The block's origins stem from a settlement that preceded the FCC's approval of network parent
Univision Communications' $12.3 billion acquisition by Broadcasting Media Partners Inc. (a consortium of
investment firms led by the
Haim Saban-owned
Saban Capital Group,
TPG Capital, L.P.,
Providence Equity Partners,
Madison Dearborn Partners and
Thomas H. Lee Partners). As part of a
consent decree in the deal that included the payment of a $24 million fine – the largest single fine levied against any corporation by the FCC at the time – that was issued against Univision in February 2007, following an investigation stemming from complaints filed in 2005 by the
United Church of Christ and the
National Hispanic Media Coalition during pending license renewal proceedings for two of its
owned-and-operated stations (
WQHS-TV in
Cleveland and
KDTV in
San Francisco) that uncovered violations of Children's Television Act (CTA) guidelines, which require over-the-air television broadcasters to air a minimum of three hours of compliant
educational programming each week, by the network's 24 O&Os. The violations regarded youth-oriented
telenovelas from
Televisa and
Venevision aired by the network (the Televisa-produced
Cómplices Al Rescate,
¡Vivan Los Niños!, and
Amy, la niña de la mochila azul), which were cited due to their questionable educational value and the former's incorporation of occasional adult-themed plotlines and complex subplots that were unsuitable for younger children) that were claimed by the stations as core educational programs in 116 weekly CTA compliance reports filed between 2004 and early 2006. On April 5, 2008, Univision announced that it would launch a new Saturday morning block featuring live-action and animated series aimed at children between the ages of 2 and 16. Unlike other children's program blocks in existence at the time (and since), the network opted to fully program the block with shows acquired from various programming distributors. Two days later, "Planeta U" debuted, marking the first time that Univision carried an exclusively animated children's program block for younger audiences, having previously carried live action variety-based series alongside half-hour cartoons prior to the shift towards filling its weekend morning schedule with youth-targeted novelas in 2003. The block's initial lineup consisted mainly of Spanish-dubbed versions of American and Canadian children's programs, with
Dora the Explorer,
Go, Diego, Go!,
Pinky Dinky Doo,
Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks, ''
Inspector Gadget's Field Trip and Beakman's World'' as part of its inaugural lineup. "Planeta U" originally aired as a single three-hour, Saturday-only block until September 2008, when the network began airing an hour-long extension on Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific Time. The Sunday lineup was discontinued in September 2013, with the remaining Saturday block reverting to three hours. On June 3, 2014,
Walt Disney Television entered into an agreement with Univision in which it launched a new sub-block within the "Planeta U" lineup called "Disney Junior en Univision", featuring dubbed versions of original series from
Disney Junior during the first two hours of the block;
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and
Handy Manny (the latter's dub incorporated basic instruction of English words and phrases instead of those in Spanish, as the English version features) were the first series to air as part of the sub-block. The sub-block was discontinued on May 26, 2018 which the sub-block was later being replaced by Naturaleza Humana the following week on June 2nd, then replaced by
Franklin and Friends on June 18th, 2022 at the last hour of the block. On August 1, 2015, Univision added its first original children's program as part of the block,
Sesame Amigos, a half-hour Spanish language version of
Sesame Street produced by
Sesame Workshop for the network, featuring learning games and educational intersitials similar to those featured on and select characters from the
HBO series, with Univision talent and other Hispanic and Latino celebrities making guest appearances during some segments (the network previously aired the Televisa adaptation of its parent series,
Plaza Sésamo, from 1995 to 2002, before it was moved to sister network TeleFutura, now
UniMás). On July 7, 2024, Univision's Planeta U block moved to Sunday mornings for one week only before reverting back to Saturday mornings a week later. In 2025, Univision stopped using the Planeta U branding, and replaced it with a robot as their mascot. The block's new name is not confirmed as of December 2025. As of 2026, Univision is one of only two
commercial broadcast networks that still airs animated programming within a
Saturday morning timeslot, the other being
MeTV with its
Saturday Morning Cartoons block. ==Programming==