Wald Disney Co., on Tuesday launched an online subscription service aimed at preschool children, completing its plan for what a Disney executive called, "an online theme park."
The new service, Playhouse Disney Preschool Time Online, is based on characters and shows from Disney Channel's "Playhouse Disney" programming block, such as "JoJo's Circus" and "Higglytown Heroes." It focuses on pre-kindergarten skills, such as letter and number recognition, and features learning tools such as interactive story books. The site's content will be updated every two weeks.
"Playhouse Disney Preschool Time Online is the most learning-oriented of Disney's internet subscription services for kids," says Disney Online Executive Vice President and Managing Director Ken Goldstein. "This is all part of our age-banded strategy where we are looking to follow the consumer through all their age levels and have something for them at every age."
Preschool Time Online can be purchased only through Disney, but the company has plans to integrate it into Disney Connection, a free kids "channel" offered to subscribers of high-speed Internet services provided by Comcast, Adelphia, MediaCom and Verizon.
