Family Chrgd is a Canadian English languagespecialty channel owned by WildBrain. Chrgd broadcasts live-action and animated children's programming aimed towards viewers aged 8–15. The channel first launched on June 1, 2011, under the ownership of Astral Media as a localized version of Disney XD, serving as a sister network to Family Channel. Following the acquisition of Astral Media by Bell Media, Disney XD was divested to DHX Media. On October 9, 2015, as a result of Corus Entertainment's acquisition of Canadian rights to Disney's children's programming and associated brands, the channel was re-launched as Family Chrgd.
History
As Disney XD
In April 2009, Astral Media was granted approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to launch a television channel named Family Extreme. Astral announced it would launch a localized version of Disney XD on June 1, 2011, using the Family Extreme license, in both standard and high definition. In late 2011, Astral also launched a Disney XD video on demand app for the Xbox 360video game console. In 2012, the channel premiered its first original series, Slugterra. After the Competition Bureau approved Bell Media's takeover of Astral, Bell announced on March 4, 2013 that it would put Disney XD, along with its sister networks and Astral's French-language music networks, up for sale. On October 27, 2013, the channel premiered its first original movie, Bunks, produced by Fresh TV. On November 28, 2013, DHX Media announced that it would acquire Disney XD and its sister networks for $170 million. The acquisition was approved by the CRTC on July 24, 2014, and closed on July 31, 2014. In that same year, Disney XD premiered the pilot for Fangbone!, in May, and a new original series, Gaming Show , in November.
As Family Chrgd
On April 16, 2015, it was announced that Corus Entertainment had acquired Canadian rights to Disney Channel's program library; alongside the launch of a Canadian version of Disney Channel, Corus stated that it would launch other "Disney branded kids linear television offerings" in the future. In anticipation for this transition, DHX concurrently announced that its Disney-branded networks would be realigned under the Family brand by November 2015. Tentatively, Disney XD was to be rebranded as Family XTRM. When announcing its slate of programming for the 2015–16 season on August 20, 2015, DHX revealed the channel's new name would be Family Chrgd. Its lineup was to feature new seasons of the network's existing original series, in addition to new shows produced by DHX subsidiaries and other studios, as well as new program supply agreements with Mattel, and later in the year, DreamWorks Animation. The re-branding to Family Chrgd took place on October 9, 2015.
