In the UK, Fox has been the home of The Walking Dead from the very beginning, airing every new episode of the AMC zombie series on Monday nights exactly a day after they premiered on AMC in the United States. For the past few seasons, the talk show Talking Dead would air right after. Sadly, Fox’s time as the UK home of The Walking Dead is coming to an end, one season before the show concludes with season 11. Instead, British fans will now require a Disney+ subscription.
“On 30th June the FOX channel in the UK will close,” a Disney spokesperson said, via Deadline. “Many titles will become available on Star on Disney+ and will be announced in the near future. We appreciate the support of our UK fans and can’t wait to keep sharing the best stories with you.” Following the news, fans have already taken to naming Carol, Michonne, Judith and more as Disney Princesses.
So why the change? Disney bought 21st Centure Fox for $71.3 billion in 2019, after which it wsa decided to close the Fox channel in the UK and shift most titles to the Star channel on Disney+. This includes all 153 episodes of The Walking Dead, and all the new episodes yet to come.
While The Walking Dead is being moved, its spin-off shows Fear the Walking Dead and World Beyond will remain in place. Neither spin-off has been available on the Fox channel, but rather air on Amazon Prime Video. There’s still no word on where Talking Dead is moving, but it’s a safe that it’ll end up on Disney+, too.
There are a few other titles moving to Disney’s Star channel, like the 2019 War Of The Worlds adaptation and American Horror Story. All roads lead to Disney+, apparently.
A lot of Walking Dead fans are not pleased with the switch-up
After over a decade of airing on Fox, the move has left many feeling irritated, particularly when the Mouse has control of so many properties already. And who wants to subscribe to yet another service?
Not at all surprised. The Walking Dead and War Of The Worlds were the only 2 shows that could pull in the views. However it’s a pity for those who don’t have Disney+ that will miss out on it https://t.co/xFVXN0c5CM
— DFT (@DFTPNK02) May 18, 2021
Disney I hate you, TV is getting smaller and smaller these days https://t.co/r1bDUl4INz
— Marsupial Max 🎂( 24/12) (@Maxcooldown) May 17, 2021
Just about the only cable channel we were still watching. https://t.co/rGon0Pfo6l
— Stephen Theaker (@Rolnikov) May 17, 2021
At least subscribing to Disney+ will provide Walking Dead fans with a heap of other content, from everything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Star Wars and beyond.
The Walking Dead returns for its final season on August 22! We might need to strap in because according to boss Scott Gimple, things are about to get “very, very, very, very dark.”
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