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.
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.
Rumours have it Ten have got their lawyers involved:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rN52sxgW4w
Fox forget Ten is still a mass-outlet for their program here in AU. The PR/Marketing Ten provide them will be lost unless their shows become tentpoles for other networks. Who by chance also have a focus on local content…
The troubled Fox exec. team, have just created more market share loss for the Fox brand.
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“Mumbrella understands it could save Ten millions, which the network may look to spend on local content.”
And of course the network may prefer to have the expense drop straight to the bottom line to prop it up.
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Good work Murdoch. Who cares, lose some more money for your company. Ten will have better shows. Throw your fit at running Ten into the ground for a bargain price. Thank god someone has finally stood up to this dictator. Hopefully the Sky acquisition will result in the same way. If it does go through, Sky will have its Murdochisation complete.
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The Simpson’s and Modern Family have been 2 hits for 10 out from the Fox output deal. Yes cancel it and save millions but local content?. What more of the Project on a Sunday, ratings you might expect late night or morning TV or maybe to pay for Lisa W. Watched the Project last night and i get the differentiation between their news and traditional 6pm but they use the show to self promote unashamedly talent from Rove’s talent bank and fellow comedians. Interview the fantastic Tony Martin from Martin/Molloy days but funny he has a book to promote – is that news told differently?
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Well just to let you know “Homer lost for words”…..The Simpsons and Modern Family don’t rate for Ten so its not a loss to lose the programs. Chin up mate ?
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well bob i said they have been 2 hits from the Fox deal over 25 years – operative word HAVE.
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Fair enough..The Simpsons was watched more about 15 years ago but now a waste of money. All that money spent on Fox programming that currently doesn’t get enough viewers will be better spent on locally produced programming rather than the rubbish we see from the US.
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