It dropped the "The" word from the name in 1997, thus getting rebranded as just Disney Channel, with its programming since till date shifting focus to target mainly children and adolescents ages 6–14.

The channel – which initially maintained a 16-hour-per-day programming schedule from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time – would become available on cable providers in all 50 U.S. states by September 1983, and accrue a base of more than 611,000 subscribers by December of that year.

[12][13][14][15] The most successful original film under the banner in terms of popularity and accolades is High School Musical 2, which debuted on August 17, 2007, to 17.2 million viewers and set a current longstanding record for the highest-rated television premiere in the history of the channel.

[17][18] It also set a basic cable record for the single most-watched television program until December 3, 2007, when corporate sister channel, ESPN, surpassed it with the telecast of an NFL game between the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens on its Monday Night Football programme by 0.3 million viewers more (17.5 million viewers).

The Cheetah Girls media franchise was also notably successful in terms of merchandise and sales for its concert tours and soundtrack albums.

This theme song consists of a four-note mnemonic jingle composed by Alex Lasarenko, former executive of Tonal Sounds and creative director at Elias Arts.

[40] For a period, ESPN's broadcasts of the Little League World Series baseball tournament frequently featured cross-promotion with music-related Disney Channel properties, with past editions having featured collaborations with High School Musical, the Jonas Brothers, Camp Rock, and Phineas and Ferb.

After a period during which cable providers unwilling to drop the network immediately retained it to prevent subscriber cancellations, Soapnet ceased all operations on December 31, 2013.

In June 2012, the Walt Disney Company announced that it would stop advertising or promoting food or beverage products that do not meet strict nutritional guidelines.

Disney Channel purportedly became the first media company to take such a stance on stopping the marketing of junk food products to kids.

Disney Junior displays the AD)) mark and the intended SAP track on newer episodes of Little Einsteins.

)[73] Disney Channel has established presence in various regions across the Americas, most of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, and Japan.

Channel versions/feeds were also available or used to exist in Australia, New Zealand, Italy, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey, but ceased broadcast since the early 2020s, with most content moving to Disney+ or Disney+ Hotstar following their launches in those countries/regions.

"[84] The channel has also pulled (and sometimes re-shot) episodes that have featured subject matter deemed inappropriate for its target audience, due either to humor or to timing of real-life events.