The entertainment giant, who recently gobbled up one of the biggest players in Hollywood, is retiring one of the more iconic names in TV.
Name dropping
On Monday, the Disney company had revealed that it is renaming one of the studios it absorbed from their acquisition of Rupert Murdoch’s entertainment empire Fox. The TV arm, popularly known as “20th Century Fox Television,” is being rebranded into “20th Television,” apparently dropping “Century” and “Fox.”
The title card with the studio name and spotlights that is known to pop at the end of a Fox TV episode, which is somehow similar to its film counterpart’s opening logo, would still remain. Except for the eliminated words. Starting this fall, the updated title card will be included on new episodes produced by 20th Television. Meanwhile, those shows prior to the move, will remain unchanged.
Disney Rebrands TV Studios, 20th Century Fox TV to Become 20th Television https://t.co/O2GFJrTG7v
— Variety (@Variety) August 10, 2020
Rebranding
It is not the first time the House of Mouse has tinkered with the labels of studios that were integrated to the company. Earlier this year, Disney also discarded the term “Fox” from one of the oldest movie production houses. The “20th Century Fox Film Corp.,” a name derived in 1935 from the amalgamation of two studios “Fox Film Corp.,” and “Twentieth Century Pictures,” was then rebranded by Disney into “20th Century Studios.” Even maker of indie films Fox Searchlight Pictures also saw a dropping of “Fox.”
The studio giant also intends renaming other TV units under its helm. Among their rebranding efforts would be updating ABC Studios to “ABC Signature Studios.” Another previously-Murdoch owned studio called Fox21 Television Studios will be renamed “Touchstone Television.”
“Our new studio names and logos mark a new day for ABC Signature, 20th Television, and Touchstone Television, while honoring their rich histories and the creative power of The Walt Disney Company,” Disney television studios head Craig Hunegs stated.
Another ‘Fox’
The film and TV arms of Fox were absorbed by Disney through its multi-billion dollar deal with Murdoch. All of the entertainment properties under the Fox umbrella, including studio houses like animation company Blue Sky, and licensed characters from Marvel, are now part of the Disney conglomerate. Not included in the $71 billion-deal with Fox was its news arm, including Fox Sports and Fox News. This could likely be why Disney wants to drop the “Fox” labels, to not associate their entertainment studios with the Fox Corporation, the news company.
