Radio Disney

Background

Disney had for a long time been involved in the music business, building off its success in movies and TV shows, which later became Disney Music Group. However, with radio, Disney was not committed to the medium only doing a few shows. Radio Disney is Disney's third foray into radio. In late 1955, Walt Disney started The Magic Kingdom radio show—running Monday through Fridays and which was heard on ABC Radio. Even before the 1996 Disney-CC/ABC merger, Disney and ABC Radio considered as early as 1991 planned for a children's radio network but dropped the idea. Starting on July 31, 1994, Disney started a weekend radio show, Live From Walt Disney World, that originated from both Disney World and Disneyland on Radio AAHS.

In November 1995, ABC Radio Networks and Children's Broadcast Corp. reached an agreement for ABC Radio to provide marketing and sales to Radio AAHS. After Disney's acquisition of CC/ABC, Disney had ABC Radio cancel the agreement in August 1996 plus announced the start of its own children's network and ended AAHS's Disney World broadcasting rights.

History

ABC Radio Networks (1996–2006)

Radio Disney was test launched at 5 am on November 18, 1996, in four markets, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Salt Lake City, and Birmingham, Alabama by ABC Radio Networks. On March 8, 1997, a fifth test market was added, Seattle on former KidStar station KKDZ.

Pleased with the results in those four test markets, ABC Radio Networks announced on May 8 that Radio Disney would begin a nationwide rollout, starting on October 1. On August 26, Radio Disney was launched in Los Angeles on KTZN/710, and by the end of the year, the network had 14 affiliates.

By August 1998, 28 stations had affiliated with Radio Disney, with an expected 63 stations by the end of 1999. Radio Disney purchased KAAM (AM) (Plano, Texas) for $12 million and switched the station to the network in August. In 1998, the network was based out of its Dallas station.

Other than music, the network aired other programs such as "Mickey & Minnie's Tune Time", a two-hour weekday toddler program, and two 60-second features per hour which included contests, "ABC News for Kids" and "Gross Me Out".

Radio Disney would later begin being carried on XM Satellite Radio in 2001, with the station launching on Sirius Satellite Radio in 2002. Disney entered a joint venture to launch Capital Disney digital radio channel in Britain and operated from 2002 until June 29, 2007. In 2004, Disney paid the former Children's Broadcasting Corporation (which operated children's radio network Radio Aahs) $12.4 million in a lawsuit settlement.

In April 2002, Radio Disney began using a new logo, which was followed by the network redesigning its website, and changing its slogan to "Your Music, Your Way" on May 28, 2002.

On July 30, 2003, ABC Radio Networks founded the Radio Disney Group, who took over operations of most of Radio Disney's stations.

2006 marked the network's 10th anniversary; Radio Disney rebroadcast its first hour of programming from November 18, 1996, on June 6, 2006, at around 4:58 pm. ET on stations in selected markets, such as WQEW. Also, as part of the 10th anniversary, Radio Disney held the "Totally 10 Birthday Concert" on July 22, 2006, at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. It also included a simultaneous live webcast on the Radio Disney website. A second concert was held in Dallas, Texas, on November 18, 2006, at the Dallas Convention Center.

Disney Channels Worldwide (2006–2014)

In August 2006, operational duties of Radio Disney were transferred to the company's Disney–ABC Cable Networks Group (currently d.b.a. Disney Channels Worldwide), which otherwise operates Disney's cable television properties, except for ESPN.

On June 12, 2007, Disney spun off and merged its ABC Radio Networks with Citadel Broadcasting into Citadel Communications while retaining its ESPN Radio and Radio Disney networks and stations.

In March 2008, Radio Disney and Gracenote signed a licensing agreement starting immediately that allowed the lyrics to be seen along with the song online on Radio Disney Internet Radio Player. The channel began streaming live on iTunes Radio Tuner in August 2008. In November 2008, Radio Disney relocated its main operations from Dallas to Los Angeles. The former radio studio that housed Radio Disney in Dallas began to be used by The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show in 2008.

On October 8, 2008, the network launched the Next Big Thing feature which allowed listeners to vote on young unsigned artists' songs to be played. In 2013, the Radio Disney Music Awards began airing on the Disney Channel.

Sometime in April 2009, Radio Disney changed its logo to the one used until the station's closure.

By 2009, Radio Disney was starting to reduce its station footprint to the larger markets to make the network more profitable. In January 2010, Radio Disney Group requested permission from the FCC to "silence" five of its owned-and-operated stations (along with a sixth station operating under a local marketing agreement with another company) while the stations were being sold. Disney sold six AM stations and one FM station that year. In June 2013, Disney announced the sale of seven owned-and-operated stations in medium-sized markets, in order to refocus Radio Disney's broadcast distribution on the top-25 radio markets.

On April 10, 2014, it was announced that Radio Disney's Top 30 Countdown would become a syndicated radio show, distributed by Rick Dees's Dees Entertainment. Aha Radio, Slacker and ShowMobile signed online carriage agreements with the network in mid-2014.

Shift to HD Radio and digital (2014–2020)

On August 13, 2014, Radio Disney's general manager Phil Guerini announced plans to sell all but one of its remaining owned-and-operated stations on or before September 26, 2014, in order to focus more on the network's programming, co-branded events, and digital outlets. Listenership reports indicated that the majority of Radio Disney's audience listened to the network via satellite radio and other digital platforms, and only 18% via terrestrial AM/FM radio. KDIS remained operational to serve as the originating station for the Radio Disney network, while the remaining stations would continue carrying Radio Disney programming until their respective sales were completed. The last five Radio Disney owned-and-operated stations for sale were sold on September 15, 2015, to Salem Media Group (who was the largest purchaser of the stations) for $2.225 million.

On April 13, 2015, Disney announced that the Radio Disney network would move to HD Radio subchannels; the network would be distributed by iBiquity via deals with broadcast companies (CBS Radio, Entercom, Cumulus Media, etc.) with ad sales handled by its HD Radio Digital Network. A network representative stated that the move was intended to target families as in-car listeners. Eventually, those deals ended quietly after a few years. On August 6, 2015, Radio Disney was made available for listening on iHeartRadio.

It was announced that on November 25, 2019, Disney had secured a deal with Entercom to bring Radio Disney and Radio Disney Country to the company's Radio.com platform.

Decline and closure (2020–2021)

On December 3, 2020, Disney announced that both Radio Disney and Radio Disney Country would shut down in the first quarter of 2021 as part of its restructuring plan to focus more on producing content for the television networks and Disney+, with KRDC being put up for sale. Radio Disney began to wind down operations on December 31, 2020, as their DJ's hosted their final shows, and was discontinued on SiriusXM on that same date. Radio Disney Country was completely shut down at noon Pacific Time on December 31; KRDC subsequently returned to the main Radio Disney feed. On January 1, the station ceased its Top 40 format and switched to an automated throwback playlist which mainly consisted of songs from throughout the 24-year history of the network. The Radio Disney app and website shut down on January 22, 2021, while the station continued to broadcast on iHeartRadio until it was removed sometime during March. At that point, the station was only heard in the Greater Los Angeles Area on terrestrial radio until April 14, 2021, at 10 am PT, when it was quietly discontinued and switched to a simulcast of sister station KSPN. The final song Radio Disney played prior to being switched was “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield.

Despite the station now being defunct, Radio Disney’s Instagram and Twitter remain active to promote other Disney movies and TV shows, mainly those airing on Disney+.

Replacement services (2021–present)

On March 25, 2021, Disney launched Disney Hits, at the time exclusively on SiriusXM. Unlike Radio Disney, Disney Hits only includes music from The Walt Disney Company's productions.

In August 2022, Disney announced a partnership with Audacy Inc. to launch nine additional Disney-branded audio feeds through the Audacy mobile app, in addition to making Disney Hits available on that platform. The nine channels include jazz, a sing-along channel, decades channels devoted to the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, a "Disney Reimagined" channel, a Spanish language channel, a channel devoted to music from Disney Channel, and an LGBTQ-oriented "Disney Pride" channel. The announcement noted that additional Disney channels, including at least one Christmas music channel, would be added later in 2022.

Programming

Radio Disney played a large selection of songs from stars and programs on Disney Channel, along with popular songs from mainstream pop and R&B artists that are found on conventional radio stations. The network aired edited versions of some Top 40 songs (which remove profanity and any other suggestive content, and in most cases replaces it with re-recorded lyrics specifically for the station) to make them appropriate for younger listeners.

List of former programs broadcast by Radio Disney

• The Wakey Blakey Show – hosted by Blake Kuhre from 2007-2013, was the longest-running and most successful morning show in Radio Disney history. The show aired at the peak of Disney Channels Worldwide franchises. Blake also served as Executive Producer of the show that provided the largest daily block of weekday programming on the network, from 6 AM until 12 PM Eastern.
• Fearless Everyday – hosted by blogger and entrepreneur Alexa Curtis, is Radio Disney's first show to introduce topics like social media and mental health to listeners.
• #ICYMI – In Case You Missed It
• 1 Hour of Nonstop Music – A One Hour Program that plays commercial free music.
• More Music Monday – Non-stop commercial-free music on Mondays with no hosts.
• Morning Update
• Radio Disney Country Spotlight
• Radio Disney Insider Show
• Really Good Time – Hosted by DJ Lela B, the program features dance music including remixes of popular songs. In addition, Lela B also hosts the Weekend Warm-Up show which similar features remixes of songs.
• The Radio Disney Top 3 – The Radio Disney Top 3, hosted by Morgan Tompkins, features the three most requested songs of the day, and after, a caller who is able to name all three songs will win a prize or super entry.
• TBT Top 3
• Radio Disney's Top 10 (originally Top 30 Countdown and Radio Disney's Top 30) – The longest-running program, originally hosted only by Susan Huber, soon by Jake Whetter, later by Ernie D., and eventually by various guest hosts. Songs that receive the most requests during the week are included on the countdown, played in descending order. In 2016, the Radio Disney Top 30, after being the longest-running program in the station, was shortened to only 10 songs. Around New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, a special version of the countdown featuring the 50 most requested songs of the year is broadcast. As of February 2018, it is hosted by various artists or other guest hosts.
• Connect Family – Originally named Family Fun Day, the program was retitled early in April 2007 as Connect Family (borrowed from the network's on-air campaign of the same name); it was formally hosted by Ernest "Ernie D." Martinez and Blake Kuhre. Between songs, parents and children would discuss with the DJs how they spend time with one another, their family life and play contests for children to win prizes and entries into Radio Disney contests.
• For the Record with Laura Marano – A weekly one-hour show hosted by Laura Marano, chronicling her journey as she launches her career. This show closed in April 2016.
• Frequency Jam – A Friday night program which debuted around 2002/2003, in which three songs would be played by DJs Ernest "Ernie D." Martinez or Blake Kuhre. The song with the most votes (via Radio Disney's website) would be the next song that would be played as the winner. Frequency Jam ended in February 2007 with the redesign of Radio Disney website.
• Morgan & Maddy in the Morning – hosted by Morgan Tompkins and Maddy Whitby started on April 1, 2013
• Nate and Megan in the Morning – A morning show hosted by Nate and Megan.
• Move It Party – Saturday weekend show hosted by Morgan Tompkins and Maddy Whitby
• Playhouse Disney – (Originally "Mickey and Minnie's Tune Time" from 1998) The program aired on Radio Disney weekdays during the school year from 12:00 to 1:00 pm. ET and was hosted by Robin, Tina, B. B. Good's Jonas Brothers and Susan Huber from its inception; it was also hosted by Betsy. Playhouse Disney was originally a two-hour block, but was later reduced to one hour; segments featured in the block included Circle Time Story (originally "Mickey and Minnie's Storytime Theatre" from 1998 to 2001), which featured read-along stories from Disney movies. Like the now-defunct Playhouse Disney block (succeeded by Disney Junior) on Disney Channel, it was targeted towards preschoolers. Songs for young children were played along with trivia contests.

Serial radio

In July 2010, Radio Disney debuted its first scripted serial called My Dream, a contemporary story utilizing a format reminiscent of serials from the 1940s. Unlike Depression-era radio serials that typically featured episodes lasting 15 to 30 minutes, episodes of My Dream runs for only 90 seconds and play multiple times throughout the day. My Dream stars Daphne Blunt as a 14-year-old girl trying to make a name for herself in the music industry while dealing with the usual struggles, responsibilities and emotional ups and downs of an everyday teen.

Features and contests

Radio Disney carried a number of features from interactive contests to informational programs.

Final features

• Music Mailbag – The hour-long Saturday program. After a new song selected for entry into Radio Disney's regular playlist was played, listeners were urged to call into the network's hotline or vote on its website to "Pick It" (make the song part of the network's playlist rotation) or "Kick It" (reject it as an entry into the playlist). By the time the station shut down, voting was conducted via Twitter as the station’s website was no longer used.
• 60 Seconds With (actor/actress/artist name) – A segment featuring minute-long excerpts from interviews and celebrity "takeovers".
• Grand Prize Drawing – Grand prize drawings often occur over the course of one to four weeks, depending on the contest. Contestants can win entries in a regular contest that contestant wins; contestants also periodically have the opportunity to win a "super entry", in which 100 entries for the drawing are entered into the contest. The winner of the grand prize will usually win a vacation, or a chance to meet a popular artist heard on Radio Disney or the opportunity to meet another celebrity. Drawings usually occur on a Friday.
• Planet Premiere – A music artist sits down with Ernest "Ernie D." Martinez or Candice Huckeba as their newest album or song is played on Radio Disney. Before each song plays, the artist tells the listeners how the song was conceived, and what its meaning was.
• Power Prize – The "Power Prize" occurs at least six times a day. A winner of a contest will not only win a super entry, but also a "power" prize. This started when Radio Disney stopped giving out prizes to every contest winner.
• Radio Rewind – A segment of a song was played backward and callers would try to guess the name of that song. The song would usually be played forward after someone wins.
• Sound File – The news on new music and artists (new entries appear weekly during the Top 10 Countdown).
• Super Entry – Winners of a contest receive 100 entries into the grand prize drawing. When the "super entry" first started, the winner would get 40 entries.
• TBT Top 3 – Throwback Thursday Top 3, A long time segment That Plays Throwback Songs, But not that far back. and after that, a caller would try to guess 3 songs, and a caller will win.
• Title Text – A segment that a DJ says the first letter for each word of a song, and callers would try to guess the full words of the song, and will play after someone wins. (For Example: C, S, T, F,: Can't Stop the Feeling.)

Former features

• ABC News for Kids Notebook – News updates from ABC News Radio which featured child-appropriate news updates and features segments.
• Aptitude Dude – voiced by Squeege.
• Backwards Bop – A small excerpt of a song was played backward, and callers would try to guess the name of that song.
• Battle of the Cities – A trivia game hosted by Mark and Zippy. Two contestants from different cities would call in and the caller with the most answers wins.
• Bumbling Bill's Safety Spotlight – Bumbling Bill and his friend Sally (Susan Huber) talk about what's safe and unsafe, with Bill (as his nickname indicates) would riskily perform the act. In a running gag, Bumbling Bill would often malaprop Sally's name and she would correct him ("Sally!") to which he would always reply "Whatever." This program ended near the beginning of 2006.
• Celebrity Take with Jake – A pre-recorded segment hosted by Jake Whetter, providing celebrity news stories focusing on actors and music artists popular with the network's target demographic.
• Code Word of the Day – The "Code Word of the Day" is given out about five times an hour. If a caller knows the code word when they calls Radio Disney's hotline (usually around 6:30 pm. ET), that person is awarded a prize. This program ended in mid 2017.
• ESPN Sports for Kids - Sports news and some health tips.
• Grandma Nature
• Garage Door Derby – A contest hosted by DJ Aaron K. in which two callers would call in and participate in a race to see whose garage door closed the fastest. The first to say, "It's open!" or "It's closed!" would win a prize.
• Gross Me Out – "Gross Me Out" was a longtime segment that talked about gross things which kids often like to hear.
• Hairbrush Karaoke – Similar to the "Karaoke" game with DJ Kara. DJ Susan Huber would get a caller to sing karaoke on the radio, and then they would win a prize. This ended when Susan Huber left Radio Disney.
• Hogwarts or Hogwash – A game played by DJ Aaron K. The correct caller must answer three out of four questions from the popular Harry Potter book and/or film series as true or false, by saying "Hogwarts" for being true and "Hogwash" for being false.
• Incubator – A segment played between songs or during commercial breaks featuring interviews with up-and-coming music artists.
• Karaoke – A contest held by retired DJ Kara Edwards. She would sing one line of a song, and the correct caller would sing the other.
• Laugh Shack – Kids would call in and leave jokes on the network's voicemail (or "earmail") number. The jokes would then later be aired on the radio.
• Let's Make a Deal – Another game/contest hosted by Mark and Zippy. This was a parody of the television game show of the same name.
• NBT (Next Big Thing) – This segment was hosted by Jake Whetter, and is similar to the former Incubator feature. Each year since the contest launched in 2008, Radio Disney plays new songs by five up-and-coming music artist that are contestants; listeners are able to vote for which contestant moves on to the next round of the competition until a winner is chosen.
• Theatre of the B-zarre – An interstitial segment that ended around mid-2006, in which Dr. B and a hairball-like creature named Critter talk about strange and creepy things.
• The Adventures of Bud and Iggy – A contest that centered on two unheard characters, Bud and Iggy, who are always getting lost. Clues were given as to what city the two are lost in. This longtime contest ended near the end of 2003.
• The Answer is Always "C." – The DJ would give a caller a multiple-choice question, or questions, but a winner would almost always be assured, as the answer was always the "C." choice.
• The State Game – Three clues about a state were given out (the state nickname and two facts) and callers would try to guess what state it is. This game was played by B.B. Good and Sherry.
• Thinkenstein: 2000 – A segment featuring Dr. Thinkenstein (voiced by Clint Ford) a wild, hyperactive scientist with a Karloff-esque voice, who routinely examined technologies and breakthroughs that other scientists were currently working on to improve the future. He frequently discussed his findings with his computer assistant, "I.gor" (nicknamed "E-dot").
• Your Music, Your Way a.k.a. Your Music & Your Stars, Your Way

Radio Disney Music Awards

Main article: Radio Disney Music Awards

From 2001 to 2019, Radio Disney held an annual awards ceremony, the Radio Disney Music Awards, to honor popular music artists featured on the network. Similar to the Teen Choice Awards and Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, teenagers would vote to select the winner of each category including Best Female Artist, Best Male Artist, Best Music Group, Song of the Year, Best New Artist, Fiercest Fans, Artist with the Best Style, Most Talked About Artist and more. Hilary Duff is the biggest winner with 18 awards and 35 nominations. After 2007, the ceremony went on a five year hiatus before returning in 2013. Beginning in 2014, it was televised on Disney Channel. In 2019, the ceremony was renamed the "ARDYs". No ceremony was held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though a pre-recorded special entitled Radio Disney Presents ARDYs Summer Playlist aired in place of the ceremony that same year. After Disney announced in December of that same year that Radio Disney would be shut down in the first quarter of 2021, the awards ceremony was quietly discontinued.

Radio Disney World Tours

In 2000 and 2001, Radio Disney launched two separate "world tours" that traveled to major U.S. cities including Atlanta, New York City, Boston, Dallas, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. In 2000, the tour featured up-and-coming talent (No Authority, Myra) and then Radio Disney DJs, Mark and Zippy. The tour played in theatrical venues and had audiences of up to 2,000 people per show (there were four shows each weekend in each city).

A 2002 World Tour was teased on the Radio Disney website, but eventually ended up being canceled.

Other networks

Radio Disney Networks

(Walt Disney Television)

Radio Disney Networks is an American radio network that is owned by Disney Channels Worldwide, Inc., a subsidiary of Walt Disney Television, a primary component of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Media Networks segment. Radio Disney Networks broadcasts three separated digital channels, Radio Disney, Radio Disney Country and Radio Disney Junior, via radio station's HD channel or by online stream sites. The original Radio Disney network play music and other content aimed at preteens and young teenagers; it can be described as a youth-targeted contemporary hit radio format with heavy emphasis on teen idols. Recently Radio Disney has become a Mainstream Top 40 Indicator reporter on Nielsen-BDS eventually being upgraded to monitored status with Nielsen-BDS. Radio Disney is also a monitored reporter on the Mediabase 24/7 Top 40 panel. The network is headquartered in Burbank, California.

Radio Disney Junior was available via the Watch Disney Junior app in August 2014. On November 4, 2015, Radio Disney Networks launched a country music-focused internet radio station, Radio Disney Country. On November 13, 2014, Radio Disney and Radio Disney Junior became available on Slacker Radio with Radio Disney's Top 30 Countdown starting on November 15, 2014.

Radio Disney Country

Radio Disney Country was a country music focused internet radio network that launched on November 4, 2015, and was initially exclusive to Radio Disney's own digital platforms. The network's launch coincided with the 2015 CMA Awards. Like its sister station, Radio Disney Country emphasized current hits and used little recurrent rotation.

On June 9, 2017, Disney announced that it would expand the network's distribution to include other digital platforms, such as iHeartRadio and TuneIn, as well as curated playlists on Apple Music and Spotify, and terrestrial radio with the flip of KDIS to the network as KRDC 99.1 FM and AM 1110 (the main Radio Disney network continued to be carried locally on a subchannel of KRTH until late 2018 when its contract to carry the network expired).

The station's Let the Girls Play segment premiered on December 5, 2018. In July 2019, Radio Disney Country opened a Nashville Music Row based studio. In July 2019, Disney agreed to license Radio Disney video content to Sheridan Broadcasting Corporation to telestream via a patented process the content to the web and the audio to a radio station, WIGO-AM, as The Radio Disney Hour (working tile).

Radio Disney Country's targeted audience was women aged 18 to 34 years old. The network's mix of music would be every thing with 60% popular artists and 40% up and coming artists. It ceased in the afternoon of December 31, 2020.

Radio Disney Junior

On February 14, 2011, a Radio Disney Junior block was launched in tandem with the Disney Junior on Disney Channel block. The hour-long block focused on music for the preschool age plus fun "audio theater" with Disney Junior characters. On May 30, 2014, Radio Disney Junior was spun off into its own station on the WATCH Disney Junior app, later becoming its own separate paid app in January 2016, and appearing to have been discontinued some time afterwards.

On October 1, 2024, a spiritual successor to Radio Disney Junior, Disney Jr. Radio would be launched on the SiriusXM app.

Programming

• Magical World of Disney Junior, Disney and Pixar movies music
• Pirates & Princesses, themed songs
• Get Up and Move, dedicated to health and wellness

Stations

Despite being music-oriented, the network was carried primarily on AM stations. The Walt Disney Company owned most of the network's affiliates, though some stations were operated through local marketing agreements that had varying degrees of local management. The last separately-owned Radio Disney affiliate, WOLF in Syracuse, New York, left the network on February 1, 2014.

In addition to terrestrial stations, Radio Disney was also available nationally through XM Satellite Radio and Sirius, which merged into SiriusXM in 2008. In the Walt Disney World resort, the station was carried on channel 14 (later 32) on TVs in the Disney Resorts Collection.

On August 13, 2014, it was announced that all of Radio Disney's remaining stations, excluding KDIS, were to be sold in an effort to focus more on digital distribution of the Radio Disney network. KDIS would be retained to serve as the originator of Radio Disney's programming, and its operations was assumed by the network's national staff. However, Disney later announced that it would syndicate Radio Disney through affiliations with HD Radio subchannels.

A gray background indicates a station directly operated by the Walt Disney Company.