When the Playhouse Disney channel hits television screens in Canada today, it will be a first in the 84-year history of Walt Disney Co. Never before has the global media giant entrusted its brand to another broadcaster.

The channel, which is owned by Astral Media Inc., will be aimed at two- to eight-year-olds, with Disney content produced in Canada and around the world. The model is being tested here with Astral and could be used in other countries as Disney looks to expand in specialty TV, said Rich Ross, president of Disney Channels Worldwide.

Disney, the world's second-biggest media and entertainment company, has kept its brand closely protected but agreed to let Montreal-based Astral use its name after receiving overtures from Astral chief executive officer Ian Greenberg.

Astral has bought Disney programming for its Family Channel over the past 20 years and was looking to expand into the age two-to-eight demographic. Though children's channels are among the more profitable, that specific age range has proven less susceptible to audience fragmentation, since parents tend to limit their time on the Internet, Mr. Ross said.

The decision from the biggest division of media conglomerate Viacom Inc follows on the heels of the "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," whose popularity online has helped boost television viewership.

Rather than sign another content deal, Disney is allowing Astral to use the brand, part of a larger push into Canada for Disney after it bought the popular Kelowna, B.C.-based children's website, Club Penguin, this summer for $350-million (U.S.). "Canada is very important to us," Mr. Ross said.

For Mr. Greenberg, the Disney arrangement marks a return to his roots at Astral. Before becoming CEO, his first deal in the media industry was to secure Disney content for the Family Channel when it launched.

The channel, Astral's 18th in Canada, will debut on the Bell ExpressVu satellite service and agreements with Canada's other major cable and satellite carriers are in the works, he said.

Astral decided to branch out into the younger demographic after running out of space on the Family Channel for shows for younger children, given the success of Disney shows skewed at preteens such as Hanna Montana.