In recognition of Disney Junior’s growing success, 12-year Mouse House veteran Nancy Kanter has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Original Programming and General Manager, Disney Junior Worldwide. The announcement was made by Disney Channels Worldwide president and CCO Gary Marsh, to whom Kanter reports. The promotion recognizes the great strides the preschool-targeted division has made under Kanter’s creative content leadership, delivering Disney Junior’s biggest year on record (2012) as a programming block on Disney Channel, and steering the 24-hour Disney Junior Channel to the #1 preschool network spot for 16 straight weeks.
Kanter will continue to oversee development and production for all Disney Junior series, including cable’s #1 pre-k show Sofia the First and the Emmy-nominated Doc McStuffins, Jake and the Never Land Pirates and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, as well as the short-form series Minnie’s Bow-Toons and A Poem Is…, plus Disney Junior Night Light–a nightly block of parent-targeted, kid-friendly short-form programming that airs interstitially on the channel. Kanter is also guiding upcoming shows like Mandy Moore’s kitty cat western show Sheriff Callie’s Wild West and the comedy series The 7D, a take on the Seven Dwarfs set in a contemporary storybook world.
Kanter joined Disney Channel in 2001 and led the successful rebrand of Playhouse Disney to Disney Junior, establishing the brand internationally with a total of 33 Disney Junior channels in 24 languages around the world. She recently formed the Disney Junior Educational Resource Group, an in-house team responsible for curriculum development and focus group studies, as well as establishing a council of academic advisors comprised of experts in diverse fields to guide the channel’s learning and development curriculum for kids 2-7. Kanter is based in the Burbank, California headquarters of Disney Channels Worldwide.
