Media Conglomerate Walt Disney is in talks to put off few channels transmission on Southeast Asia and Hong Kong from October 2021. People who watched those channels will have access till September 30, 2021. Check out all the details.
English Channels to Cut Off
Walt Disney shared the list of channels that will go off air in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. The list includes channels like: Fox, Fox Crime, Fox Life, Fox Action Movies. Fox Family Movies, Fox Movies, Star Movies China, Fox Sports, Fox Sports 2, Fox Sports 3, Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Channel V, Nat Geo People, and SCM Legends. However, it seems Walt Disney is cutting the only major English channels.
Reason Behind The Decision
Disney had mentioned the reason behind this major decision to the global press. They are primarily focusing on building ‘direct-to-consumer-first model’. Disney stated: “As part of the Walt Disney Company’s global effort to pivot towards a direct-to-consumer first model and further grow our streaming services, the company is consolidating its media networks business primarily in southeast Asia and Honk Kong.”
They also added: “Effective from 1 October 2021, Disney will operate a streamlined television portfolio that covers Chinese language channels (Star Chinese Channel; Star Chinese Movies) and factual entertainment (National Geographic Channel; Nat Geo Wild). These efforts will help us align our resources more efficiently and effectively to current and future business needs.”
A Disney official told Variety that, the company will continue to have a strong media and entertainment business in Southeast Asia and Honk Kong.
Conclusion
Moving to the Southeast Asia Region, Walt Disney’s streamline services Disney+ is fully available on Singapore and Indonesia. Channel News Asia from Singapore reported that Singapore’s major telecom service provider StarHub assured that the steaming of Disney entertainments will continue streaming with ‘minimal impact’. Another important telecom service of Singapore SingTel stated that they are: “working with Disney to understand this in better detail and assess the potential impact.”
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