Radio Disney to close Orlando station and most others

Earlier this week, the Walt Disney Co. announced it is planning to sell all but one of its Radio Disney stations. The move is a sign of the times, the company said, because most of its listeners access its broadcast content digitally.

According to published reports, only about 18 percent of Radio Disney listeners hear the network’s programming via AM or FM broadcasts. Instead, they choose satellite radio, the Internet and mobile devices that use digital radio distribution apps. To be sure, that is the case at our house. My 11-year-old son, who started out listening to Radio Disney on an actual radio as a kindergartner now prefers to listen to music through Pandora.

The Walt Disney Co. will retain one Radio Disney station — KDIS-AM (1110) in Los Angeles — which will generate Radio Disney’s national content for the digital platforms.

Locally, Orlando’s WDYZ, AM 990, which broadcasts Radio Disney for all of Central Florida, will close Sept. 26. Although kids and parents still will be able to digitally access the content they enjoy, it’s still a loss for our market. Radio Disney is one of the few family-friendly stations that focus on music that pre-teens want to hear. (Others that are “safe for little ears” play pop music, too, yet their playlist isn’t created specifically with youngsters and pre-teens in mind.)

In addition, Radio Disney was a presence in the Orlando area with its many fun promotions and appearances. My family and I have attended many through the years and will miss those fun opportunities. The station’s Road Crew brought family friendly activities to festivals, openings and special events, such as Noon Year’s Eve in Tampa, just to name one. (Once, when my son was a Cub Scout on a eco-field trip, he actually saw the Radio Disney Road Crew taking part in a community event at the Orange County landfill. Talk about eclectic marketing.)

Of other marketing efforts, perhaps most notably is the annual holiday concert in Celebration, which is the planned community not far from the gates of Walt Disney World. The free concert showcases winners from Radio Disney’s annual Next Big Thing (N.B.T.) competition and always attracts a crowd of pre-teens and teenagers. When announcing the news of the station’s closing, Disney did say it will continue to focus on events such as N.B.T., so perhaps there is hope the concert will continue.

In February, Radio Disney kicked off its first “On the Road to the RDMAs [Radio Disney Music Awards]” tour with a free concert in Central Florida. Families were invited to go out to the Leesburg Mardi Gras Celebration to hear Mexican-American rapper Becky G and British pop rock band The Vamps, and to meet rock band Before You Exit from Orlando.

In addition, Radio Disney has brought its national on-air personalities and Disney Channel actors to Central Florida for various events, which were unique opportunities for fans to meet their favorite stars. Creative Director and lead DJ Ernie D, a.k.a. Ernest Martinez, has been a frequent visitor, as well as actors Laura Marano, Ross Lynch, Debby Ryan, Bella Thorne and Zendaya in recent years.

Despite my disappointment in hearing that Radio Disney was selling most of its radio stations, the news isn’t entirely a downer for parents who have come to trust the stations as ones their kids could listen to without being exposed to some of the more grown-up aspects of adult radio stations.

After all, Radio Disney still will exist in the digital realm, including various Internet app platforms (both Disney’s own apps and others) and via Sirius XM satellite radio for the car. Also, Disney’s Top 30 song segment is still distributed on various AM and FM stations nationwide.

Still, I just hope we’ll continue to see something similar to the stations’ Road Crew having a community presence here in Central Florida, adding friendly faces and a little bit of Disney magic to some of the family outings we attend.

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