Closedown
It was announced on 7 September 2007 that ABC1 would cease broadcasting on all UK TV platforms, due to Disney deciding to concentrate on their other channels. ABC1 closed down on all UK TV platforms at 12:14, 26 September 2007. The final ident was seen after Home Improvement. even though it was scheduled to cease transmission on 1 October 2007.
On 6 February 2008 the channel CITV moved into the ABC1 broadcasting spectrum so that the channel ITV4 could increase broadcasting hours, as a consequence the CITV channel is now no longer available on Freeview in Wales as was the case with ABC1 due to conflict with Welsh channel S4C.
ABC1 was removed from the Sky EPG slot at 12:13 pm. The channel was also removed from the Freeview platform minutes later. On Virgin Media a screen informing of the close down was shown on the old ABC1 channel 161.
- The ABC1 website, has the following quote:
| “ | We regretfully announce that Walt Disney Television will no longer be transmitting abc1 on any of the UK TV platforms (Freeview, cable or satellite) after September 2007. Walt Disney Television would like to thank its viewers for watching the channel and interacting with the website. It's been a great few years and we appreciate your viewership. | ” |
The final 'nail in the coffin' for ABC1 was evidenced by the fact that its broadcasting label on satellite (which is seen when manually adding channels) 10.862, H, 22.00, 5/6, under the label "9010". It has now been relabelled "Play Disney +" and is now airing a timeshifted version of Disney Junior, a channel which launched Tuesday 30 October 2007 on Sky 612 (originally as Playhouse Disney +), on the same day that all the Disney Channels were reshuffled to allow Playhouse Disney & Playhouse Disney + to be next to each other on the Sky EPG.
Read more about this topic: ABC1 (UK)