The Disney Channel has a lot to answer for! Whilst undoubtedly providing a great source of entertainment for young children and early teenagers, it has also inflicted the likes of Hannah Montanna, the Jonas Brothers and the wretched High School Musical upon us over the years. I see the channel as a very clever organisation that can occasionally produce some great television.

The Disney Channel of course is a cable television network that is massive in the United States but can also be found here in the UK on Sky Digital or Virgin Media.

It is a division of the Walt Disney company who have brought us some of the greatest films of all time and as of such it used to house a lot of animated shows based on those very movies like 101 Dalmations, Hercules, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, before they were shipped off to a separate Toon Disney channel and all the 'real life' shows took over. However original animated series like Kim Possible and The Replacements do get valuable screen time on the main station. There's also the +1 service which allows you to view the channel an hour later and Playhouse Disney which specialises in programming geared at a younger audience.

I witnessed this transition of the Disney Channel as a kid and though I do feel the quality of the shows have improved over the years, it's a horror for repeating the same episodes over and over again and seems to have a very limited show list and a lot of the actors seem to pop up everywhere. It's like they've sold their soul to Hades or something to be contracted to Disney forever!

I've noticed that a lot of the shows seem to be firmly fixated on the impressionable teenage girl audience. Whilst it is a good idea to have strong and positive role models for this group such as Hannah Montannah, it is a bit sexist as there's really not a lot of shows that would appeal to a male audience. The Disney Channel seems to be a lot about looks and will always cast the best looking youngsters in their roles in order to gain more viewers. It's a very clever idea. That said when you actually sit down and watch some of the shows, they are mildly entertaining, even from an adult perspective and it's easy to see why they are so popular with their target audience. As well as Hannah Montannah [come on as if nobody in that show knows it's not Miley Cyrus with a blonde wig!], there are also classics like That's So Raven. I have to say that this is a truly brilliant show and I could watch it over and over again. It is by far the most creative and hilarious show that the channel has ever produced and has spawned it's own spin off series which is currently airing - Cory In The House. There's also The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, which has since spawned a spin off The Suite Life on Deck, a new show starting this year featuring the Jonas Brothers and The Wizards of Waverly Place

Out of all the main children's channels on offer in the UK, I'd say that Disney have hit the nail on the head. They know how to reel in the viewers and they know what kids and teenagers want to watch. With a vibrant and interesting batch of shows and a truckload of up and rising stars, they are certainly a force to be reckoned with and have definitely pushed out the likes of Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon since I was growing up. The schedule could do with a few more inclusions and not rely as heavily on repeats but it will keep kids and teenagers entertained for hours with the realistic situations the characters face and the messages that are underlined in each show, even if some of them do come across as being initially unrealistic. Whilst, I find some of the shows to be repetitive and just a waste of time, there are some hidden gems that I will honestly say I still enjoy watching to this day so Disney must be doing something right. Check it out now on Sky or Virgin Media.