News Disney and Fox come to terms -- announcement soon; huge IP acquisition

[Darkprime]

New Disney TV Chief Peter Rice Charms Employees At Town Hall, Promises No Wide-Scale Layoffs

A week into the new era at Disney following the completion of the Fox asset acquisition, the company’s new top TV executive, Walt Disney Television chairman Peter Rice, addressed the combined company’s TV troops in a town hall meeting on the Disney lot, which was live streamed to all employees...

deadline.com

 

[Crossfire]

New Disney TV Chief Peter Rice Charms Employees At Town Hall, Promises No Wide-Scale Layoffs

A week into the new era at Disney following the completion of the Fox asset acquisition, the company’s new top TV executive, Walt Disney Television chairman Peter Rice, addressed the combined company’s TV troops in a town hall meeting on the Disney lot, which was live streamed to all employees...

deadline.com

Weird how we heard almost nothing from the Film side, I wonder if they're still figuring things out.

 

[bartholomr4]

New Disney TV Chief Peter Rice Charms Employees At Town Hall, Promises No Wide-Scale Layoffs

A week into the new era at Disney following the completion of the Fox asset acquisition, the company’s new top TV executive, Walt Disney Television chairman Peter Rice, addressed the combined company’s TV troops in a town hall meeting on the Disney lot, which was live streamed to all employees...

deadline.com

My Favorite Part:

"On other topics, Rice listed Netflix, AT&T and Comcast as Disney’s biggest competitors in terms of scale. He noted that the company has a head start in the streaming wars with Hulu, which is now majority owned by Disney, and referenced remarks by Disney’s Bib Iger and Kevin Mayer that the company is interested in taking full control of the streaming platform but would not elaborate on that."

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

So can this thread finally come to a close just like the acquisition ?

It’s the best thread on wdwmagic - mostly facts and not a lot of armchair ideas.

 

[bartholomr4]

It’s the best thread on wdwmagic - mostly facts and not a lot of armchair ideas.

There is still a great deal to come with the merger, including more asset sales, and the evolution of the various organizations within the Disney Umbrella and how they work together and develop. I sure would vote to continue the dialogue.

 

[AnotherDayAnotherDollar]

My Favorite Part:

"On other topics, Rice listed Netflix, AT&T and Comcast as Disney’s biggest competitors in terms of scale. He noted that the company has a head start in the streaming wars with Hulu, which is now majority owned by Disney, and referenced remarks by Disney’s Bib Iger and Kevin Mayer that the company is interested in taking full control of the streaming platform but would not elaborate on that."

I feel very confident they are getting AT&T's 10% equity before the end of the year. Maybe by mid year. However, I'm not sure Comcast is selling any time soon, but will eventually sell. At least that's the impression NBCU's president left us with from his interview a month or two back.

 

[Rodan75]

I feel very confident they are getting AT&T's 10% equity before the end of the year. Maybe by mid year. However, I'm not sure Comcast is selling any time soon, but will eventually sell. At least that's the impression NBCU's president left us with from his interview a month or two back.

I agree. AT&T has a driving need to sell and Disney has a driving need to buy. So I think that is a done deal. There is no incentive for Comcast to bid against Disney with AT&T.

Comcast won't sell until they are competing in the space and are able to extract the highest possible price from Disney, but I think much of this is contingent on the HULU partnership agreement. Because HULU has never had a majority owner, we don't know how much power over the service it really has. Iger has admitted they can't do anything they want, just because they are the majority partner.

 

[Slpy3270]

Disney will be holding a huge upfronts presentation in May. Not only will ABC and ESPN be highlighted together for the first time ever, but they will be joined by Freeform, FX and Nat Geo as well.

ABC, Freeform & ESPN To Hold Joint Upfront With FX & Nat Geo Post Disney-Fox Merger

ABC‘s May 14 upfront presentation is expanding to include the network’s new corporate siblings following the completion of the Disney’s $71.5 billion acquisition of key Fox assets, including FX Networks and National Geographic Networks. The combined Walt Disney Company Upfront event on May 14...

deadline.com

The Disney-branded channels, i.e. Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior, have their own separate upfronts presentation.

 

[bartholomr4]

I agree. AT&T has a driving need to sell and Disney has a driving need to buy. So I think that is a done deal. There is no incentive for Comcast to bid against Disney with AT&T.

Comcast won't sell until they are competing in the space and are able to extract the highest possible price from Disney, but I think much of this is contingent on the HULU partnership agreement. Because HULU has never had a majority owner, we don't know how much power over the service it really has. Iger has admitted they can't do anything they want, just because they are the majority partner.

Yep..... A big tell will come when Disney announces they are taking Hulu international and the cost to do so is $5 Billion or more.... Comcast's reaction to paying 30% of that cost will be very instructive.

 

[Darkprime]

Weird how we heard almost nothing from the Film side, I wonder if they're still figuring things out.

The first wave of layoffs were on the film side. They are shutting down Fox 2000 and a bunch of execs were let go.

 

[Darkprime]

There is still a great deal to come with the merger, including more asset sales, and the evolution of the various organizations within the Disney Umbrella and how they work together and develop. I sure would vote to continue the dialogue.

Maybe the thread title could do with an update to something a bit more relevant?

 

[Darkprime]

Anyone else find this really interesting? Its being developed at 20th Century Fox.

Taika Waititi & Utkarsh Ambudkar Join Ryan Reynolds In 20th Century Fox’s ‘Free Guy’

Taika Waititi and Utkarsh Ambudkar have joined the cast of 20th Century Fox and 21 Laps Entertainment's action comedy Free Guy.

deadline.com

 

[Rodan75]

Yep..... A big tell will come when Disney announces they are taking Hulu international and the cost to do so is $5 Billion or more.... Comcast's reaction to paying 30% of that cost will be very instructive.

I suspect it will go like this. Disney pitches HULU international expansion starting in the EU. Comcast says no. It perks up EU regulatory because Comcast - Sky is blocking competition, because Disney promises local production of X dollars. Comcast backs down and sells.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Maybe the thread title could do with an update to something a bit more relevant?

That's why I started this thread...

The Integration of Fox into the Disney Corporate Family: Parks, Movies, IPs, Studios

Here's a catch-all thread for how the Disney - Fox merger is going and its implications. First thing to note is that Iger has said several times he's keeping all of the Fox studios and expects them to keep producing original content for their TV/Cable channels and for D+/Hulu. He's mentioned...

forums.wdwmagic.com

This way, ongoing integration can be discussed without the baggage of the actual acquisition.

 

[Quinnmac000]

I suspect it will go like this. Disney pitches HULU international expansion starting in the EU. Comcast says no. It perks up EU regulatory because Comcast - Sky is blocking competition, because Disney promises local production of X dollars. Comcast backs down and sells.

I don't think its gonna go down that way. EU is where they will start but its not because they want to.

1st, sky is trying to integrate the Xfinity now app aggregation tech into their systems which they won't do anything that will hurt their cause on that because it provides a lot of data for Comcast. (essentially it takes all the streaming services and lets you watch whatever you want by switching to whatever service has a series automatically such as if Netflix has season 1 and season 2 of a show and prime has season 3 and Hulu has season 4 and you are trying to binge watch, the system will automatically switch to whatever service for you to continuously watch)

2ndly, Hulu really isn't a competitor for a free service which NBC is trying to push into the EU. If Sky is expanding and all Sky customers get the basic NBCU streaming service for free than its not really a huge deal for Hulu to come into as a SVOD.

3rd, there is multiple EU based television companies going into streaming. Partnering on a SVOD reduces the stress and burden on Comcast. They already have one successful streaming serving Hayu in the UK but with the upcoming market saturation for paid SVOD, its gonna get crowded in the next few months.

As to why they wil start with the EU, Japan, Korea, China all have huge barriers to entry to include cheap cable television access, free access to cable content, lack of foreign IP protection laws, as well as some other factors. EU would be the easiest starting point.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

What this all could mean for the parks makes me nervous...

 

[bartholomr4]

I suspect it will go like this. Disney pitches HULU international expansion starting in the EU. Comcast says no. It perks up EU regulatory because Comcast - Sky is blocking competition, because Disney promises local production of X dollars. Comcast backs down and sells.

Or Disney with their 60% decides to do it anyway, and pays for the expansion itself, and waters down Comcast's equity.

 

[Indy_UK]

Surely the only reason why Comcast wouldnt sell their 30% is becuase they don't have much faith in their streaming services doing well?

 

[bartholomr4]

Surely the only reason why Comcast wouldnt sell their 30% is becuase they don't have much faith in their streaming services doing well?

My theory (for what it is worth) assumes the cost of international expansion around $5 Billion, which Disney has from the sale of Sky and the RSN's. Based on the ownership agreement (again I am assuming the agreement works this way), each of the owners has to make up (at the end of each quarter) any loss which Hulu has, based on the percentage of ownership. The money they put in comes back to the owners in the form of additional stock in the company.....Right now, Disney has to make up 60% of that loss, AT&T 10% and Comcast 30%.

Under this scenario, Disney would have to fund $3 Billion of the cost of the expansion, AT&T $500 Million and Comcast $1.5 Billion.... My theory (again) is Comcast and AT&T heavily in debt, don't want to pony up that cost. At the end of the day, they know Disney is going to reap the greatest benefit, snd they resist or refuse to put in more capital....

Disney instead (using its 60% control) votes to expand anyway and makes up the difference and takes additional stock (equity) in Hulu as a result, thus "watering down" the equity of AT&T and Comcast. If this scenario would play out, (my estimate) now ends up with about 74.2% of the Equity, Comcast at 19.2% and AT&T down to 6.6% (rounding here)......

The value of Comcast and AT&T stock is the same (unless the expansion takes off and the net value of the overall company goes up), but Disney ends up owning more of HULU.... With control of the company at 60% (and AT&T wanting to sell their 10%), Disney could end up with 80% and slowly but surely push Comcast to the point where it would have to sell (Somewhere around the 90% mark).....

Just a theory, and can't be sure because the Hulu partnership agreement terms aren't public, but the control aspect Disney has, and its available cash can make Comcast and AT&T 1) have to write some big checks, or 2) water down their equity by forcing the expansion decision.....

 

[Quinnmac000]

My theory (for what it is worth) assumes the cost of international expansion around $5 Billion, which Disney has from the sale of Sky and the RSN's. Based on the ownership agreement (again I am assuming the agreement works this way), each of the owners has to make up (at the end of each quarter) any loss which Hulu has, based on the percentage of ownership. The money they put in comes back to the owners in the form of additional stock in the company.....Right now, Disney has to make up 60% of that loss, AT&T 10% and Comcast 30%.

Under this scenario, Disney would have to fund $3 Billion of the cost of the expansion, AT&T $500 Million and Comcast $1.5 Billion.... My theory (again) is Comcast and AT&T heavily in debt, don't want to pony up that cost. At the end of the day, they know Disney is going to reap the greatest benefit, snd they resist or refuse to put in more capital....

Disney instead (using its 60% control) votes to expand anyway and makes up the difference and takes additional stock (equity) in Hulu as a result, thus "watering down" the equity of AT&T and Comcast. If this scenario would play out, (my estimate) now ends up with about 74.2% of the Equity, Comcast at 19.2% and AT&T down to 6.6% (rounding here)......

The value of Comcast and AT&T stock is the same (unless the expansion takes off and the net value of the overall company goes up), but Disney ends up owning more of HULU.... With control of the company at 60% (and AT&T wanting to sell their 10%), Disney could end up with 80% and slowly but surely push Comcast to the point where it would have to sell (Somewhere around the 90% mark).....

Just a theory, and can't be sure because the Hulu partnership agreement terms aren't public, but the control aspect Disney has, and its available cash can make Comcast and AT&T 1) have to write some big checks, or 2) water down their equity by forcing the expansion decision.....

That's not a good assumption as they have seen been seen trying to acquire more companies over the past few months. If Comcast was actually worried about buying down their debt, they wouldn't be looking into acquiring Nexon Gaming Company or anything else.

Brian Roberts is bullish when it comes to things and willing to go into debt before them if he thinks it will bring the company wealth even if the stockholders don't think so. Which is in part why when Hulu goes international, they probably will put in the money for it.