Jan9

Pokémon TV to cease operation from March 28th, app will be removed for download from all platforms by the end of today

Archaic
4

The Pokémon Company International have announced today that Pokémon TV, TPCI's free video service that provides select episodes of the Pokémon anime to viewers, amongst other Pokémon content, will be ceasing operation completely as of March 28th this year, with downloads for the app being removed as of today, January 8th.

Over the years, Pokémon TV has featured a wide library of Pokémon content, including but not limited to select episodes, specials, movies, and series of the Pokémon anime, the Top Deck Academy series on Pokémon TCG strategy, and a selection of tournament videos including the finals of the first three Players Cup tournaments. The app also includes a Junior category featuring Pokémon Kids TV, with a selection of videos appropriate for younger Pokémon fans.

While the app is scheduled to be removed today from the iOS App Store, Google Play, Roku Channel Store, Amazon Appstore, Nintendo eShop, and Pokemon.com, and has indeed already been removed from several of these services, as of the time of writing the app is still available on some platforms including Google Play. Fans who haven't yet downloaded the app are urged to do so immediately if they'd like to make use of it in the final weeks that it's available.

The Pokémon Company International have published a list of all video services where Pokémon video content can currently be viewed. This list has however already elicited disappointment from many fans, due to content being fragmented between so many different paid subscription services, and there being no single service that fans could subscribe to which has all seasons and movies of the anime available.

Sources

Written by Archaic

Comments

Salmancer Jan 9, 2024

Thanks for the heads up, especially the note that you can still download it off Google Play for now. The other sites I looked at didn't say anything about that. Score one for specialized journalism!

Iwlidn2938 Jan 11, 2024

Piracy is the only option left to watch the anime

Archaic Jan 12, 2024

Iwlidn2938 said:
Piracy is the only option left to watch the anime

Certainly not the only option, though having it split between so many different platforms is absolutely not ideal.

sc190191 Jan 13, 2024

This is more disappointing than I can express into words. Even as someone who has DVD copies of OS-XY and the related movies I still found myself using Pokemon TV on countless occasions. Whether it be just throwing on an episode in the background on my Switch or using my tablet while on vacation to catch an episode before bed, I have really greatly enjoyed using Pokemon TV over the years. It also was an outlet for US fans to be able to watch new episodes legally without having to pay for Netflix (there is literally nothing else I would watch on Netflix at all so I would be paying only for Pokemon). I also used it to watch all the specials and since I'm not always following the news it was a way to make sure I didn't miss any specials. What an incredible disappointment and a very sad day for the remaining fans of the Dub. One of my favorite things about PTV was that it cycled through old series, keeping them somewhat relevant (or at least acknowledged) as well as potentially introducing them to younger fans. I was planning on re watching Journeys in order next year, no idea how I plan to do that now because I have no interest in paying for an overpriced streaming service to literally watch one thing that has a ridiculously poor release schedule. I assume they did this to make the streams more exclusive, but for one of the richest media franchises on earth having a tiny bit of free content (which doubles as free advertising anyway) doesn't seem like a big ask. Putting this together with the expected dropping of Pokemon Bank over the next year or so is just an incredibly disappointing set of decisions. What a sad day for Pokemon fans.

Reactions: Nicolas721, Okido and Archaic

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Pokémon TV to cease operation from March 28th, app will be removed for download from all platforms by the end of today

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