BT TV Scoops ‘Walking Dead’ Spinoff Series ‘Fear the Walking Dead’

It’s not all about Sport, you see. BT’s YouView (IPTV) based broadband TV service has taken another shot at arch-rival Sky (Sky Broadband) by announcing a new agreement to launch the AMC TV channel in the UK this September 2015, which includes the “exclusive” UK television premiere of “Fear the Walking Dead“.

In case you’re not a TV buff, AMC is responsible for some hugely popular American shows including “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men” among others. On top of that they’ve also created a spin-off of the similarly massive “The Walking Dead” series, which is unimaginatively titled “Fear the Walking Dead” and acts as more of a prelude to events in the original series.

Normally this is exactly the kind of content that Sky would wish to claim for their own Sky Atlantic channel, which until now has worked because BT tended to focus their efforts more on sport. But today’s announcement suggests a change of tactic by BT and another one that will make Sky nervous.

Ed Carroll, AMC Networks COO, said:

“AMC has become synonymous with bold, dramatic original programming of the highest quality. We’re excited to partner with BT to launch AMC for the first time in the UK. This agreement highlights the strong demand for our channels and will enable us to continue developing a far-reaching platform for AMC’s original programming.”

Delia Bushell, Managing Director of BT TV and Sport, said:

“We’re delighted to be launching AMC for the first time in the UK, enabling our viewers to watch series such as ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ exclusively from BT. AMC has showcased some of the biggest and most celebrated series on US television in recent years, including ‘Breaking Bad,’ and ‘Mad Men.’ We’re confident our viewers will enjoy AMC’s cinematic approach to storytelling and look forward to offering them an outstanding selection of TV series and films in the months ahead.”

On the other hand Sky also streams some of their best TV channels and content via the external NOW TV service and BT doesn’t yet offer an equivalent solution, which is something that they may wish to rectify if they want to broaden their appeal.