After 54 Years On Broadcast TV, ‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown’ Will Only Air On Apple TV

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CBS
Warner Todd Huston

For more than five decades, Americans have brought in the fall holidays with Charlie Brown TV specials. But the tradition of watching those classics on broadcast TV is no more after Apple TV secured the rights to the shows and will block them from appearing on the networks.

As Halloween nears, kids will not be able to watch It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown as they have since 1966. That is, unless their parents have an Apple TV subscription. Similarly, the Peanuts Christmas (1965) and Thanksgiving (1973) specials will also suffer a network TV blackout this year, according to the L.A. Times.

This week, Apple TV announced its exclusive deal for the Peanuts film catalog in partnership with WildBrain, Peanuts Worldwide, and Lee Mendelson Film Productions, the companies that own the rights to the family favorites.

Apple TV charges a monthly fee of $4.99 and will allow subscribers unlimited access to the shows. But non-subscribers will also be able to stream the shows for free for a limited time.

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown already premiered on the streaming service on Oct. 19. But it will also be available for free over the Internet from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1.

But the streaming service also noted that A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is set to hit Apple TV on Nov. 18 and will be available for free from Nov. 25 to Nov. 27.

Finally, A Charlie Brown Christmas will appear first on Dec. 4 and will offer it for free from Dec. 11 until Dec. 13.

Along with the rights to the decades-old favorites, Apple TV announced it intends to produce new specials for Earth Day, Mother’s Day, New Year’s Eve, back to school time, and other Peanuts projects.

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