Disney Channel Asia Launches In Korea

ABC Cable Networks Group will be launching its Disney Channel Asia service in Korea on June 1, 2002. Korea Digital Satellite Broadcasting (KDB), Korea's first direct-to-home service provider, will carry Disney Channel's Asia service on channel 654 under its Skylife brand name. The Korean Broadcasting Commission granted Disney Channel approval as a foreign re-transmission channel early in 2002. Negotiations between KDB and Disney began in the middle of 2001 and culminated in the recent agreement. Disney Channel Asia is now available in five countries around the region: Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines. It was launched in January 2000 and is a multi-language feed with both dubbing and subtitling in Mandarin, and a main feed in English. The Korean feed will be broadcast in English with Korean subtitles.