Disney's Next Acquisition Speculation / Discussion

[coffeefan]

I don't think Max is worth the money, it's the rights to a century's worth of film and television, perhaps a catalog bigger than Fox, that's where it's at. Not a huge gamble really.

It's definitely worth exploring. It would also give Disney the chance to make Marvel vs DC and Roger Rabbit 2. At the very least they should get involved to drive up the pricing.

 

[Comped]

It's definitely worth exploring. It would also give Disney the chance to make Marvel vs DC and Roger Rabbit 2. At the very least they should get involved to drive up the pricing.

Wouldn't they need to buy out Spielberg's studio (highly unlikely as hilarious as it would be to see Universal squirm), to really get Roger Rabbit fully squared away?

 

[coffeefan]

Wouldn't they need to buy out Spielberg's studio (highly unlikely as hilarious as it would be to see Universal squirm), to really get Roger Rabbit fully squared away?

I mean, you're probably right. This would just make it one step closer.

 

[John park hopper]

Here is a novel Idea Disney stop buying up other companies and spend the money in the parks making them the best they can be and maybe lower your outrageous prices. Truly make your "luxury" hotels luxury

 

[Miru]

I don't think Max is worth the money, it's the rights to a century's worth of film and television, perhaps a catalog bigger than Fox, that's where it's at. Not a huge gamble really.

But at this point will Disney even use most of it? Saban, DePatie Freling, etc. are all effectively buried at this point; IP like Ive Age or The Muppets could convincingly follow.

 

[Comped]

But at this point will Disney even use most of it? Saban, DePatie Freling, etc. are all effectively buried at this point; IP like Ive Age or The Muppets could convincingly follow.

Disney hasn't owned Saban in years?

 

[Disney Irish]

Now that Warner is splitting in two... You would have to think Bob is weighing his options in terms of how much to spend on the streaming/rightsholding half. Would complete the catalog in a lot of ways (and given the current admin, it'd be easier to dance around the DC issue than otherwise), and it'd be relatively cheap. No CNN is a bit of a loss, but the catalog of rights that StreamingWarner holds would surely provide a needed boost to Disney+ across multiple fields.

First..... I'm not sure why this idea of Disney needing to own DC keeps coming up, its a fanbois wet dream of trying to get a DC vs Marvel cross-over movie but will never happen in terms of them buying it. As Iger already passed on it back in 2016 after having already acquired Marvel a few years earlier. So you'd think if they had even wanted it they could have gotten it and a lot more back a decade ago for cheaper. Nope not happening.

Second...... Zaslav just booted the stuff he doesn't want with the legacy linear stuff (and a majority of the debt which is partially the point of this split), why would he then turn around and immediately sell the stuff he does want with streaming and studios? He could have done that without splitting the company if that is what he wanted, and made a whole lot more money.

Long and short of it, this is not happening. Long term I see someone like Netflix or Apple scooping up Warner Streaming and Studios.

Now with all that said if people just want a DC vs Marvel cross-over movie Disney and Warner can team up and have a cross-production deal, similar to how Marvel and Sony do now. There were rumors of talks between Gunn and Feige when Gunn took over being head of DC. So this is really the only way for this fantasy to happen that I see.

 

[Disney Irish]

“Worth” how?

That’s the question that keeps getting dodged…there is zero correlation of “library size” and return on that investment

I'll answer this, and its not a question that keeps getting dodged you just haven't accepted the answers being provided. The worth is long term subscriber retention. The deeper the catalog the more likely a subscriber is to remain subscribed. This is no different than any service one subscribes to, the more one has access to the more one is likely to remain with a service.

On a side note, I don't think Disney needs Max to do this any of this, as they are already on the top end when it comes to subscriber retention and total minutes watched between all its distribution platforms. Disney also has a huge catalog between its own and 20th Century that it already doesn't utilize fully. So I rather them do something with that rather than try to add more legacy content to it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I'll answer this, and its not a question that keeps getting dodged you just haven't accepted the answers being provided. The worth is long term subscriber retention. The deeper the catalog the more likely a subscriber is to remain subscribed. This is no different than any service one subscribes to, the more one has access to the more one is likely to remain with a service.

On a side note, I don't think Disney needs Max to do this any of this, as they are already on the top end when it comes to subscriber retention and total minutes watched between all its distribution platforms. Disney also has a huge catalog between its own and 20th Century that it already doesn't utilize fully. So I rather them do something with that rather than try to add more legacy content to it.

In theory…which covers a lot of things without actually covering any

What’s “long term”?

 

[Miru]

Disney hasn't owned Saban in years?

They actually still own Saban’s originals. They sold their Tokusatsu franchises in 2009, let the anime licenses expire over time, but forgot they owned any of Saban’s original series.

 

[Disney Irish]

In theory…which covers a lot of things without actually covering any

We're beyond theory now my friend. If you haven't picked up on it, Streaming is here to stay for the foreseeable future.

Not sure what you mean covers things without covering them. As we are now in an era of streaming profitability. So its clear that a larger catalog provides at least part of that path to remain profitable.

What’s “long term”?

We have 18 years of Netflix and Amazon, 6 years of D+, and 4-5 years of other major streamers. How much more long term you want? Sure you have churn, but of the 3 majors (Netflix, Amazon, and Disney) all have core subs that remain longer than any other service, ie longer than 1 year. For example Netflix and Amazon both boasts their average subscriber has remained subscribed for 4+ years.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

We're beyond theory now my friend. If you haven't picked up on it, Streaming is here to stay for the foreseeable future.

Not sure what you mean covers things without covering them. As we are now in an era of streaming profitability. So its clear that a larger catalog provides at least part of that path to remain profitable.


We have 18 years of Netflix and Amazon, 6 years of D+, and 4-5 years of other major streamers. How much more long term you want? Sure you have churn, but of the 3 majors (Netflix, Amazon, and Disney) all have core subs that remain longer than any other service, ie longer than 1 year. For example Netflix and Amazon both boasts their average subscriber has remained subscribed for 4+ years.

It’s cable for now…we get it

It’s the central delivery service (it may not be actually…but we know it is a definite when boom stops yelling at the tv and throwing the “clicker” at it…)

The money is the thing. Netflix has done well somehow but there can be no rest. Hulu has done well on a smaller scale. Disney has good pull - for now - as well.

My hangup is - as it always is - why aren’t the people throwing money at it to get in on the action? We’re talking about the same fools that pumped Infoseek and then would by a 1,000 block of $250,000 mortgages from people who made $28,000 a year and maxed out discover csrds…

That’s my hangup…it’s on the record…I search for answers…it’s ok

No need to respond (hint)

 

[Disney Irish]

It’s cable for now…we get it

It’s the central delivery service (it may not be actually…but we know it is a definite when boom stops yelling at the tv and throwing the “clicker” at it…)

The money is the thing. Netflix has done well somehow but there can be no rest. Hulu has done well on a smaller scale. Disney has good pull - for now - as well.

My hangup is - as it always is - why aren’t the people throwing money at it to get in on the action? We’re talking about the same rules that pumped Infoseek and then would by a 1,000 block of $250,000 mortgages from people who made $28,000 a year and maxed out discover csrds…

That’s my hangup…it’s on the record…I search for answers…it’s ok

No need to respond (hint)

My only response is I wish people stop listing Hulu as a separate service. Its part of Disney (at first just primary owned but now solely own), and has been for 6 years, and for the last 18 months its been part of D+. There is no more standalone service, that is being jettisoned to Fubo.

Get used to it people (not speaking to just you) Hulu and D+ are one, no longer a separate service.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

My only response is I wish people stop listing Hulu as a separate service. Its part of Disney (at first just primary owned but now solely own), and has been for 6 years, and for the last 18 months its been part of D+. There is no more standalone service, that is being jettisoned to Fubo.

Get used to it people (not speaking to just you) Hulu and D+ are one, no longer a separate service.

Recently integrated…and they are very clear to call it Hulu as much as possible to try to retain their customers and not really give much to think about.
They’ll scale that down…I’m sure

 

[Disney Irish]

Recently integrated…and they are very clear to call it Hulu as much as possible to try to retain their customers and not really give much to think about.
They’ll scale that down…I’m sure

I’m sure they will also, I’ve only been saying it for 6 years that this was coming. It was easy to predict this, but yet everyone claimed it would never happen. Well here we are, and look, oh my it happened. Color me shocked. At almost every turn I’ve been calling this streaming era right almost 100%, and the down turn in the box office as a result. I may not get the individual movie totals right, but the landscape I do, and that is the bigger picture stuff that really matters.

Anyways it’ll be interesting to see where things will be by the end of this decade.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I’m sure they will also, I’ve only been saying it for 6 years that this was coming. It was easy to predict this, but yet everyone claimed it would never happen. Well here we are, and look, oh my it happened. Color me shocked. At almost every turn I’ve been calling this streaming era right almost 100%, and the down turn in the box office as a result. I may not get the individual movie totals right, but the landscape I do, and that is the bigger picture stuff that really matters.

Anyways it’ll be interesting to see where things will be by the end of this decade.

What’s your point?

“Streaming is coming…”

We’ve know that since since 2009…at the latest

It’s a technology change…plain and simple.

The nuance is trying to first control all content…then realizing it will cost an escalating fortune…now trying to figure out how to cheap it?

What you never admit is it really is just a Wireless, digital cable. The speed in which they all decided to increase fees and do ads was shocking even by bad business standards. So let’s see how that rolls?

Cable had a 30 year run…because the tech didn’t change. Nobody wanted satellite dish the size of football field in their yard as the “alternate”. So let’s see what happens with the tech? The chances of a tech evolution disrupting streaming is much more likely in a more expedited manner

 

[Disney Irish]

What’s your point?

“Streaming is coming…”

We’ve know that since since 2009…at the latest

It’s a technology change…plain and simple.

The nuance is trying to first control all content…then realizing it will cost an escalating fortune…now trying to figure out how to cheap it?

What you never admit is it really is just a Wireless, digital cable. The speed in which they all decided to increase fees and do ads was shocking even by bad business standards. So let’s see how that rolls?

Cable had a 30 year run…because the tech didn’t change. Nobody wanted satellite dish the size of football field in their yard as the “alternate”. So let’s see what happens with the tech? The chances of a tech evolution disrupting streaming is much more likely in a more expedited manner

I’ve said many times before that streaming is just another distribution model similar to cable, never denied it, you just didn’t pay attention. I had also said many times over the years that ads were coming, again people denied it said it wouldn’t happen, but it happened. Again I’ve called this thing right at almost every turn.

As for another tech disruption to replace streaming, not likely for awhile. This is something you have to trust me on as that is my profession, I work in tech and follow the industry closely. There is nothing on the horizon as far as tech evolution that would be a viable replacement. Short of getting either a Ready Player One Oasis type system or brain implants I can’t see streaming being replaced for at least a couple decades. The only change that will come is faster pipes making it easier to transmit the content to you, Japan just recently broke the speed record for data tranfer. But even that will be slow rolling out as we still have parts of the US on dial-up in 2025. Until the broadband divide is solved there won’t be any further disruption beyond repackaging the distribution through bundles, which we’ve been seeing over the last year (again something I called), but still the same streaming.

 

[networkpro]

Wouldn't they need to buy out Spielberg's studio (highly unlikely as hilarious as it would be to see Universal squirm), to really get Roger Rabbit fully squared away?

Spielberg wouldn't care, he gets 30-50 million a year in perpetuity for his share of Universal's parks revenue in perpetuity thanks to his contract as a creative consultant that was signed before Comcast bought Universal. It has an exit clause that he can initiate that would cost them 500 million to a Billion.