[octothorpe]

During my teen years I did quite a bit of research into how The Simpsons was broadcast here in the UK, so I can add some insight into the discussions that were had, albeit last month now.

I mention this because it makes me wonder how much longer Sky will hold the rights for. I believe Channel 4 have FTA rights for as long as the show is in production, but I don't know about Sky. I think for many people - certainly me - for many, many years, The Simpsons was Sky One. In fact, I remember there were rumours last year, when Sky One closed, that the reason behind it was that they knew they would eventually lose The Simpsons (and presumably wanted to ditch the Sky One brand as the two were so closely intertwined). So - interesting times ahead.

The point made about how Sky1 was synonymous with The Simpsons is bang-on; I read some years ago now that The Simpsons is the reason Sky1 is (or was) still around, and that without the show Sky1 probably would've closed down. May have been hyperbolic, but that's what I remember reading.

They never advertise when the new episodes are on (they just aired season 30, and I only found out on the last week), and All4 only has seven day catch-up.

Channel 4, per precedent, usually show new episodes in autumn, although that may have changed in recent years. I do recall that one year they signposted the new eps by a promo, but that was about a decade ago now and I don't remember them being especially advertised since; despite this, the ratings for the few weeks of new episodes used to be a bit higher than the repeats that bookended them. If you do want to keep up, visit the UK & Ireland airdates page on Simpsons Archive, which has been going for a long time and is regularly updated.

Channel 4 should have it for as long as it's in production plus four years, you'd think? They only just aired season 30, and the current season in the US is season 34.

Contractually, C4 has to stay four years (or it might be four seasons, it's been a while since I read about it now) behind Sky. It might be that should the first-run rights be transferred to Disney+, legally this could change, but IDK. It's a possibility C4 could then move closer, into a situation ITV2 has now with Family Guy whereby C4 catch up and get to a point they're airing the season a few months after Disney+ got all of the episodes, but who knows. For instance, ITV2 inherited the second-run rights to new American Dad! from BBC Three, and the first-run rights later transferred from FOX to Disney+, and I don't think the other aspects/setup/structure of the arrangement has really changed at all, such as the length of time between Disney+ availability and ITV2/linear broadcast, but I stopped watching new FG/AD! live yonks ago (ITV2 have long since stopped caring about AD, frequently putting new episodes on after Family Guy repeats; they are airing the first season in late-night at the moment, though, so might put that on for background) so wouldn't be able to say that for certain.

And this is also the first I'm hearing of a 'life of series' deal with regards to C4. The only show I know of with one of those is Home & Away on Channel 5, which they probably really regret given the erstwhile inferior popularity to stablemate Neighbours (but it was screwed over to begin with with ITV's legal lot making sure C5 had to wait a year before resuming the show once it transferred). I do recall, though, that there was a lot of discussion about a decade ago about the repercussions of a potential all-Simpsons cable channel in the US; for example, that 20th Century Fox etc. would actually have to cancel/end the series to legally to do that, before pretty much instantly reviving it - a somewhat easy, if faff-like workaround. In the process of doing that, it would mean all contracts for international distribution would later have to be re-done for the 'second run' of the show, so those covering the first-run would end with it. Obviously, that never happened.

And just a note about the C4 'four years behind Sky' thing; I believe that was carried over from BBC2. The BBC did get special dispensation to air one episode ahead of this timeframe, though, as part of a special evening of programming in 1999, just seven months after its Sky1 premiere; the episode should not have aired until 2001, and was effectively repeated as part of that season's first run on the channel that year.

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And the point made above about "The City vs. Homer Simpson" is correct (about Season 9 starting the first week of October 2001); it was going to be shown for the first time in May 2002 (I assume during a repeat run of S9), but it was replaced at the last minute by another episode from the same season. And regarding cuts C4 have made, I'd imagine that the 'jerks in Tower One' line will, regardless of any ostensible liberalisation in Channel 4's censoring department, remain cut; even the show's senior staff are on record as saying they really regret that line in hindsight.

And re: The Cartridge Family, Sky really was nervous over that. They showed Season 9, the season from which it belongs, from October 1997 through September 1998, but Cartridge never got shown by them until 2005! And there's still some episodes of the show that Sky1 and C4 don't repeat outside of the early hours of the morning.