FX Shutting Down Streaming Service Next Month

Disney has decided to shut down the FX Plus subscription service, which came over as part of their [...]

Disney has decided to shut down the FX Plus subscription service, which came over as part of their deal with 20th Century Fox. The service will no longer be available starting on August 20th, two years after launching. Those who subscribed paid $5.99 a month to watch FX exclusive shows like Atlanta, American Horror Story, The Shield, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and more, and all ad-free. Once a part of Disney though that catalog is best serviced on another streaming service that Disney now owns in Hulu (via Variety).

Fans can still watch current seasons of FX's shows on FX and FXX as well as the FXNow app, though that last one will only be for a limited time. You can still watch ad-free seasons of those shows on Hulu, though you will need to pay for the upgraded ad-free package on Hulu to do so for $11.99.

You won't see everything FX had to offer though on Hulu, as FX used to be the place to see all seasons of The Simpsons. That entire catalog will now be moving to Disney+ when it launches later this year.

As for why this just makes more sense for Disney. FX Plus evidently had a difficult time creating a foothold, but FX Networks CEO John Landgraf thinks they can help Disney with great content and Disney can help that content reach bigger audiences.

"The ability to support what Disney is working to do in terms of building large aggregators that can get to very substantial audiences — big distribution is really exciting and is a much more viable pathway for us than trying to scale up a single branded service," Landgraf told Variety.

FX's customer service site posted a notice that reads "There is no need to cancel your subscription. If you subscribe through your TV provider, your TV provider will discontinue billing you for the service." Those subscriptions will end on August 21st, 2019.

Disney+ will launch later this year with a variety of projects in development and established IP. That includes Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame, which will be available to stream in November and December, and it will be the exclusive streaming home of future Marvel Studios films. It will also hold all Star Wars content as well as all of Disney's animated films and projects from Pixar, Disney Channel, and more. Original content is coming as well, including several Marvel shows and The Mandalorian.

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