BT confirms AMC will be removed from its TV platforms at the end of September, after eight years of broadcasting in the UK.
- AMC UK was operated exclusively through BT. BT originally launched AMC in September 2015 as part of an ongoing battle between Sky and BT.
- The channel offered subscribers access to shows including Fear the Walking Dead and Breaking Bad.
- Since 2019, AMC was only available on BT’s TV platform after it was pulled from satellite. Previously, it was available as an add-on to BT Sport.
BT has confirmed reports that users of its TV platform will lose AMC on 28th September 2023. At this point, the channel will cease to exist in the UK.
Launched in August 2015 as ‘AMC from BT’ and to great fanfare, the channel was designed to fight against Sky’s dominance in the pay TV market, giving BT subscribers exclusive content. At the time BT and Sky were actively competing and bickering over various issues, not least over access to each other’s channels. Sky was withholding Sky Atlantic from any other provider, while BT subscribers only had limited access to Sky Sports. On satellite, Sky viewers had to subscribe to BT Sport to access AMC. Selected episodes of AMC’s top dramas were originally offered as freebies on the BT Showcase channel, which ran on Freeview until 2018.
Finally both sides reached a comprehensive deal, which saw BT beginning its exit from the pay TV market. Since then, AMC has looked a little lost and uncared for. In March, AMC UK stopped updating its social media channels and BT subsequently stopped marketing the channel.
The 28th September is exactly eight years and one month after the channel’s launch and just days short of its fourth anniversary of leaving Sky.
BT’s TV future
- BT, under the EE brand name, will continue to offer a TV service consisting of reselling Sky’s NOW and TNT Sports.
- TNT Sports replaced BT Sport following the creation of a joint venture with Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) in 2022, resulting in the merger of the UK sports channel assets of both companies.
- It’s widely expected that WBD will eventually buy out BT’s stake in the business, meaning BT will have then completely dropped out of running its own TV channels. Indeed, BT and WBD have built in a clause in their agreement that allows BT to sell up.
AMC streaming?
Neither BT nor AMC have responded to rumours that the loss of AMC on linear TV will result in the arrival of the AMC+ streaming service in the UK.
Any new AMC streaming service would be a hard sell, as the streaming market is widely seen as being saturated. However, the termination of the agreement between BT and AMC allows AMC to make its own arrangements in the future.
Marc Thornham