The channel's logo.
Disney XD is an American digital cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit of Disney-ABC Television Group, part of the Disney Media Networks division of the The Walt Disney Company. Aimed primarily at male pre-teens and teenagers 6–19 years of age, its programming consists of original first-run television series, current and former original series and made-for-cable films from sister network Disney Channel, theatrically-released movies, and live-action and animated programs from other distributors.
The channel offers an alternate Spanish language audio feed, either via a separate channel as part of a package of Spanish television networks sold by cable and satellite providers or a separate audio track accessible through the SAP option, depending on the provider.
Disney XD's schedule currently consists largely of original series aimed at pre-teens and young teenagers (including live-action series such as Kickin' It, Lab Rats, Crash & Bernstein, I'm in the Band and Pair of Kings, to animated series such as Ultimate Spider-Man, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Motorcity, Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja and Tron: Uprising), and syndication of Disney Channel original series (such as Phineas and Ferb, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, The Suite Life on Deck, Wizards of Waverly Place and So Random!). The channel also airs former Disney XD original series (such as Zeke and Luther and Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil), and acquired live-action and animated programs (such as Mr. Young, Kid vs. Kat, Rated A for Awesome, Fantastic Four, My Babysitter's a Vampire, Spider-Man and The Adventures of BD).
In addition to full-length live-action and animated original series, the channel also debuts short series similar to those seen on Disney Channel during commercial breaks, such as Team Smithereen, Run, Alien, Run! and Marvo the Wonder Chicken. These shows often follow other network shows and last about two to three minutes or sometimes fifteen minutes, with the exception of a few short-form series. The channel also airs a youth-oriented "plays of the week" countdown segment called SportsCenter High-5, which is produced by ESPN's SportsCenter and airs periodically between shows; it also airs a short series featuring edited segments of ABC's Wipeout. Often, these shows are televised in the last two minutes of the program, with the exception of the Disney XD Shortstop, or following the ending of a movie.
A notable aspect of Disney XD's original series is that they tend to feature predominately male casts, and as such, its original programs feature very few females as main characters (with most live-action originals typically featuring only one female in its main cast) in comparison to Disney Channel's original programs, which tend to feature an equal or nearly equal amount of main characters of either gender. New episodes of live-action original series are usually aired on Monday and Tuesday nights, while new episodes of animated original series air on Saturday mornings. In addition, Disney XD airs original made-for-TV movies from Disney Channel and theatrically released feature films, but unlike Disney Channel, Disney XD typically does not air these movies in prime time; instead, films generally air during the late afternoon hours at 5 p.m. ET with double features airing a few times a week. The channel's first (and so far only) original television movie, Skyrunners, premiered on November 27, 2009.
Unlike Disney Channel (and similarly, fellow sister network Disney Junior), whose advertising comes in the form of program program promotions, underwriter sponsorships, and interstitials for Disney films, home video and game releases produced by the channel, Disney XD operates as an advertiser-supported service running traditional television commercials in addition to promotions for the channel's shows.