Missed Breaking Bad first time around? Then cancel your plans this summer…
Cancel your plans this summer – Breaking Bad is coming to British TV and you'll be able to watch it on a new free-to-air channel.
Spike TV, which is launching in the UK next month, has acquired the UK rights to the five-series drug drama that has hooked much of the western world (including Warren Buffett) – apart from those without Netflix accounts.
Owned by Viacom, and the sister channel to Channel 5, Spike is expected to be a male-skewing channel showing dramas, films and sport as well as original commissions.
It is launching with a bang by stripping the show over a 12-week period. There is no word on whether it has picked up Breaking Bad's sequel Better Call Saul.
This is not the first time the series has been shown on a free-to-air channel in the UK. Channel 5 actually showed the first two series back in 2009, but did not acquire the further rights.
Channel 5 scheduler and Spike TV launch director Craig Morris said that Breaking Bad would bring an “edge and a swagger” to the channel, reports Broadcast magazine.
“No one else is delivering high quality drama with edge on free-to-air,” he said.
Spike will air on Freeview channel 31, the slot which previously housed 5USA.
The US-themed channel has moved to slot 21, replacing Viva.