To fully understand the context in which we find ourselves today, a brief recap is in order: in December 2017, Disney announced its intention to acquire a majority stake in the FOX group. The transaction, worth more than $70 billion, was finalized in March 2019.
As a result, the channels published by Fox and National Geographic came under the Disney group's umbrella in 2019.
FOX channels suspended…
At the same time, in July 2018, Startimes announced the extension of its partnership with FOX,
allowing it to continue broadcasting Fox, Fox Life, Fox Sports, Fox Sports 2, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, Baby TV, and Voyage, which were already part of its channel offerings.
However, at the end of 2019, the South African specialist website TEEVEETEE
announced that, following what were deemed to be endless commercial negotiations, Disney had decided to cut the signal to all these channels from October 1.
Startimes subscribers thus found themselves deprived of several highly popular channels overnight and for more than four months.
.. but
these channels
are now back on air
. After several months of suspension, Startimes has today announced the arrival (which, as we understand it, is in fact a return) of these channels on its English, French, and Portuguese-language offerings.