The Walt Disney Company is shuttering its Fox pay television channel in the United Kingdom as the media giant focuses more of its attention on building out Disney Plus in that country and others.
The channel was acquired through Disney’s purchase of certain Fox-branded media assets from 21st Century Fox several years ago, which included other Fox-themed international channels that have since been re-branded under Disney’s Star subsidiary.
Original programs that were produced by Fox and aired on the UK variant of the channel are expected to move over to Disney Plus, where they will be screened in an adult-oriented section of the streamer that carries the Star branding. Affected shows include Fox’s critically-acclaimed original series “War of the Worlds,” which is a joint production between the UK subsidiary and a media company in France. (The show airs on Epix in the United States.)
Fox will stop broadcasting in the United Kingdom on June 30 across all pay television platforms, a Disney spokesperson said.
The move continues a trend by Disney of shutting off certain pay television channels in the United Kingdom and elsewhere as it continues to push international television viewers toward Disney Plus, its subscription streaming service.
Last year, Disney shut off UK variants of the Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior.
