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

Indy_UK

Well-Known Member
Thanks for posting the article.

It's s big choice for Disney, do they go bold and pull ALL of their content from SKY and go direct and hope to reap the rewards or take a big pay check with Comcast will probabaly pay.
SKY had to throw £1 billion to the Discovery network last year because they threatened to also pull their content from SKY.


If Disney does go bold and leave SKY, it will be a huge piece which will start the collapse of PayTV in the U.K. Which is probabaly needed.

How does it work in the US? I assume all the Disney, ESPN stuff is still currently on Comcast Cable?
 

Rodan75

Well-Known Member
Thanks for posting the article.

It's s big choice for Disney, do they go bold and pull ALL of their content from SKY and go direct and hope to reap the rewards or take a big pay check with Comcast will probabaly pay.
SKY had to throw £1 billion to the Discovery network last year because they threatened to also pull their content from SKY.


If Disney does go bold and leave SKY, it will be a huge piece which will start the collapse of PayTV in the U.K. Which is probabaly needed.

How does it work in the US? I assume all the Disney, ESPN stuff is still currently on Comcast Cable?

Yeah all of Disney's cable nets are carried by Comcast and they have generally had good relationships with the Carriers and have been aggressive to get as many of their channels as possible on the OTTP providers.

I suspect that Disney will keep most of their programming on SKY but limit certain things or seperate streaming from linear rights. Disney is very much trying to bake their own streaming cake, while still getting a large portion of the linear cable/satellite pie.
 

bartholomr4

Well-Known Member
Yeah all of Disney's cable nets are carried by Comcast and they have generally had good relationships with the Carriers and have been aggressive to get as many of their channels as possible on the OTTP providers.

I suspect that Disney will keep most of their programming on SKY but limit certain things or seperate streaming from linear rights. Disney is very much trying to bake their own streaming cake, while still getting a large portion of the linear cable/satellite pie.

Or.... they sign a deal, but eliminate the exclusivity to Sky (allowing them to also stream the same programs)..... Based on the earlier article sent by Robbiem, this appears to be a regulatory issue in Europe and would allow Disney to provide some relief.....
 

Indy_UK

Well-Known Member
Yeah all of Disney's cable nets are carried by Comcast and they have generally had good relationships with the Carriers and have been aggressive to get as many of their channels as possible on the OTTP providers.

I suspect that Disney will keep most of their programming on SKY but limit certain things or seperate streaming from linear rights. Disney is very much trying to bake their own streaming cake, while still getting a large portion of the linear cable/satellite pie.

Nothing I'd like more than Disney to leave SKY completely but I don't think Disney would be bullish enough, unless they go onto Free TV and go down that route
 

bartholomr4

Well-Known Member

Disney Must Divest its Lifetime Partnership with Hearst. Not sure these would be considered strategic assets, but nice to have....:

Disney's $71.3-billion offer to buy Twenty-First Century Fox's entertainment assets won approval from the European Commission on Tuesday, subject to Disney selling interests in factual TV channels in Europe.
The EU competition regulator said in a statement that Disney had committed to divest its interests in channels including History and Lifetime in the European Economic Area (EEA) to avoid harming competition following its purchase from Fox.
"The decision is conditional on full compliance with commitments offered by Disney," the Commission said.

The channels it must end its interest in are A+E Television Networks, History, H2, Crime & Investigation, Blaze and Lifetime channels -- currently owned by A+E Television Networks, a joint venture between Disney and Hearst.
 

bartholomr4

Well-Known Member
Bit of an odd request from the EU commission. I'd understand if maybe if Disney got SKY too

I agree..... Not sure how these would cause anti-trust (especially, because they are partial owners).... Perhaps the EU Commission needed something to play like they are doing their job...
 

Rodan75

Well-Known Member
Disney Must Divest its Lifetime Partnership with Hearst. Not sure these would be considered strategic assets, but nice to have....:

Disney's $71.3-billion offer to buy Twenty-First Century Fox's entertainment assets won approval from the European Commission on Tuesday, subject to Disney selling interests in factual TV channels in Europe.
The EU competition regulator said in a statement that Disney had committed to divest its interests in channels including History and Lifetime in the European Economic Area (EEA) to avoid harming competition following its purchase from Fox.
"The decision is conditional on full compliance with commitments offered by Disney," the Commission said.

The channels it must end its interest in are A+E Television Networks, History, H2, Crime & Investigation, Blaze and Lifetime channels -- currently owned by A+E Television Networks, a joint venture between Disney and Hearst.

They've made it clear only the A+E networks mentioned...and only in Europe. Disney has stated that it intends to maintain the partnership in the US and the rest of the world.

I find it more interesting that they want to keep Endemol Shine.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Bit of an odd request from the EU commission. I'd understand if maybe if Disney got SKY too

I'm guessing that just as we've been discussing whether Disney would withhold Disney/Fox content from Sky as a big Freak You to Comcast, the EU doesn't want Disney/Fox to have that kind of clout that they can shut down several dozen channels on a whim.
 

Rodan75

Well-Known Member
I'm guessing that just as we've been discussing whether Disney would withhold Disney/Fox content from Sky as a big Freak You to Comcast, the EU doesn't want Disney/Fox to have that kind of clout that they can shut down several dozen channels on a whim.

It feels like such a slight concession. I wonder what the combined total ratings for those stations are in Europe. If it was more than 5% of the total viewership I would be surprised.
 

Rodan75

Well-Known Member
European Union - Done
Australia - TBD
Brazil - TBD. Brazil's Globo (apparently monopoly in Brazil's TV, especially soccer is trying to fight it)
Canada - Done
China - Almost Done
India - Done
Israel - TBD
Japan - TBD
Mexico - TBD
Russian Federation - TBD
South Africa - TBD
South Korea - TBD
Taiwan - Done
Turkey - Done
United Kingdom - TBD

That is a lot further behind that I realized. I'm assuming many of these should be coming in this month. For some reason I thought Australia gave pre-approval conditions last year and that it was essentially done.
 

AnotherDayAnotherDollar

Well-Known Member
That is a lot further behind that I realized. I'm assuming many of these should be coming in this month. For some reason I thought Australia gave pre-approval conditions last year and that it was essentially done.

Those other countries could already be Done, but I couldn't find it. I think in this situation is "no news is good news". We'd likely have heard if one of those countries had blocked it. If Israel, for example, quietly passed it then it's not really newsworthy. Iger will probably give us a further update tomorrow during the quarterly call.
 

bartholomr4

Well-Known Member
Comcast-NBCU deal set for fresh scrutiny
By Lydia Moynihan, Charles Gasparino November 07, 2018Media

Most recently the American Cable Association (ACA), a lobbying group for midsize cable operators, is turning up the heat on Comcast over its business model. ACA drafted and is planning to send a letter to the Department of Justice asking them to investigate Comcast-NBCU for engaging in anti-competitive behavior, sources familiar with the matter tell FBN

The letter will argue Comcast is exerting price pressure by withholding “must have” programming from local stations, squeezing rival cable distributors by threatening to raise prices. The cable association has been opposed to the Comcast-NBCU deal since day one, arguing the merger has hurt consumers, and ACA has already pressured Congress to address Comcast’s anti-competitive behavior. This letter will be a more targeted effort to change the media landscape—asking Makan Delrahim, Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, to issue a civil investigative demand that would open a case against Comcast.

The ACA has reportedly been waiting until after midterms to send the letter so it won’t be overshadowed by election news.
 

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