Subscribers could lose Disney channels, including ABC 7 Chicago As speculated for the last few weeks, a potential retrans dispute between Disney and DirecTV is about to come to fruition. Cord Cutters News was the first to report on possible service disruptions if a deal between the two wasn’t reached by September 1. The dispute picked up steam as the […]
Disney to permanently remove some channels as it agrees to sell apps through Spectrum in a blueprint others will likely follow After all the countless pieces over how the Charter-Disney feud could wind up killing linear TV and the cable bundle, customers woke up Monday morning to find their Disney channels back – but not all of them returned. Disney […]
Surprise move came with no warning In a move that has Dish and Sling customers fuming, cable and broadcast channels owned by The Walt Disney Company were pulled off of their systems at 2 a.m. Central Time Saturday morning in a retransmission dispute. The decision to yank the channels surprised everyone as usually, customers are given a heads-up on if […]
Companies upping ante in retrans dispute; ABC 7 could be off DirecTV by Saturday The latest entity to go toe-to-toe with a satellite and cable provider is the biggest name in cable: ESPN. And it could take Chicago’s most-watched TV station down with it. In a carefully orchestrated move, ESPN on its bottom score ticker alerted viewers about the potential […]
Blockbuster deal includes 20th Century Fox film studio and programming library, cable and sports networks, and more In a history-making deal, The Walt Disney Company agreed to acquire much of 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion. The deal was speculated about for the last few weeks on this blog and elsewhere, as 21st Century Fox owner Rupert Murdoch was looking […]
The two rivals are discussing, but would not include some Fox properties, including Fox News and Chicago’s WFLD-TV Itchy and Scratchy joining forces with Mickey Mouse? It could happen. As first reported by CNBC Monday, 21st Century Fox is considering selling part of their assets to the Walt Disney Company. The proposed deal would not include Fox Broadcasting, Fox O&Os, […]
Historic deal takes animated series to 2019, making it the all-time episodes champ in primetime for a scripted series On Wednesday, the Chicago Cubs made history as the team won their first World Series title in 108 years. On Friday, The Simpsons made history of their own. The long-running animated series was renewed for its 29th and 30th seasons Friday, […]
Renewed through 2017; seasons 27 and 28 on tap In a move certain to stir debate, Fox has given a huge vote of confidence to long-running animated comedy The Simpsons, which renewed the series through 2017, taking it through its 28th season. By the time the deal is up, The Simpsons would have produced 625 episodes – only ten short […]
FX Networks, the group who purchased the exclusive rerun cable rights to The Simpsons for new channel FXX for close to a billion dollars last fall, has made public their plans on how to best run 552 episodes of the Fox animated classic, which was reported by Broadcasting & Cable in […]
Fox and its cable sibling FX Networks took the Monday and Tuesday sessions of The Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour. Fox began its Monday at TCA with network president Kevin Reilly addressing the troops. He defended moving Bones to Fridays and said the cast is in discussions for a tenth and likely final season. Reilly also went to bat […]
Twentieth Television sells to corporate sibling FXX for an estimated $750 million-$1 billion For fans eager for more Simpsons beyond the offerings on Fox and in broadcast syndication, finally some good news – but it comes with some strings attached. After two decades, The Simpsons are finally coming to cable in a $750-$1 billion mega deal with recently-launched FXX, 21st […]
What this means for fans of the long-running franchise, its syndicator and the show itself In news first reported by TV Guide’s Michael Schneider Monday, the longest-running series in primetime TV history is expected to be sold by Twentieth Television to a cable network this year for airing in the fall of 2014. Possible cable contenders include Turner Broadcasting (TBS, […]