MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company announced Tuesday it is shutting down pretty much all of its pay-television business in South-East Asia and Hong Kong later this year, marking the end of an era for a media conglomerate that has had a huge entertainment supply chain in the region.
The cull, which includes five sports channels, is among a total of 18 channels across genres that will cease operations effective 1 October.
The 18 channels closing down in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong after more than two decades of operations are sports channels Fox Sports, Fox Sports 2, Fox Sports 3, Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2; entertainment channels Fox, Fox Crime, Fox Life and FX; movie channels Fox Action Movies, Fox Family Movies, Fox Movies and Star Movies China; kids channels Disney Channel and Disney Junior; and factual services channels Nat Geo People and SCM Legend.
As for the plans Disney has for the South-East Asia broadcast rights it holds to major sports events, which includes Formula One, Australia Open, U.S. Open, Wimbledon and French Open, among others, the expectation is that it would sub-licence those rights to interested pay TV platforms in the region.
The decision to close these 18 channels is so that the company can focus on its direct-to-consumer (D2C) streaming model. Geek Culture reports that only four channels made the cut to D2C: Star Chinese Channel, Star Chinese Movies, National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo Wild.
“As part of The Walt Disney Company’s global effort to pivot towards a D2Cfirst model and further grow our streaming services, the company is consolidating its Media Networks business primarily in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. These efforts will help us align our resources more efficiently and effectively to current and future business needs,” Disney stated while announcing the closure to employees earlier Tuesday.
