First there were reports of the unit’s delays; now comes a puff piece in LA Times about the launch: Disney (NYSE: DIS) is formally launching a separate digital production unit called Stage 9, charged with developing original online and mobile series...this unit has quietly been in the works for two years, and will launch its first online show “Squeegees,” a comedy series about window-washer slackers, on ABC.com and YouTube. It is the first of a planned 20 online programs currently in development, the story says.

CBS (NYSE: CBS) and Warner Bros. have already been experimenting with separate digital creative units. Disney came upon the idea two years ago after ABC struck a deal in 2005 to sell digital downloads through iTunes. Mark Pedowitz, president of ABC Studios said in the story that Stage 9 would make it possible to experiment with new forms of storytelling, cultivate young talent and incubate franchises that might someday graduate to TV.

Updated: Barry Jossen, an Academy Award-winning short-form producer and the executive VP of ABC Studios, ha sbeen tapped to head the Stage 9 unit...he will retain his previous position as well. Another bombastic claim: “While the new-media space is loaded with UGC, we feel the audience is missing the quality experience found in other forms of exhibition, and we are answering their need,” said Jossen.

• Disney Delays Digital Production Unit Stage 9; Not Risking Inflaming Guilds: Report