Alyssa Rosenberg talks Charlie Brown's Halloween disappearance

Fans Will Have to Look Harder to Find Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin This Year

Tanzina Vega and Alyssa Rosenberg

WNYC's The Takeaway  October 29, 2020

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/takeaway/segments/fans-will-have-look-harder-find-charlie-browns-great-pumpkin-year

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The Charlie Brown balloon floats in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York in New York, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012.
( AP Photo/Charles Sykes )

For the first time since it's debut in 1966, Charles Schulz's Peanuts gang Halloween special, "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," will not air on network TV, rather on Apple's streaming service, APPLE TV Plus.

The tech company bought the rights to the Peanuts in 2018 and now controls all of Charlie Brown and Snoopy's content. "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" is currently only accessible for paid subscribers, but Apple has announced that the special will be available to watch for free October 30th and November 1st. 

Despite this, Peanut fans are angry the classic show will not be more accessible. A petition on Change.org, calling for Apple to air the special on network TV, has already reached over 170,000 signatures. And as more streaming services gain control over beloved content, many worry the stratification of our collective culture and who has access to it will continue to widen.

Alyssa Rosenberg, an opinion columnist covering culture at The Washington Post. Alyssa, joined The Takeaway to discuss what this could mean for  the future of media.

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