'The Simpsons' Moves to Disney+ as New Streaming Home

[Black Panther]

The Simpsons are moving to a new streaming home.


The longest-running primetime scripted series in U.S. TV history will join Disney+ when the service launches Nov. 12. The first 30 seasons of the animated hit will be available from day one, and the streaming service will be its exclusive SVOD home.


The 20th Century Fox TV-produced series became part of Disney when the studio paid $71.3 billion for the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox (the Fox broadcast network will continue to air new episodes through at least season 32 in 2020-21). The addition of the Simpsons library to Disney+ brings a massive 660-plus episodes for users to delve into at launch — almost 10 percent of the 7,500 TV episodes Disney+ plans to have available when it debuts. That Disney would keep The Simpsons for its streaming platform is a major reveal — the sale of a library that extensive would have been worth millions (if not billions) of dollars to the company's bottom line. It also solidifies Disney's larger plan to keep its content in-house, a move the studio first signaled when it announced that it would be removing Marvel feature films from Netflix and earmarking those titles for its streaming service. 


The Simpsons currently airs off-network on FXX, which cut a then-record off-net deal in 2013 for cable, VOD and non-linear rights to the iconic series. 


FXX and parent FX Networks also came under the Disney umbrella in the 21st Century Fox transaction. Original series from FX and FXX will stream on Hulu — now majority owned by Disney — as the latter targets adults, while Disney+ will be geared toward more family-friendly programming. 


As THR has reached out to Disney+ and FX Networks reps to see how (or whether) the Disney+ arrangement will affect FXX's deal and its Simpsons World app. (The FX Now app, which houses Simpsons World, is not subscription-based, and FX's original deal for the series included VOD rights. The platform is not subscription-based.) 


The Simpsons' former Fox Sunday companion Malcolm in the Middle (another 20th TV series) will also join Disney+ in its first year, along with other family-friendly titles from the Fox library, including The Princess Bride and The Sound of Music