Entertainment Reporter.
MultiChoice Group (MCG) confirms that as of 30 September 2021 at 23h59 CAT, FOX will stop airing on DStv. The change is a result of a review of various channels by The Walt Disney Company Africa, as the channel owner and ourselves.
As the television landscape and viewer consumption evolves, both players continue to develop and review our products and services to ensure we are offering the best possible experience for consumers. DStv customers can continue enjoying the best international content available on our platform.
MultiChoice continues to broadcast channels within the Disney stable including the genre-defining factual entertainment channels National Geographic and Nat Geo WILD, our action-packed sports channels ESPN and ESPN2,as well as our popular kids and family channels Disney Channel and Disney Junior.
Asked how pay-TV subscribers watching FOX will see series and their endings like the final season of The Walking Dead and whether that content would be made available on-demand somewhere else, Disney said that “all current premiere series will air their full seasons before the channel closes”.
“While the channel will be closing, many titles that aired on FOX will be available on Star on Disney+ when the service launches in South Africa in 2022.”
Asked if FOX will be replaced in time by another similar type of linear TV channel or whether it’s not part of Disney’s strategy to run a general entertainment channel anymore like FOX was, Disney has no definitive answer.
Disney says that “across the globe, we continue to invest in both direct-to-consumer (DTC) and linear businesses, with the goal being providing our fans with multiple entry points to our content and our brand. We have substantial linear businesses in several markets including across Africa”.
“We take a market-by-market approach and continuously evaluate our media networks business on an ongoing basis but have nothing else to announce at this time.
“Our number one priority is to bring customers the stories they love, and our linear channels continue to be a compelling destination – including our genre-defining factual entertainment channels National Geographic and Nat Geo WILD, our action-pack sports channels ESPN and ESPN2, as well as our popular kids and family channels Disney Channel and Disney Junior.”
Customers are encouraged to visit www.dstv.com to keep abreast of the exciting local and international entertainment available on the DStv platform.