Disney Channels has now responded, a day after, and after being given weeks to respond, after TV with Thinus finally published these letters from a 15 year old viewer yesterday who is distraught by The Disney Channel (DStv 303) on MultiChoice's DStv.
You can read the 15 year old Refiloe's writings about Disney in full here.
Below is the full and unaltered response from Disney received this morning:
"We'd like the opportunity to reply to the Disney Channels viewer who wrote a letter to your blog with some questions on the channel. We thought it would be best to respond to the viewer's individual points to clarify how the channel(s) are presented and to clear up any confusion."
"The viewer's first question concerned our new channel idents. To clarify, the channel idents are on-air to promote programming highlights across the schedule, not to display what is on-air next. This is an approach adopted by many TV channels to highlight key shows and are different from our "coming next" graphics (which play during programmes)."
"It is important to state that the graphics used on each Disney Channel are bespoke to the requirements of the region/country (so for example, the presentation of the channel in South Africa is slightly different to that of the UK)."
"The next question concerned incorrect broadcasting details given for forthcoming premieres. This viewer seemed to be referring to forthcoming episodes of our hit shows A.N.T Farm and My Babysitter is a Vampire. This is not a mistake, we recently made amendments to the schedule to bring forward airing premiere episodes of the new season before the series launches (effectively a "sneak peek"), promoting them as "new episodes". The official series launch timing remain the same and we had scheduled relevant promos in separate parts of the schedule to avoid confusion."
"The viewer also made some points about scheduling information not appearing in text on the channel. Disney South Africa is distributed via feed to other regions (covering different time zones) and in order to ensure our viewers in all regions receive consistent information about the times that shows air, we do not always include text, instead providing this information via the audio track."
"Where clarification is needed (eg. for our viewers in the Middle East (KSA stads for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia not Kenya), the timings are sometimes included with a clear reference to the region."
"Timings for South African viewers are always clearly delivered via the audio track and we've had no complaints from any of our viewers to date."
"Finally, we have received no other comments on Disney XD picture quality. All Disney Channels are delivered in highest possible quality and the reception of the channel is dependent on elements not controlled by Disney (eg. weather conditions/satellite reception)."
"We thank the viewer for his questions and would emphasise that we work continually to ensure that the multiplex of Disney Channels remain the number one in South Africa."
