Playhouse Disney Kuboia

Playhouse Disney Kuboia was a pre-school television channel in Kuboia. The channel targeted children aged ten and under, and was launched on 18th February, 2002 as a joint venture between Disney-Fox Television Group and Telesketch Media. It was one of the last Playhouse Disney channels worldwide before being replaced by Disney Junior in April 2013.

History
Before Playhouse Disney Kuboia, Disney Channel Kuboia had a programming block called Disney Channel Playtime, which aired a selection of pre-school programmes.

Playhouse Disney Kuboia officially launched at 6:00a.m. on 18th February 2002, airing both Disney-owned content as well as programmes acquired from other sources. Before the channel launched, some Playhouse Disney shows aired on KT, though these were slowly pulled from said channel after Playhouse Disney Kuboia launched. At launch it aired every day from 6:00a.m. to 8:00p.m.

On 31st January, 2005, Playhouse Disney Kuboia updated to the logo and 'Playhouse' ident set that had been used in other European countries since 2003. Later in September that year, the channel extended its broadcast hours, now ending at 10:00p.m., with the last few hours of each day being dedicated to older programming whilst newer shows were aired in the daytime. Although the 'Playhouse' era was phased out by other versions of the channel worldwide during the late 2000s, Playhouse Disney Kuboia continued to use it.

Closure
In 2011, all other Playhouse Disney blocks and channels except the Kuboian and Russian channels had rebranded to Disney Junior. In spite of this, Kuboia continued to use the Playhouse Disney name due to contract regulations between Disney and Telesketch.

In January 2013, it was revealed that Playhouse Disney Kuboia would cease airing later that year since the contract with Telesketch was expiring and would not be renewed. The channel ended its final run on 14th April 2013 at 10:00p.m. The last programme to air on the channel was The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - after the show came to an end, Playhouse Disney Kuboia played its current "Good Night from Playhouse Disney" song before fading to a screen which indicated that the channel has now closed. It was replaced by Disney Junior the following day.

Programming
Playhouse Disney Kuboia aired a mixture of original and acquired programmes for children aged ten and under. Due to the contract with Telesketch Media, the channel was expected to air a "reasonable" amount of original programming and programming from European sources, although shows acquired from the American version of Playhouse Disney still took up a significant amount of the schedule. Generally, Playhouse Disney Kuboia would acquire the UK version for show which had a British-dubbed version.

The channel featured a mixture of both older and newer programming. From September 2005, older programmes would generally air only during the channel's nighttime hours of 8:00p.m. to 10:00p.m.

When KT closed down in 2008, some of its programming was moved to Playhouse Disney Kuboia. In 2010, after Nick Jr. Kuboia was shut down, Playhouse Disney Kuboia also acquired the rights to some Nick Jr. programming, including Dora the Explorer and Max & Ruby. The channel also started airing Winx Club in 2007.

Other shows acquired by the channel included The Busy World of Richard Scarry, Franklin, Molly Monster, Snalympics, Tiny and Crew and Wimzie's House.

Original programming

 * Colourama
 * Eenie Meenie
 * Fun Song Factory
 * Mr. Sketcher
 * Play School

Presentation
At launch, the channel's presentation took place in The Playhouse, which normally featured two different hosts presenting in-vision continuity links. Unlike KT, these were pre-recorded in advance. The presentation saw an increase in variety in March 2003, which saw the hours from 6:00a.m. to 9:00a.m. taking place in The Breakfast Club (rebranded as the Egg and Spoon Cafe in October later that year) whilst the last hour from 7:00p.m. to 8:00p.m. took place in The Bedroom. When the new logo was introduced in February 2005, the presentation saw a minor aesthetical upgrade. When Playhouse Disney Kuboia extended its broadcast hours to 10:00p.m., the last two hours of each day went un-hosted, with only generic idents and interstitials being used as presentation.

On 30th April 2007, the Playhouse was redesigned, acting more like a child-orientated social shack. The main room now featured a snack bar, an arts and crafts table and a soft play area at one of the corners of the room. From this point onward, in-vision continuity would end each day at 7:00p.m., though the last three hours did feature a bedtime song that would occasionally play between shows.

On 5th September 2011, Playhouse Disney Kuboia abruptly dropped all in-vision continuity following budget cuts, although the Playhouse itself continued to be seen in idents until the channel was replaced by Disney Junior in April 2013.

Speelhuisje Disney
In 2004, a Dutch-language counterpart of Playhouse Disney Kuboia titled Speelhuisje Disney was launched. It featured an almost identical schedule to the main English channel, except with Dutch programming, advertisements and presenters.