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

[LAKid53]

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Excellent.

 

[LAKid53]

And 13.7 billon in dept. there goes the ticket price everone thanks bob i. And still no split or anything for share holdes,from you ever”

Disney's doing a $10B stock buyback before the deal is finalized.

 

[ford91exploder]

Disney is now dead, Long live Fox and the Murdochs.

 

[LAKid53]

Running random thoughts on the acquisition...
1) I'm now even more upset that the Great Movie Ride is being replaced by Mickey's Runaway Railway (instead of Runaway Railway being a new build). Could you imagine an update of the Great Movie Ride with all of just Disney owned properties now? Leave in Alien, Raiders and Fantasia. Add in Sound of Music (or any of the Rodgers and Hammerstein films), The French Connection, Young Frankenstein, Planet of the Apes, Cleopatra, The Robe, The Seven Year Itch, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Mary Poppins, and M*A*S*H. Not to mention Shirley Temple films, Fred Astaire with Daddy Long Legs, The Three Stooges, and so much more in this incredible film library.

2) They better not screw up the upcoming streaming service by only focusing on the new material in the catalog.

3) It somehow slipped my attention that Disney now owns Firefly. I'm determined now that Star Tours should be replaced by a Firefly smuggling run attraction.

4) It's a shame Hollywood Studios no longer has a New York Street section, which would be perfect for a Miracle on 34th Street Christmas overlay/celebration.

5) The Southern California Adventures by Disney trip better now include a Studio Tour of the Classic 20th Century Fox lot.

Firefly doesn't have nearly the fan base Star Wars has.....

 

[flynnibus]

Unfortunately, ESPN+ won’t be able to carry most of ESPN’s live programming because it doesn’t have the rights to stream it by itself.

And you think others are going to get that for free or something?

Everyone loves to point out how much they've paid in rights... then turn around and complain they didn't buy enough. Streaming isn't in their portfolio because they didn't care... but because the rights holders weren't giving it out in one big lump. To get it at the time would mean way overpaying... which people were already complaining about the costs.

Stop misrepresenting the problem.

 

[flynnibus]

Sure, the quality and success of Marvel Studio's productions may dip someday. But there is literally no evidence of that happening yet.

And even if it does... who cares! They've already been paid for! They don't need to make marvel movies every year into perpetuity. No one is calling Mickey Mouse dead because there are no feature films starring him.

The characters become assets that can be parked for awhile... relaunched in the future... or applied in so many different formats. They don't stop becoming an asset if Disney puts the MCU on hold for awhile.

 

[GoofyDadKB]

Disney is now dead, Long live Fox and the Murdochs.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

These are the same people that said no monorail expansion (or ANY fixed link or elevated modes of transportation) were ever going to happen. And we are getting Disney Skyliner. While it’s not monorail, it’s a worthy alternative. If it proves popular, I don’t see why monorail expansion or automated people mover systems can’t come in and expand on it.

There will be no monorail expansion ever...but that never meant fixed system. That's an apple to orange or at a minimum two different kinds of apples

 

[Princess Leia]

Running random thoughts on the acquisition...
1) I'm now even more upset that the Great Movie Ride is being replaced by Mickey's Runaway Railway (instead of Runaway Railway being a new build). Could you imagine an update of the Great Movie Ride with all of just Disney owned properties now? Leave in Alien, Raiders and Fantasia. Add in Sound of Music (or any of the Rodgers and Hammerstein films), The French Connection, Young Frankenstein, Planet of the Apes, Cleopatra, The Robe, The Seven Year Itch, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Mary Poppins, and M*A*S*H. Not to mention Shirley Temple films, Fred Astaire with Daddy Long Legs, The Three Stooges, and so much more in this incredible film library.

2) They better not screw up the upcoming streaming service by only focusing on the new material in the catalog.

3) It somehow slipped my attention that Disney now owns Firefly. I'm determined now that Star Tours should be replaced by a Firefly smuggling run attraction.

4) It's a shame Hollywood Studios no longer has a New York Street section, which would be perfect for a Miracle on 34th Street Christmas overlay/celebration.

5) The Southern California Adventures by Disney trip better now include a Studio Tour of the Classic 20th Century Fox lot.

YES TO THE FIREFLY IDEA

 

[Progress.City]

There will be no monorail expansion ever...but that never meant fixed system. That's an apple to orange or at a minimum two different kinds of apples

You never know. That’s all I’m saying. Anything could happen that could make the costs of scale economical (as is the case with Las Vegas’ current monorail expansion). For example, a luxury hotel could get built close enough to the current monorail alignment to justify the cost of installing the required pylons. Or the whole system could be converted to an entirely different kind of system all together, as is the current plan with the monorail in Jacksonville.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

ESPN already pays leagues/conferences the rights to broadcast their games, just like Fox, CBS, NBC and CBS do. It's now a matter of getting the delivery guy (cable/satellite) out of the mix. And see what conferences/leagues would be willing to negotiate. Would be interesting to watch.

Don't you think down the road Disney would love to be both a delivery system and content provider, like Comcast? Diversification can also mean consolidation.

ESPN’s subscriber base has been shrinking and the carriage deals they last signed were during a growth period for both the network in terms of viewership and cable/sat suncriptions. ESPN’s not going to get as good a deal this time around which means less $$$. Not sure if the cable/sat companies are going to want to give ESPN more money if they, being cable/sat tv, aren’t the exclusive means with which to watch live sports anymore. Plus, the leagues and conferences are going to want more money in exchange for streaming rights.

Then there’s the issue of what the full ESPN streaming service would cost outside of the bundle. ESPN may be the single most expensive suite of channels in the bundle, but the cost of sports rights is picked up by all the cable/sat subscribers who pay for ESPN every month and never watch it. Can full ESPN streaming like HBO Now be the same price as its cable sibbling? Probably not. The number of sports viewers is only so large and having everyone who don’t watch sports subsidizes those ever increasing rights. However, sticker shock from $30-40/month ESPN might keep subscribers from cutting the cord.

Which could bring us into the issue of ‘how valuable are sports rights and have they been overvalued?’ and that’s a whole nother discussion. Which is why there’s a strong pull for owning content and the means of distribution because there is no middleman.

 

[HauntedPirate]

There will be no monorail expansion ever...but that never meant fixed system. That's an apple to orange or at a minimum two different kinds of apples

It's an oranges to grapes comparison. I was going to respond to that post but decided against it, because... well, it was a stupid post (no one ever said "there will be no fixed transportation ever"... ), and I didn't feel the need to lose brain cells trying to process it.

$54 billion... How many fifth gates could have been built for that much money?

At today's WDI rates, about 1/4 of a park.

 

[danlb_2000]

They have not.

They haven't?. From D23:

"I am Groot,” announced Baby Groot during today’s presentation—revealing a big announcement that Chapek translated to share that the Guardians of the Galaxy will have super company at Disney’s California Adventure park. With Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout! the highest-rated attraction at Disney California Adventure after just two months, Chapek announced that Spider-Man and the Avengers will be joining them for a new, immersive super hero universe at the park."

 

[LAKid53]

ESPN’s subscriber base has been shrinking and the carriage deals they last signed were during a growth period for both the network in terms of viewership and cable/sat suncriptions. ESPN’s not going to get as good a deal this time around which means less $$$. Not sure if the cable/sat companies are going to want to give ESPN more money if they, being cable/sat tv, aren’t the exclusive means with which to watch live sports anymore. Plus, the leagues and conferences are going to want more money in exchange for streaming rights.

Then there’s the issue of what the full ESPN streaming service would cost outside of the bundle. ESPN may be the single most expensive suite of channels in the bundle, but the cost of sports rights is picked up by all the cable/sat subscribers who pay for ESPN every month and never watch it. Can full ESPN streaming like HBO Now be the same price as its cable sibbling? Probably not. The number of sports viewers is only so large and having everyone who don’t watch sports subsidizes those ever increasing rights. However, sticker shock from $30-40/month ESPN might keep subscribers from cutting the cord.

Which could bring us into the issue of ‘how valuable are sports rights and have they been overvalued?’ and that’s a whole nother discussion. Which is why there’s a strong pull for owning content and the means of distribution because there is no middleman.

Your last sentence is exactly my point. Comcast right now is the only company that can do it all - distribution, platform, and content.

 

[LAKid53]

Just in, FCC votes to scrape net neutrality.

We'll see if that "now ISPs will invest in infrastructure" comes true. All I know is that my Comcast bill is going up.

 

[networkpro]

Just in, FCC votes to scrape net neutrality.

We'll see if that "now ISPs will invest in infrastructure" comes true. All I know is that my Comcast bill is going up.

Thats what T-Mobile is counting on. New T-Mobile US service built on acquisition of Layer3 TV

Cable companies have high infrastructure costs for that last mile of service from the POP to your house.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Stop misrepresenting the problem.

The problem:

• Disney acquire CapCities, which includes cable nets as part of ABC’s retransmission fees, most notably the ESPN family of channels.
• Post CapCities, the number of US Cable TV subscriptions grows astronomically, benefiting Media Newtorks’ cable portfolio
• ESPN/ESPN 2 are essential to the cable bundle because they have the highest viewership rates
• ESPN expands the number of channels which in turn increases overall revenues
• Mid 00’s: HDTV becomes increasingly popular in the US and makes live sports look dramatically better compared to SD
• At the end of Eisner’s tenure, Monday Night Football and a Super Bowl rotation slot leave ABC for MNF on ESPN and ESPN loses Sunday Night Football to NBC, who make SNF the new MNF
• ESPN 3 launches
• ABC Sports is merged into ESPN and ABC’s sport programming becomes “ESPN on ABC”
• During Iger’s tenure, ESPN continues to print money thanks to steadily increasing cable subscriptions. Iger uses this money to start buying back stock.
• Late 00’s/Early 10’s: ESPN signs wave of carriage deals using its clout to negotiate higher fees
• ESPN bids up rights for MNF, NBA, MLB and college sports to shoo away competitors
• 2012: US Traditional TV subscriptions peaks
• Subs start dropping, hurting ESPN’s bottom line the most of all cable channels. Cost of sports channels like ESPN a major factor in cord cutting for consumers.
• Bob Iger and other executives have to reassure analysts that ESPN will continue to be a profit driver for the company
• Subs keep dropping, TWDC says advertising $$$ can help make up the difference in lost profits
• 2015: DIS peaks in the $120 range
• 2016: Anxiety over ESPN sub loses drives major sell off
• ABC/ESPN sign a new NBA deal which is almost double the cost of the old contract
• “Skinny” bundles, both traditional and OTT, begin to appear, without any sports channels in some cases
• 2017: Subs keep dropping
• Iger announces an ESPN streaming service, with NHL games and niche sports
• Disney/Fox deal includes Fox RSNs, Sky Sports and Star Sports in an attempt to scale up ESPN into a global player

 

[Next Big Thing]

Avatar is owned by Lightstorm...is it not?

Just like fox never owned empire strikes back...just the distributor

Disney will own Lightstorm within the next 10 years. I'd put money on it.

 

[doctornick]

Unfortunately, ESPN+ won’t be able to carry most of ESPN’s live programming because it doesn’t have the rights to stream it by itself.

It seems to be that most of what ESPN carries is also available on ESPN3 online, so I'm not sure your statement is correct. And Disney has already announced they are doing a sports specific streaming service so I'm pretty sure they have a plan in this regards. Maybe it won't be successful, but it's not correct to pretend they aren't addressing the future of ESPN.

Edit: this article seems to indicate that they are able to stream most everything but the NFL and NBA.

The new ESPN over-the-top offering meant to appeal to streaming video users will not be the same channel that cable subscribers currently receive. It will be a separate service available through the ESPN app and offer access to thousands of live events from Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, Grand Slam Tennis, and various college sports organizations.

It will not include NFL or National Basketball Assn. contests that are the big ratings drivers for ESPN's cable channels, which can only be streamed with a pay-TV subscription. Disney has not said how much the service will cost.

 

[ford91exploder]

Everything the Murdochs touch turns to gold for the Murdochs, The customers and employees not so much. I love how people think this is going to be a trove of new fun stuff for park fans,

Well kids the ONLY thing the Murdochs care about is how to monetize their properties. Chappie and Iger are amateurs at this compared to the Murdochs.