Disney to cease operations of 18 channels in Southeast Asia and HK

Disney is closing down 18 channels in the SEA region.

On April 27, 2021, news broke out that Disney is preparing to wind down operations of its Southeast Asian TV channels. The released list includes the namesake kids channel (Disney Channel) and its companion Disney Junior. For the general entertainment component, Fox, Fox Life, Fox Crime, and FX will also end their run, along with movie counterparts Fox Movies, Fox Action Movies, Fox Family Movies, and Star Movies in China. Sports networks Fox Sports 1, 2, 3 and Star Sports 1 and 2 will also be shut down. Finally, the list ends with Nat Geo People and Star Chinese Movies Legend. These channels will officially close down on October 1, 2021.

However, Disney will still continue to broadcast the National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, Star Chinese Channel, and Star Chinese Movies in the affected regions.

The closure of the channels marks the end of the pan-regional efforts for an Asian-based network that links back to STAR TV in 1993. That company was later acquired by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and was folded into the Fox International Channels branch, later known as the Fox Networks Group. But with the sale and acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets by Disney in 2019, FNG was ultimately moved recently to the International Operations arm of the Disney Media and Entertainment Division.

According to the company’s statement to its employees, the cessation of the channels was due to the ongoing efforts by the company “to pivot towards a D2Cfirst model and further grow [their] streaming services.” D2Cfirst pertains to a “direct-to-consumer first” strategy that sees further investment into Disney+, among the other Disney-owned players.

In the same internal announcement, Disney also said that “the efforts will help us align our resources more efficiently and effectively to current and future business needs.”

Due to these changes, some staff and key executives in the Southeast Asian and Hong Kong operations will also have to be retrenched or transferred to other departments in the company.

Michael Dick, a FNG executive, is moving to the D2C acquisition position for the region, leading as well the remaining channels for Southeast Asia. Serving as the head of media networks for SEA, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, plus a role in the D2C programming business will be Andy Baek. Finally, current head of business transformation Karan Paul is stepping in as head of D2Cbusiness operations in the region.

Local cable and satellite operators in the Philippines are yet to release their statement on this developing story. There are also no words yet if whether or when will Disney+ will be launched in the Philippine territory. Currently, it was already rolled out in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia in the Southeast Asian region.