Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
I would...I would like to see disney have to create things for themselves moving forward...
Not "here's Han Solo and iron man for the Chinese box office market"
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
News Disney and Fox come to terms -- announcement soon; huge IP acquisition
- Thread starter ohioguy
- Start date
I would...I would like to see disney have to create things for themselves moving forward...
Not "here's Han Solo and iron man for the Chinese box office market"
Rodan75
Well-Known Member
Assuming Comcast follows through on their offer, (apparently this offer has been made in the media, but not officially to Sky) it makes all of the next steps very interesting. Disney is still buying the 39% of Sky from Fox, in the overall Fox deal. So there could be some future horse-trading to be made with Hulu and certain Marvel rights for a fair price on the outstanding Sky shares. Or Disney and Comcast could remain in bed together with both Sky and Hulu for the foreseeable future.
I've always assumed there would be some sort of trade deal centered around who would get control of Hulu, but this just amps up the stakes.
If Disney/Fox and Comcast come to amicable terms, it will likely make all of the regulatory reviews easier.
The worst thing possible would be to let the companies decide what is in the best interest of consumers. The idea that allowing Comcast to buy Sky is crazy. Comcast never should have been allowed to by NBC Universal because all that has accomplished is to allow them to force customers to pay more to watch NBC, which should be free. Must carry rules should go back to requiring cable systems to carry free of charge all channels the are available free of charge over the air. The idea that NBC and ABC get to charge us after we have given them free of charge spectrum to show their channels is crazy and a rip off of the public.
Stripes
Premium Member
Given that Fox has 39% of Sky, just 18% of the remaining shareholders voting against would block Comcast's bid. We'll see what happens, but as it stands Disney/Fox are in a much better position.
That said, clearly Comcast wants Sky more than Disney. Having done a fair bit of research on the company and its role in the UK, I really don't think Disney should pursue the company very strongly, if at all. @marni1971 you're British, am I missing something, or is Sky kinda overrated?
Last edited:
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
I think this is 100% about Hulu...
Disney desperately needs its new cable service for revenue...and wouldnt getting control of Hulu just be so convenient to save costs and have leverage over the market?
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
I agree with everything you say...but the anti trust war effectively ended in the 90's...
There's no national or international problem with conglomerates that get big enough to effectively price fix. It's ok if the fat cat gets fatter as long as you scream "capitalism!!!!"
...it's over, Johnny.
Rodan75
Well-Known Member
How and Should are two different things. 30 years of regulatory erosion is a different topic. I don’t disagree with your thoughts, but the likelihood is high these deals will get done in some unknown configuration.
Comcast is playing an interesting game of chess. And sets up a strange tie-up of assets between Disney and Comcast, untying those assets without creating hostile bidding will be interesting to watch, if not the best thing for media in general.
Bender123
Well-Known Member
A lot of the issues with a company like Comcast is their attitude toward an open internet. They have openly attempted to blocking and bringing down anti Comcast websites and, with the elimination of net neutrality, Comcast can now legally slow traffic to ideas they don't agree with and effectively "censor" the internet without actually needing to block traffic or use the courts.
Normally, I would say its a big conspiracy theory, except that they already did this to Netflix, Comcastroturf.com and many other sites, including the streaming sites for non-NBC stations.
Normally, I would say its a big conspiracy theory, except that they already did this to Netflix, Comcastroturf.com and many other sites, including the streaming sites for non-NBC stations.
smile
Well-Known Member
never been a direct comcast customer...
but i do like how they recognize, value, and continue to invest in their parks - relatively speaking
the fact they want to (and could) start to give wdw a good run for it's money is very intriguing to me
Bender123
Well-Known Member
Consider yourself lucky...All those jokes about the cable guy coming sometime between 30 minutes ago and the end of time? Yeah...they aren't jokes with Comcast. Imagine Volcano Bay opening day, but everyday.
smile
Well-Known Member
used to deal with time warner, and let me say they were no picnic, either...
referred to them as a five hundred pound gorilla because they only moved when they felt like it and never really bothered to hide how little they thought of the average customer.
many/most cable companies are/were known for horrible customer service
- happens when you start to consider yourself and then act like a utility company; doing all your ungrateful customers a favor, or something
no wonder folks, such as myself, cut the cord soon as they possibly could - just keep the lights on the modem and i'll pay your bill... we don't even have to talk anymore
Princess Leia
Well-Known Member
Something I’m kind of curious about what will happen to NBC programs on Hulu once all this goes through? Will Comcast continue to let shows like This Is Us to be on a Disney owned platform, or will they sell the rights to Netflix?
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
Before Potter they were dangerously close to closing up shop.
WhatJaneSays
Well-Known Member
Maybe I'm overlooking something on the film side of things but looking at the top movies/franchises Fox has I'm not seeing a lot of heavy hitters. Aside from gaining full rights over Star Wars and folding the X-Men and Fantastic 4 back into Marvel (both valuable but unnecessary) I don't see much.
Avatar? Yeah it made a ton of money and Disney has invested a lot in Pandora but there's a long way to break even on that. Other than that, Star Wars, and Marvel the top movies of all time out of Fox are Independence Day (22 years ago), Home Alone (27 years ago), and Night at the Museum (11 years ago).
For franchises it's Planet of the Apes, Ice Age, Alvin and the Chipmunks, How to Train Your Dragon, and Die Hard. Most of them seem played out, except maybe Planet of the Apes?
Avatar? Yeah it made a ton of money and Disney has invested a lot in Pandora but there's a long way to break even on that. Other than that, Star Wars, and Marvel the top movies of all time out of Fox are Independence Day (22 years ago), Home Alone (27 years ago), and Night at the Museum (11 years ago).
For franchises it's Planet of the Apes, Ice Age, Alvin and the Chipmunks, How to Train Your Dragon, and Die Hard. Most of them seem played out, except maybe Planet of the Apes?
mikejs78
Well-Known Member
Makes this acquisition more puzzling. In fact I'm not sure why Disney bought Fox. I thought it was for the new streaming service, but Iger said that Fox properties wouldn't be on the new streaming service but might be on Hulu...
Could this be all about the regional sports networks? Or Sky?
Rodan75
Well-Known Member
Television production (+back catalog) and Regional Sports nets seem like the big prize here...and ownership of Star in India. I think the move into adult content is important for them to have well rounded services to better compete across all demos. I think realistically Sky was always the riskiest aspect of this deal.
I think the TV Production aspects of this deal really rely on some of the personalities to maintain their value. Disney losing Ryan Murphy after Shonda Rhimes has to hurt more than help at the moment.
Disney will need to start working to independently shore up talent deals even as the merger plods along, or they risk losing more heavy weights.
Stripes
Premium Member
This presentation is telling as to what they see in the assets: https://ditm-twdc-us.storage.googleapis.com/DIS-Transaction-Announcement-12-14-17.pdf
Disnutz311
Disney World Purist
You think that Disney would give Universal the Simpsons and X-Men for Marvel plus some cash to get to use Marvel at WDW? If I was Iger I would pay 100 million for the rights back.
ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
By those standards Disney is out of running as well lets face it Disney and Comcast are both soulless corporate entities which both are exemplars of the worst aspects of American business practices