Okay 2020, you have already sucked, but now this is just unacceptable.
In a shocking move, ALL of the Charlie Brown holiday specials, including the upcoming "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas" are moving to Apple TV+ instead of airing on broadcast television. WHY THE CHANGE?!
Well, it's all about broadcast rights. When the specials first aired in 1965 and 1966, they were on CBS and continued until 2001 when ABC acquired the rights. Now, it seems Apple has swiped them up to play them on their streaming service, AppleTV+.
This move, although painful to hear and accept, is just showing how the times are changing. More people are cord cutting from the big cable giants these days, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to be honest, streaming services, like Apple TV+, is available on any apple device you might own, even if you don't have a physical Apple TV box. More people can watch them on their own schedule rather than waiting for it to come on TV only to DVR the special, and have to fast-forward through all of those commercials. You know what I'm talking about, it's annoying!
There is a pro in this...and that's with the actual content. When these specials first aired on CBS, they were sponsored by Coca-Cola (and a few others). Take a look!
The sponsorships served a purpose.....that meant little commercial interruptions when the specials came on TV.
As time went on, the sponsors left and more commercials appeared in the half hour. As a result, A TON of scenes were deleted or cut just so more advertising could be on. This, needless to say, was very annoying. Now that it's on a stream service, the commercial interruptions should be brief or non-existent. That's a good thing!
So yes, a pro to going to Apple's streaming platform.
It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown will be available for FREE on AppleTV+ starting October 30th and last until November 1st.
The Same with A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving which will come on the streaming platform November 18th, but will stream for free from November 25-November 27th.
Everyone's favorite....A Charlie Brown Christmas will stream on AppleTV+ beginning December 4th and be available for non-subscribers December 11th - December 13th.
What do you think? Do you like this move? Not like this? 2020 keeps throwing us curve balls it seems. Good grief!