Disney turns Japanese

Twenty years after the first international Disney theme park opened in Tokyo, the US media giant is to launch Disney Channel Japan on cable and satellite.

Satellite platform Sky PerfecTV will offer the 24/7 channel as an á la carte option in winter 2003/4, with the channel also going into basic tier on Japanese cable networks around the same time. The channel will also feature a Playhouse Disney preschool block.

The move brings Disney Channel's international footprint to 100m homes in 63 territories.