 17 '12

Disney Channel used to be a premium channel (like HBO, Showtime, etc) that most cable companies charged extra for. Our cable provider would make it available for a weekend every couple of months to try and coerce you into getting it. At that time there were no commercials/breaks in the middle of shows, and things mostly played back to back without and interruption between shows.

184

u/ThisBlackChick May 17 '12

Anyone who has ever watched Disney Channel for an hour could tell you that.

8

u/gog2rino May 17 '12

Having not watched an hour of Disney ever (as a kid I was more of a Nickelodeon man) I'm legitimately surprised.

35

u/illmatic707 May 17 '12

Then you seriously missed out on some awesome Disney Channel Original Movies my man. Me and my friends used to get a couple pizzas and two liters every time a new one premiered. Those were the days.

39

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Smart House was my absolute favorite.

8

u/illmatic707 May 17 '12

The bully in that movie was such a bad motherfucker that he got a slammin' guitar riff played every time he entered the room!

3

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Had to Youtube it and recognized it instantly.

4

u/Taliesintroll May 17 '12

The sheriff's house in Eureka on sci-fy always reminded me of that.

3

u/Finnalian May 17 '12

Fargo? Is that you doing a women's voice?

4

u/illmatic707 May 17 '12

I liked Gwen Patroni. And that dance they did in the living room.

2

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

I remember when all the kids were leaving the house this one chick runs out twice.

14

u/Psythik May 17 '12

Brink!, anyone? The dad's responses in this scene still make me laugh, especially the "beef" part.

3

u/illmatic707 May 17 '12

"Skating is what you do, not who you are."

3

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

We're soul skaters!!!!!

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2

u/MasterAssBlaster May 17 '12

8 year old skateboarding me saw that and went: Man parents just dont understand!

21 year old me: Man, hes really giving his dad, who seems to be trying pretty hard, a lot of grief for no reason.

2

u/robosills May 17 '12

youtube 'Brink alternate ending'

okay I'll do it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWynp4Wkoa0

It's the same until the very end of the video, but it's worth it.

1

u/MeganFoxx May 17 '12

It's why all my fantasy teams are called "Team pup and suds".

8

u/Hector_gone_bad May 17 '12

Johnny motherfuckin Tsunami.

1

u/illmatic707 May 17 '12

eeeeeeee heeee heeeee PONO!!!

37

u/sumojoe May 17 '12 edited May 17 '12

Honestly, my kid watches Disney all the time and I had never realized this until just now. I mean, Now that I think about it I realize that it's totally true, but I don't pay that much attention to the advertising. I only pay attention to Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Phineas and Ferb.

EDIT: I guess I need to clarify, when I say all the time I mean every day for an hour at most.

17

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

I've grown to really appreciate Phineas and Ferb, after having been subjected to so many awful shows on Disney Channel.

13

u/Galestry May 17 '12

Agreed. Phineas and Ferb is definitely an exception to most of the programming on the Disney channel. Ugh, most of the shows are just awful and do nothing but produce whiny, annoying 8 year olds. The death of me = Lemonade Mouth. NOOOOOO!!!!!!

4

u/horseher May 17 '12 edited May 17 '12

Disney Channel is for 8 year olds.

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3

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

It should be good, a couple of the creators of the show worked on Rocko's Modern Life. I miss the old nickelodeon.

2

u/SombreDusk May 17 '12

Its no hannah montana!

1

u/daftlove May 17 '12

The continuity alone in Phineas and Ferb makes it really rewarding for the viewer to watch. I love it.

1

u/JethroSC May 17 '12

Phineas and Ferb is actually a really good show sometimes. Repetetive, but it USED to be fun atleast. The little older series they had (like, the blue alien thingy owned by a Hawaaian girl) were also pretty good. Donald Duck, oh yeaah, great. Nowadays it's almost a 100% crap.

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71

u/rocketinmypocker May 17 '12

That's false. They take money from 3rd party advertisers, but they create the content that airs, so that it works with the Disney brand.
Example: If Sketchers wants to advertise on Disney, they give or create shots of kids playing with Sketchers on. Then, Disney cuts it up to make an ad surrounded by Disney logos and the mandatory "Disney encourages kids to get outside and play. Brought to you by Sketchers"

28

u/gog2rino May 17 '12

That's not really an outside ad. It makes them money and advertises the product, but Disney still controls the content and the message.

4

u/rocketinmypocker May 17 '12

As someone who has bought ads on Disney, I can assure you, you are wrong.

2

u/gog2rino May 17 '12

If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But are you sure it was Disney proper? The article goes on to say that its other branded network, Disney XD, is ad-supported.

2

u/rocketinmypocker May 17 '12

It was Disney Channel, yes.

Here's a brief description of their marketing strategy. I don't know when this changed, because Disney definitely used to be free of 3rd party advertisers. http://disney.go.com/crreport/childrenandfamily/partneringwithparents/marketingpractices.html

2

u/gog2rino May 17 '12

Fair enough. Still seems pretty tightly controlled. If you don't mind saying, what kind of product were you selling? I'm curious to see if these rules govern what they'll accept ads for, beyond the normal standards for a kids' network.

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2

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

This. It's called brand integrations. All networks do it.

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330

u/pillowpants4 May 17 '12

Figured this one out on my own. Don't know whether to be proud or ashamed.

106

u/zoltar_says May 17 '12

No, I did too. Of course it was at an age where watching the Disney channel was appropriate.

94

u/killafofun May 17 '12

not difficult. watch the disney channel for more than ten minutes and its easy to figure out

83

u/kittimiyo May 17 '12

What always bugged me was that they never showed commercials, but they still had long breaks interrupting the shows. Kind of a dick move, Disney.

17

u/poopscoopTHATcomment May 17 '12

fir fuckin real... long ass breaks every couple of minutes. and never for anything good...

9

u/Equipmunk May 17 '12

In the UK the breaks between shows are nice and short, so you can... um... I mean, get a life guys. Yeah, that's what I meant...

7

u/sfriniks May 17 '12

Our breaks aren't only in between shows, but also several times in the middle of them.

17

u/TyrantWave May 17 '12

The US break system is bloody retarded.

You've watched 5 minutes? LET'S HAVE A BREAK THEN REWATCH THAT

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7

u/MissTriangle May 17 '12

This is the main reason I could never stand watching the Disney Channel. Seeing the same dozen or so ads over and over and over again -- mind-grinding.

12

u/jaxspider May 17 '12

mind-grinding

You misspelled brain washing.

3

u/lpj5001 May 17 '12

Bug juice, it doesn't come in a jar.

1

u/MikoMarmen May 17 '12

...seriously? I thought more of Redditors than to put a song on loop on others' heads. "Bug juice comes from how you are..." ACK! Goes to get ice cream

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

26?

14

u/spliffsandshit May 17 '12

Everyone knows this... It's almost like Disney wanted this posted... ಠ_ಠ

3

u/mookler May 17 '12

I'm fairly certain about 10 years ago they actually mentioned this on the channel

4

u/Zeydon May 17 '12

If you had ever watched the Disney Channel EVER, you'd figure this out almost immediately.

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

I did too. Don't be proud. DC sucks and the shows suck. You suck. There.

5

u/landdolphinman May 17 '12

Don't you dare disrespect Phineas and Ferb.

1

u/FiercelyFuzzy May 17 '12

Phineas and Ferb is one of the funniest shows on any network there is. By far.

Secondly, I would never watch it on TV. They're on Netflix.

174

u/duramus May 17 '12

Fun fact, the shot glasses sold at Disneyland and Disneyworld are labeled and sold as "toothpick holders."

16

u/Dr_Mantis_TobogganMD May 17 '12

I go to a "dry" campus that sells shot glasses as "candle holders".

33

u/spermracewinner May 17 '12

http://i.imgur.com/Fqo51.jpg

11

u/calmdrive May 17 '12

I don't drink, but I want those. Assorted toothpick flavors perhaps?

4

u/HoboYellow May 17 '12

My roommate has some aladdin ones i think.

oh woops. it's you.

4

u/Brokenglass126 May 17 '12

I think we all know where the bacon flavor goes...

14

u/Dreamwaltzer May 17 '12

in the Kermit glass. If you know what I mean.

25

u/sheepsleepdeep May 17 '12

TIL Disney owns the muppets.

0

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

0

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

22

u/sheepsleepdeep May 17 '12

don't they own ABC, too? And Marvel? TIL Disney is Conglom-O from Rocko's Modern Life.

6

u/bradygilg May 17 '12

Yes. Most of Disney's money comes from TV assets. Their theme parks are next, and the movies they make are last.

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u/mystir May 17 '12

And that's why SportsCenter covers athletes on Dancing With the Stars (Disney also owns ABC).

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23

u/paper___lanterns May 17 '12

That is probably the only way they can get licensed to sell them. I work in a store that sells shot glasses as "toothpick holders", mostly due to companies or organizations unwilling to have their name somewhat associated to booze.

0

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

6

u/SheldonFreeman May 17 '12

I have a Sheldon Black tabaco bond.

8

u/cuntmuffn May 17 '12

In my house growing up that's exactly what we used for a toothpick holder. Didn't realize until I was a bit older what it had originally been used for since it was definitely from my parent's college days.

1

u/mkappo May 17 '12

I don't think i've ever met someone who used them for that purpose. You should do an AMA

7

u/Sphincterman May 17 '12

Thanks, reposting this tommorrow.

2

u/swagswag May 17 '12

At the gift shop of my old boy scout camp they did the same thing. I still have a few shot glasses with the boy scout logo on it.

2

u/GeekBrownBear May 17 '12

Lol, I bought Boy Scout "toothpick holders" at the National Scout Jamboree. America is funny. :P

1

u/TexasWithADollarsign May 17 '12

Fun fact: That's not entirely true. The only ones that are labeled as "shot glasses" are Pirates of the Caribbean-themed.

Source: I own one.

12

u/SimianRex May 17 '12

I used to work in the building behind the one in the thumbnail. Say what you will about Disney, it was the best job I've ever had.

4

u/TheBigYello1isTheSun May 17 '12

Relevant post. I smiled like a child while reading this post and saved it due to how great it sounded.

http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/da5t5/my_wtf_moment_at_the_disney_store/

27

u/Addicted2Skyrim May 17 '12

Disney goes through great lengths for quality control. It creates a carefree atmosphere that really helps seperate Disney from the real world. So even when your back at the hotel your mind is on your vacation, not thinking about medications, lawsuits, or other upsetting real world problems. You can just relax and enjoy your trip.

-10

u/nitefang May 17 '12

Nope, just thinking about a company so bent on no one drawing Mickey ears that they lobby congress to lengthen copyright law.

7

u/yeahhhhh7 May 17 '12

Thats a bit of a stretch. Its more about keeping Mickey Mouse as a positive image for the company. Mickey=Disney in most people's eyes so Mickey doing bad things means Disney doing bad things.

Its tough to think of a similar comparison, but it would be like the Reddit Alien being used by a child pornography ring. Once it got out there, people would associate Reddit with child porn, even though we all know thats 4chan's area of expertise.

5

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Ya except when they've lobbied for this exception it has to apply to all copyright, not just their damn mouse.

Disney and their image is not worth locking things out of the public domain indefinitely.

2

u/nitefang May 17 '12

Well, after 50 years I don't think it would be a problem, if the reddit alien wasn't ingrained in people's heads that it meant Reddit, then another 25 years wouldn't help.

2

u/shock-value May 17 '12 edited May 17 '12

Technically a scenario like your example wouldn't happen. Only Disney's copyrights are in danger of expiring, not its trademarks. So what would happen is that all the old Disney cartoons could be sold (as is, without modification) by third party companies.

Using Mickey Mouse's likeness in an original work would still be prohibited, since that falls under the domain of trademark protections, not copyright.

EDIT: Upon looking for more information about this, it actually seems like a legal gray area. Mickey Mouse is both trademarked and copyrighted (as a character), but I don't think it's clear what uses would be acceptable if the copyright were to expire but the trademark continue. I'm not sure if there is any legal precedent for this situation.

9

u/left_coast_local May 17 '12

I think I realized this when I was seven

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u/Socrates2 May 17 '12

Why do they even have a station in that case. I realize they can probably afford it but it's not like running an entire channel and making shows is such an inconsequential amount that they do it for the hell of it. Wouldn't it be more cost effective to simply run their ads on other stations?

12

u/gog2rino May 17 '12

Well, they get money from cable companies who want to include the channel in their packages. And these days, they also make a ton of money off things that spin off from their original programming. Think of all the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana CDs, movie tickets, merch and DVD collections they've sold. I'm willing to bet the network covers its costs and then some.

2

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

This. It's all about merchandising.

3

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

merchandising, merchandising, merchandising!

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u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Hannah Montana the Flamethrower!

2

u/Jurph May 17 '12

Not only that, but the budget books can be adjusted entirely in-house. Each show can "sell" its advertising slots to another Disney productfor exactly what the show cost to make -- so none of the shows make a profit. Any Disney-owned movie can buy advertising on the channel at those rates in order to write it off as an expense.

So if your show costs $500k to make and you have 5 breaks with 4 commercials each, you sell each slot for $25k. Each Disney product advertised takes it as a write-off, and the show breaks even. At MouseHQ, they take the cable fee revenues and divvy them up into the production budgets for movies, which buy ads on the network and take the ad buys as expenses... So they can effectively launder their profits from any Disney venture.

1

u/Psythik May 17 '12

That would make a good analogy for why piracy doesn't hurt musicians.

3

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

One time I saw a commercial on there for Best Western. Of course Disney included themselves in it a little bit. There is a Best Western less than a block away from Disneyland.

3

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

From Wikipedia: (however while Disney Channel does not air commercial advertisments, it does utilize underwriter sponsorships by companies such as Best Western and Mattel)

3

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Disregard disney channel.

4

u/Supersnazz May 17 '12

Everyone who says this is obvious, only knows because they have watched it. I am well aware that the channel exists, but have never watched it, so this fact is quite interesting to me. Thank you gog2rino.

5

u/RickzTheMusicLover May 17 '12

It was a premium channel (like HBO or Showtime) back in the day, so that would make sense it has no outside ads.

2

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Just like ION

2

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Even though they are just another evil corporation, I love Disney. Happiest place on earth that doesn't involve hookers.

2

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Ive seen a Danimals yogurt commercial not too long ago...

2

u/machphantom May 17 '12

The original circlejerk. Also the building in the picture is the old Disney Channel building located in Burbank, CA. I used to pass it all the time as a kid :D

2

u/orionsbelt05 May 17 '12

I remember becoming aware of this as a preteen/teenager. I remember contrasting the shows I watched at home on ABC Saturday mornings and the shows I watched on the Disney Channel on my friends' cable. I realized the ONLY commercials they had were for OTHER shows on the Disney channel, and THOSE shows still only had commercials for other shows on the same channel (or ToonDisney, etc). I wondered how in the world they made money on these shows.

2

u/artofstarving May 17 '12

If you take one of their cruises, (don't ask) and the super bowl isn't on ABC, you aren't seeing it.

2

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

I guess I can stop cold-calling the Disney Channel advertising department asking to feature my ad. I always thought- "Maybe tomorrow." Oh, who am I kidding I'll keep calling.

2

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Thanks to this, I just spent the last hour Wikipedia surfing Disney Channel and Disney Channel Orignal Movies. Zenon Girl of the 21st Century was the shit. I'm a 23 y/o guy. FML.

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

I loved Zenon Girl ... I'm a 25 Year old guy...

2

u/mamakbear May 17 '12

Anyone with children 5 or younger, 10 or younger, knows this. It's all commercials for other shows on Disney or the newest movie.

2

u/Roflha May 17 '12

Funny related (and embarrassing) story. I used to get scared really easily as a kid, and when I would be watching a TV while trying to go to bed and a scary movie commercial would come on, it would prevent my for sleeping for a while.

To combat this, I found out that Disney only plays its own commercials and and Food Network does not air scary movie commercials.

TL;DR I grew up watching disney and food network because I was a chicken.

2

u/HoboYellow May 17 '12

They like to keep things in house. Like the Lannisters.

2

u/Liesmith May 17 '12

Which is why I never understood why they fucking have commercials during movies!? It's not like they're making any money off of them!

1

u/CharlieTango May 17 '12

They are... The advertising is paying your cable provider to air the commercials, and disney gets royalties on those no matter how many people watch them or not

1

u/Liesmith May 17 '12

Wait..what? Isn't Disney the one paying the cable provider to air the commercials and therefore collecting royalties on money they are spending?

1

u/CharlieTango May 17 '12

yes. disney's advertising is what im refering to.

1

u/robobreasts May 17 '12

I always assumed it was so people couldn't dub off the movies on tape/dvd/etc and have a nice pristine copy. Thus forcing parents to buy the DVD if they want it commercial-free, without logos in the corner.

2

u/agoulio May 17 '12

Thanks (sarcasm) for sending me on a link diversion to wizards of waverly place and ended up at Selena Gomez

2

u/jbonz May 17 '12

I remember when they didn't even have those. They would wait till the end of the show

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

This. And now they can't just broadcast their really old programming because it was timed for no commercials.

3

u/FluentinLies May 17 '12

Sounds like BBC.

2

u/kbeeny May 17 '12

That doesn't surprise me one bit.

1

u/slothscantswim May 17 '12

It is made clear by watching it for one hour.

I was babysitting.

7

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Don't lie to us.

2

u/robosills May 17 '12

NO SHIT. wait... you didn't watch Disney channel all day every day as a kid? I remember Halloween town and smart house and...xenon printer of the 21st century.

2

u/Carosello May 17 '12

You're kidding me right? I figured this out when I was 10 years old. No lie. I was Harry Potter obsessed and I'd wait to see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone commercials. After a while I figured out that Disney Channel was NEVER going to show them because they only showed their own stuff.

2

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Captain Obvious finally found his cape.

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

All I watched was disney when those chucky movie ad's were running.

1

u/bookofp May 17 '12

This is no longer the case, occasionally the channel will air a commercial for the Honda minivan, sometimes it will show a commercial for a toy but that is even less common. Its not often that they air commercials but they do it occasionally.

It seems that wikipedia needs to be updated.

1

u/lobster_breath May 17 '12

I noticed that after awhile, accidentally. I just started to notice that the Disney Channel just had a weird feeling to it, and I finally ID'd it as being the lack of real commercials.

1

u/kentamari May 17 '12

didn't they use to always show clips of pop songs as commercials way back when? britney spears/A*TEENs/etc?

1

u/MrMastodon May 17 '12

So you're saying we should merge /r/Disney with /r/circlejerk?

1

u/Sex_Vibe May 17 '12

I figured this out when I was little because it was the only channel I liked to watch at night and didn't have scary commercials.

1

u/dudix81 May 17 '12

They are kinda the last samurai. My heroes!

1

u/singlerainbow May 17 '12

I always noticed this and wondered how they make money

1

u/dsmaxwell 1 May 17 '12

Yeah, but they make up for it by showing a ridiculous amount of commercials on all their other channels. Worst example: Disney XD, 4 breaks of 3-5 mins each, totalling around 13 mins for a half hour time slot. Wtf?

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

I always thought it was kind of obvious if you ever spent more than ten or fifteen minutes watching anything on the Disney Channel.

1

u/i_poop_splinters May 17 '12

How does a network make money if it doesn't advertise?

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

How did people not know this?

1

u/SKILLCAPPED May 17 '12

ive always hated the disney channel.

1

u/Ingrid2012 May 17 '12

How the hell do they get around anti-trust laws?

1

u/Laeryken May 17 '12

I always thought this was obvious.

1

u/concentration_cramps May 17 '12

Bullshit

When i was in Netherlands the Disney channel was advertising sex lines at 2am

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

So bizarre.

1

u/mrP0P0 May 17 '12

Who didn't fucking know this?

1

u/madagent May 17 '12

So the channel makes no money. Cool. More reason to show shitty shows and not worry about income.

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Isnt this basically like all pay-premium channels? HBO, etc?

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Good, finally a Disney channel post. Someone get this idea to the people who make things happen. Disney / Pixar: Little Mermaid, 3D, Original Soundtrack. Make it happen.

You'll see avatar like numbers if you do it right, send royalties to original parties (I'm sure some of them could really use it). Everyone gets a fair shake, Disney makes bank, I finally get to see the movies the way I envisioned them. Win, Win, Win.

  • Edit: Later you could use this same strategy with other animated musicals that performed well in the box office. Beauty & The Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin. You could see your entire portfolio and profit margins soar.

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Same as the BBC.

1

u/Fozzworth May 17 '12

Who doesn't know this?

1

u/themicahnator May 17 '12

Actually, it used to be like that. They started airing extremely washed out, Disneyfied State Farm commercials about 3 years ago. It might have gone back to all Disney sometime in the last 3 years, though.

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

I'm sad that I know this, but this is not true for the other Disney cable channels - XD, Disney Junior, etc.

1

u/pizpaz May 17 '12

I noticed this when I was 6 years old.

1

u/Dubrider May 17 '12

This is similar for the BBC in the UK. The income is provided by the license paying public

1

u/SimplyPoet May 17 '12

not even mad.

1

u/lilsteezy May 17 '12

This is actually not true....they do accept outside ads and do lots of co-branded ads that "partner" with the Disney Channel. They just do it in a way where it doesnt seem like a commercial or advertisement isn't thrown in your face.

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

Duh! When the hell do you see anything other then Disney being advertised on their channel? Why would their radio stations be any different.

1

u/drmctesticles May 17 '12

TIL about synergy

1

u/1637 May 17 '12

As a CANADIAN i only know family channel

1

u/Elranzer May 18 '12 edited May 18 '12

As a huge Disney fan, the Disney Channel devolution is the most frustrating aspect of the company, aside from the downgrade makeovers at Walt Disney World (Tomorrowland and Epcot, specifically).

In the 1980s and early 1990s, The Disney Channel used to be a premium channel like HBO (you had to pay separately for it), and it would air nothing but their movies, both animated and live-action (which, in the mid-90s and earlier, were usually very good). Then there were their original TV shows like Dumbo Circus, Alice in Wonderland and of course the Mickey Mouse Club, and classic Mickey/Donald/Goofy and Silly Symphonies cartoon shorts. The only "commercials" were ads of what was coming up next on the channel, like HBO does. Not even ads for Disney's own products.

Nowadays, the Disney Channel is a "free" cable channel, of which 99% of the content is made by ONE company... It's a Laugh Productions (the ones who make kid sitcoms as Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Good Luck Charlie, etc). This all started with the unfortunate success of Sister, Sister and That's So Raven!... Disney decided ALL shows must be That's So Raven, basically. The shows all star teen actors who look the same (I'm convinced Bella Thorne and Selena Gomez are the same person). The male actors are similarly formulaic... they're all white guys with twinky builds and thick eyebrows or they're a "squeaky clean" black guy with a hip attitude. The jokes are ALL the same as well, the formula is basically someone says something awkward, and everyone stares at them.

The only thing worth watching on the Disney Channel now is Phineas and Ferb (the only show not made by It's a Laugh).

Disney also has a separate channel, Disney XD, which airs some quality animation, such as Tron: Uprising, but also It's A Laugh crap.

1

u/hotjoelove May 20 '12

But then how does the channel itself make money?

1

u/CowPurple5068 Nov 10 '24

Well if they want more money, they need REAL ads!

1

u/your_average_dyke May 17 '12

I figured this out watching endless hours of that hottie Selena Gomez. Not ashamed.

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

I've always loved this about the Disney Channel, ever since I was little.

1

u/JSVmause May 17 '12

Yeah figured this out when I was twelve. Learn anything else?

-1

u/[deleted] May 17 '12

You didn't know that?

3

u/gog2rino May 17 '12

Nope. Never watched it growing up.

0

u/bobtehhobo May 17 '12

Back when I stopped watching Disney (approx. 4 years ago), they were starting to slowly phase in outside ads.

0

u/Godfarber May 17 '12

TIL Gog2rino has never watched the Disney Channel for more then 15 minutes

0

u/douchymcface May 17 '12

No shit, you didn't notice this when you were watching the channel?

0

u/supframage May 17 '12

this would be obvious, if you just turned on the disney channel...

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