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Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Entertainment units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years old.
Disney XD's programming consists of original first-run television series, current and former original series and Television film inherited from sister station Disney Channel, theatrically released films, and acquired programs from other distributors, along with a primetime block of programming involving Esports.
, Disney XD is available to approximately 44,000,000 pay television households in the United States, down from its 2013 peak of 82,000,000 households. In recent years, Disney XD's carriage has declined with the growth of streaming alternatives including its parent company's Disney+, and has generally been depreciated by Disney in current retransmission consent negotiations with cable and streaming providers. Notably, the channel has recently been removed in negotiations with Charter Spectrum in 2023 and with Verizon Fios in 2025.
The network replaced Toon Disney, an animation-focused channel that was launched on April 18, 1998, which eventually launched a live-action/animation block called Jetix in 2004. Jetix channels outside of the United States were relaunched under the Disney XD banner starting with the France-based service on April 1, 2009. Many of the channel's programs (particularly animated series) previously aired on Toon Disney, mainly as part of the Jetix programming block, which ran on Toon Disney until that channel's shutdown. Disney XD carries the same name as an unrelated mini-site and media player on Disney.com, which stood for Disney Xtreme Digital. Disney to offer safe social site for kids, Chicago Tribune, January 17, 2007. According to Gary Marsh, President of Entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide, "XD" does not have an actual meaning and was chosen simply because it looked "cool." Marsh notes that "the letter X has many cool associations" and that "the beauty of it is the audience can imbue it with all sorts of positive attributes." "XD" is also an emoticon for laughter.
The channel's first original television movie, Skyrunners, premiered on November 27, 2009. On April 1, 2012, Disney XD launched a block called "Marvel Universe", as a result of Disney's 2009 acquisition of Marvel Entertainment. By June 2014, Disney XD agreed to a multi-picture development deal with Two 4 the Money and MarVista Entertainment with MarVista having global rights.
On November 17, 2016, it was announced that the Pokémon anime series would be moving to Disney XD from its previous broadcaster, Cartoon Network. The twentieth season, , was the first season to air and was first broadcast as a sneak peek on December 5, 2016. Pokémon began its regular broadcast on May 12, 2017.
On August 12, 2017, Disney XD premiered a reboot of DuckTales. In 2018, through a series of promos and news announcements, Disney announced that four of Disney XD's original series (those being Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Milo Murphy's Law, DuckTales, and ) would be moving their premieres over to Disney Channel, while Disney XD would continue to air reruns. In 2020, DuckTales and Big Hero 6: The Series both returned to Disney XD for their final seasons, both of which ended in 2021.
In addition, Disney XD airs Disney Channel Original Movies and theatrically released feature films.
Unlike Disney Channel (and similarly, fellow sister network Disney Jr.), whose advertising comes in the form of program promotions, underwriting, and interstitials for Disney films, home video, and game releases produced by the channel, Now that Duff's had enough...: is it time for Disney Channel to cash in and rethink no-ads strategy?, Daily Variety, June 6, 2003. Retrieved April 15, 2013. Disney XD operates as an advertiser-supported service running traditional television commercials in addition to promotions for the channel's shows.
In 2019, Disney XD began to air the NFL's Pro Bowl, in a simulcast alongside ESPN and ABC.
In March 2023, the channel participated in another sports broadcast as part of ESPN's NHL coverage, with Disney Channel and Disney XD airing a 3D animated, Big City Greens-themed presentation of a game.
| Disney XD HD is a high definition simulcast of the Disney XD channel that broadcasts in the 720p resolution; the HD feed launched with the standard definition feed of the channel on February 13, 2009. Disney XD's original programming is produced and broadcast in HD, along with feature films, Disney Channel original movies made after 2005 and select episodes, films and series produced before 2009. The HD feed is carried through most providers, excluding Dish Network. |
| Disney XD On Demand is the channel's video-on-demand service, offering select episodes of Disney XD's original series and certain acquired programs to pay television providers. |
| On September 28, 2017, the Disney Channel app was relaunched as DisneyNOW, which combines the apps of Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD and Radio Disney into one universal app featuring access to all four services. The Disney XD app was discontinued on February 15, 2018. |
| Formerly known as "WATCH Disney XD" until a June 2016 rebranding, the mobile app and digital media player apps for Disney XD offer live and on-demand streaming of Disney XD content online. These apps require users to TV Everywhere with a login from a participating television service provider for access to live video or the newest episodes of a series, though a limited selection of free episodes also are available without a login. The app closed on February 15, 2018. |
On January 6, 2019, Disney XD closed in Australia and New Zealand with programs moving to Disney Channel for that network's last year before shutting down itself with its content being subsumed into Disney+. In India, the channel was rebranded as Marvel HQ on January 9, 2019 which was later rebranded as Super Hungama on March 1, 2022. On October 1, 2019, Disney XD closed in Italy following the non-renewal of its Sky Italia carriage agreement.
The Spanish and German versions were closed on April 1, 2020, followed by France's network a week later. XD in Singapore closed on June 1, 2020, then the British and continental Africa domestic feeds on October 1, 2020. The Southeast Asian, Scandinavian, and Middle Eastern feeds closed on December 31, 2020. The Japanese and Turkish channels also closed on January 31, 2021. The Latin American feed closed on March 31, 2022. The Netherlands feed closed on May 1, 2025.
The latest closure was in Canada on September 1, 2025. Since then, Disney XD only has one international channel operating in Poland.
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