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The Simpsons will not return to Ten as 21st Century Fox officially terminates deal

Channel Ten’s agreement with with 21st Century Fox has officially been terminated.

The news comes three weeks after the network lost the rights to all 21st Century Fox programs including The Simpsons, Modern Family, MASH and Futurama.

Now the deal has been terminated, The Simpsons will not be returning to Ten

At the time, the Australian broadcaster had not yet received a letter of termination from Fox with the contract being terminated verbally as the future of Ten’s ownership remained unclear.

In a note on the ASX yesterday afternoon, a statement said: “On 27 October 2017, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (Australia) Pty Limited (‘Fox’) issued a letter of termination in respect of the Fox Output License Agreement between Fox and Network Ten Pty Limited (Subject to Deed of Company Arrangement)(Receivers and managers appointed). The termination was stated to be effective 6 October 2017.”

The official termination comes as major content loss to Ten, which has run The Simpsons, among other shows, for more than 25 years, but Mumbrella understands it could save Ten millions, which the network may look to spend on local content.

The news comes ahead of Ten’s return to the Supreme Court today. Minor Ten shareholders Yunfeng Du and David Gubbay are attempting to stop US media giant CBS acquiring Network Ten. Should the deal proceed, Du and Gubbay’s shares would be transferred to CBS.

In order to halt CBS’ acquisition of Ten, Du and Gubbay will have to prove their shares still hold some value, which could prove difficult given a KPMG report assessed Ten’s equity as essentially worthless.

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