The break-up between Rupert Murdoch’s 20th Century Fox and Channel Ten has been made official, with the former terminating its contract as content supplier.
An ASX announcement issued yesterday afternoon by Ten’s administrator, Korda Mentha, said Fox issued a termination letter in respect of its output licence agreement with the free-to-air broadcaster on Friday, with the termination to come into effect on Monday 6 November.
It had already been reported earlier this month that The Simpsons and Modern Family would not be returning to Ten’s screens after the money it offered Fox was rejected.
However, the contract termination means that Futurama, M*A*S*H and Malcolm in the Middle are all being axed from Ten’s other channels, Eleven and One.
The move comes after US studio CBS moved one step closer to getting its deal with embattled broadcaster Ten over the line, with the Foreign Investment Review Board approving the transaction.
Both CBS and Fox are arch-rivals, and it’s not clear if CBS’ inevitable acquisition of Ten has had anything to do with the Aussie broadcaster missing out on Fox’s programs.
Furthermore, Fox is owned by the Murdochs, and Lachlan (along with Aussie media mogul Bruce Gordon), tried their hearts out to snare Ten for themselves.
All eyes are now on the NSW Supreme Court today, where CBS only needs approval for the transfer of Ten’s shares to finally put this deal to bed.
