PRESS RELEASE
International fans of global super-hit The Walking Dead will be able to catch the season four premiere on FOX channels around the world within 24 hours of this Sunday’s U.S. premiere.
Australian audiences can watch the Season 4 premiere Monday October 14 at 1.30pm (Express Play) and 8.30pm AEDT (Primetime Play) on FX, first on FOXTEL.
In a global television first, FOX International Channels (FIC), who for the past seasons launched the series within the first week of the U.S. broadcast, has further narrowed the gap for its 200 million FOX viewers around the world. This is the first time ever the worldwide premiere follows the U.S. launch so closely, demonstrating FIC’s commitment to fans of the series, and to a global release strategy aimed to actively combat piracy.
The global release strategy was introduced for season one and is core to the success the series enjoys internationally. Seasons one, two and three broke records in terms of international critical acclaim and ratings performance. Season three of the series ranked #1 in markets including Mexico, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Australia. The Walking Dead remains FIC’s strongest-ever performing and most talked-about series globally.
The heavyweight global marketing campaigns FOX executes for the series rival theatrical campaigns in scope and scale. This year’s push includes cross-media tactics across traditional media, apps, online games and social activations, on-ground events including zombie invasion stunts, zombie walks, premiere parties, publicity tours, special graphic channel takeovers across FIC’s 300+ strong portfolio, and more.
“We’re committed to delivering huge tentpole hits like The Walking Dead to our fans as quickly as we can. And we pull out all the stops to do it in a huge way,” said Liz Dolan, FIC’s Chief Marketing Officer.
“Because of FIC’s scale, we have the uncommon luxury of huge, cross-demo reach. Just last week our team in Japan staged a zombie invasion at a baseball game, which was immediately seen across our FOX Sports networks there. You can get really creative with what you do on this show, and our teams around the world have been very effective in pushing the boundaries. It is every marketer’s dream.”
The Walking Dead is available in all major markets, including Australia, UK, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland, Turkey, Balkans, Baltic, Norway, Netherlands, all of Latin America, all of the Middle East, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Africa.
FIC is the international partner on the series and exclusive first window broadcaster of the show outside the U.S. EOne distributes outside of FIC’s footprint.
Season 4 premieres in Australia Monday October 14 at 1.30pm (Express) & 8.30pm (Primetime) AEDT on FX.