Disney to shut 100 TV channels this year

Disney is planning to shut 100 TV channels worldwide by the end of the year. It is part of the company's plan to transition to streaming distribution.

Content moves to Disney+
In addition to the roughly 30 channels that it closed last year, Disney will shut 100 TV channels in 2021. The content will migrate the Disney+ streaming service.

- "We closed 30 channels in fiscal year 2020 or in 2020. We plan to close 100 in 2021," Bob Chapek, CEO of Disney, announced at a JPMorgan conference.

This includes Disney channels for kids, Fox and National Geographic channels for adults, sports channels as well as Star movie channels. Exact closures and timings will depend on contracts in the individual markets, the CEO said.



The decision is part of the company's plan to transition from broadcast to streaming, and to make Disney+ available across the world.

- "We will continue at a robust rate. We’ll continue to migrate to Disney+," Chapek said. "The great majority of that content will migrate to Disney+."

Disney has also started to shift blockbuster movies from theaters to Disney+. After Cruella debuted last week, Black Widow will soon premiere simultaneously in cinemas and on Disney+. Pixar's Luca will premiere exclusively on Disney+.

- Source: Disney via BroadbandTVNews