'The Simpsons' Will Soon Be Available for Streaming

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Jill Pantozzi for The Mary Sue 2013-11-15 22:25:59 UTC

You'll soon be able to stream all 24 seasons of The Simpsons, thanks to a new syndication deal.

This is the first time the Fox series will be in syndication on anywhere but network televisions. According to the news release:

After a vigorous bidding war which resulted in what is believed to be the biggest off-network deal ever, FXX has secured the exclusive cable, VOD and non-linear rights to The Simpsons, the longest-running, most successful comedy series in television history, it was announced today by John Landgraf, CEO, FX Networks and FX Productions and Chuck Saftler, President, Program Strategy, and COO, FX Networks.

FXNOW, the soon-to-be-launched mobile viewing app of FX Networks for its authenticated subscribers, will stream all seasons of The Simpsons, excluding seasons currently airing on television.

The transaction, which Variety says “is valued at upwards of $750 million over the life of the deal (“Ay caramba!”),” suggests you won’t be seeing the animated series on Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu anytime soon. It’s also not clear at this time if all 24 seasons will roll out at once on VOD or if they’ll have an excruciating wait like with Adventure Time on Netflix.

And if you thought one Fox-related network getting the deal (and at such a high price) seems strange, Vulture explains:

While it might seem that FXX had the inside track on landing The Simpsons for cable and syndication, it’s not that simple because a slew of outside parties — including Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, and the show’s voice actors — all have financial stakes in the show. That doesn’t give them veto power regarding where the show ends up, but it does mean that if any of them thought FXX got a sweetheart deal, they could very easily sue 20th for not getting fair market value for the show. This is why 20th shopped The Simpsons to various cable groups, generating what a press release called “a vigorous bidding war” for the show and what Landgraf called “a very long, hard and complicated negotiation.”

Whoa, mama!

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Image: The Simpsons

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This article originally published at The Mary Sue here

Topics: Entertainment, Fox, streaming, Television, the simpsons, Video

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