Disney fans are claiming that the Disney Channel has cancelled its major throwback event due to low ratings after the recent reveal of some new TV listings. Disney has kicked off a cool new Summer for Hulu on Disney+ and Disney+, and this has been marked with the long awaited streaming debut of classic franchises that fans have been wanting to see make a return to the platform in quite a long time. But it also came with the return of many of these classic shows to TV with a special broadcast on the Disney Channel too.
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Classic Disney Channel era shows had hit the channel at the start of June, but new listings on TV Insider and further boosted from fans on Reddit such as Theagames10 are revealing that it’s no longer going to be the case. While it seemed like these nostalgic airings would continue through the rest of month, listings for the next two weeks don’t include any of the nostalgic special problems. But the reason why might be more complicated than just “low ratings” as the current rumor claims.
Did Disney Channel Cancel Its Throwback Block Due to Low Ratings?
Disney+ Hulu Throwbacks is a new special event going on with the streamer highlighting many of their classic shows like Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, and more. While some of these shows made it to regular TV broadcast to help commemorate the start of the event, it was never quite clear if the plan was to continue airing through the rest of the Summer. Whatever ratings those shows got, whether they are as low as half of what the usual Thursday airings usually get as fans claim, it wasn’t guaranteed to be continuing through the rest of the Summer.
The majority of this Disney+ Hulu Throwbacks event is surrounding the streaming platform, and even resulted in a special mall pop up earlier this month as well. Unfortunately, it didn’t really seem to include special broadcasts plans with the actual Disney Channel itself. Rather than the block potentially being “cancelled,” it’s likely more just not a continuation of the special programming that the channel had to commemorate the start of the streaming event to get more eyes towards Disney+.
What Does This Mean for Disney’s Future?
While the pervasive story coming out of this seems to be “low ratings” for the nostalgic properties leading to cancelled plans, it’s not really in line with what was originally announced as part of the overall Throwbacks celebration. It would have undoubtedly made much more sense to continue airing these classic shows and movies on TV alongside the ongoing event through the Summer (especially with Camp Rock 3 around the corner), it just wasn’t in the plans.
That’s another debate altogether, but it really does take the attention away from the fact that these nostalgic properties are now streaming with Disney+. The streamer has been making big strides in including more of its classics from the vault, and is teasing even more additions in the future. Whether they make it to TV too is a whole other story, but not the one here yet.
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HT – Theagames10 on Reddit, TV Insider
