DISNEY CHANNEL ORDERS THIRD SEASON OF TOP RATED, DANCE-DRIVEN SERIES "SHAKE IT UP"

-- 90-minute Event Telecast, "Shake It Up: Made in Japan," to Premiere In August --

Disney Channel has ordered a third season of the dance-driven buddy comedy "Shake It Up," it was announced today by Adam Bonnett, Senior Vice President, Original Programming, Disney Channels Worldwide. "Shake It Up" premiered in November 2010, ranked as the #1 series of 2011 among Tweens 9-14 and for second quarter 2012-to-date, is the #1 TV series among Kids 2-11 (2.0 million/4.9 rating) and Kids 6-11 (1.6 million/6.7 rating) [Source: NTI, U.S. ratings, most current, as dated]. Production on the third season will begin this summer.

The series inspired Disney Channel's first-ever talent competition exclusively for kids and tweens, "Make Your Mark: Ultimate Dance Off - Shake It Up Edition," which reached 12 million total viewers and gave a dance troupe, winners among the nearly 30,000 video submissions, a chance to dance in an episode of "Shake It Up." Digital extensions were presented at DisneyChannel.com (7.5 million visits) with instructional dance videos (over 68 million video starts).

Walt Disney Records released the Shake It Up: Live 2 Dance soundtrack, featuring songs from and inspired by the series. It debuted at #17 on the Billboard 200 in March 2012 and fan-favorites "TTYLXOX" by Bella Thorne and "Something to Dance For" by Zendaya climbed Radio Disney's Top 30, with "TTYLXOX" hitting the #1 spot. The music video for "Something to Dance For/TTYLXOX (Mash Up)" generated more than 6 million hits on VEVO.

"Shake It Up" has also inspired tween apparel including dancewear from Ivivva and a fast-selling D-Signed line at Target, footwear at Payless and Hallmark greeting cards which are popular among kids and tweens. Consumer electronics including headphones and stereos will debut in stores this summer.

In the series, best friends CeCe and Rocky are living their dreams as dancers on the hit show "Shake It Up, Chicago!" Season three will see new dances and songs, and expand on the friendship and aspirations of CeCe and Rocky both at home and in school.

In "Shake It Up: Made In Japan," a 90-minute programming event premiering this summer, the gang will head to Tokyo after Rocky and CeCe win a chance to star in a dance video game. New songs and dances, wild new fashions, androids and performances by the world famous Blue Man Group highlight the episode. A sneak peek of "Shake It Up: Made In Japan" will air during the Disney Channel Original Movie, "Let It Shine" on June 15.

Executive produced by Rob Lotterstein ("The War at Home," "Ellen") and Eileen Conn ("Mad About You," "Just Shoot Me!"), "Shake It Up" stars Zendaya and Bella Thorne as Rocky Blue and CeCe Jones, Davis Cleveland as Flynn Jones, Roshon Fegan as Ty Blue, Adam Irigoyen as Deuce Martinez and Caroline Sunshine as Tinka Hessenheffer. Recurring are R. Brandon Johnson as Gary Wilde and Anita Barone as Georgia Jones.

New episodes of "Shake It Up" air Sundays at 8:30 p.m., ET/PT on Disney Channel. The series is a production of It's A Laugh Productions, Inc. It carries a TV-G parental guideline.

Disney Channel is a 24-hour kid-driven, family inclusive television network that taps into the world of kids and families through original series and movies. Currently available on basic cable in over 99 million U.S. homes and to millions of other viewers on Disney Channels around the world, Disney Channel is part of the Disney/ABC Television Group.