Family is a Canadian cable and satellite channel that primarily airs programming aimed at the youth market. It was founded in 1988 as the Family Channel with shows for all ages. It shifted focus during the late 1990’s and officially changed the name in 1999. It is licensed as a premium channel, but many markets carry it as part of the basic cable package.
Much of their programming is produced by the American Disney Channel and its offshoot networks DisneyXD and Disney Junior. There is some Canadian produced shows and made for TV movies. During its weekend timeslots it often airs movies. Usually these films are made for TV by Disney or older theatrical releases. Being a premium channel, all shows and movies are shown without commercial interruption. They do air promotional material for their own programs and sponsored contests between shows. This is also when they show music videos from Disney and Canadian artists under the title of FanJams.
Family also offers the Canadian versions of Disney Junior, DisneyXD and a French language version of Disney Junior. The English Disney Junior is available to subscribers to Family for free. However, it is not available as a stand alone add on. The French Disney Junior and DisneyXD are both stand alone services. Like its American counterpart, DisneyXD has commercial advertising during its shows.
