Disney 'to introduce kids block to abc1'

Disney is planning to introduce pre-school programming to abc1 within the next few months, according to C21 today.

The new block is designed to serve as a taster for Disney's pay TV channels, freshly switched to the basic kids pack under a new deal with Sky announced yesterday.

The move mirrors that of Viacom-owned music station TMF, which introduced a Nickelodeon Noggin-branded block to its morning schedule last month, and is part of a wider strategy to restructure abc1's schedule by daypart.

"We haven't fully decided but mostly likely it's going to be a regular block probably in the mornings, maybe up to 10 hours a week, before kids go to school," John Hardie, Walt Disney TV MD for Europe, the Middle East & Africa, told the website. "The more ABC1 can help the Disney Channel and Playhouse Disney, the better for us. It's a fantastic outlet to expand our reach, but our future is in more homes getting into subscription television."