Disney Irish
Premium Member
Viacom took the Paramount name last year. And yes they still own CBS, for now.
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Disney's Potential Sale of ABC Television Network???
- Thread starter TP2000
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flynnibus
Premium Member
Paramount Global == Old ViacomCBS from the CBS + Viacom asset merger.
I'm confused on who owns who too. So I just made this little cheat sheet with help from Wikipedia..
ABC, a division of Disney Entertainment, owned by The Walt Disney Company
NBC, a division of NBCUniversal, owned by Comcast
CBS, a division of and owned by Paramount Global, after ViacomCBS changed their name in 2022 to Paramount Global
FOX, a division of Fox Entertainment, owned by Fox Corporation
Interestingly, ABC is the only TV network whose senior executives don't operate out of New York City, but instead are based at the famous Burbank studio campus. The other three networks all have their senior executive teams based in their very fancy skyscraper headquarters buildings in midtown Manhattan; Rockefeller Center (NBC) One Astor Place (CBS), or Avenue of The Americas (Fox). Which is where their various TV News network divisions are also located.
But the ABC News division of ABC TV has their main production and operations facility in New York, at their famous Times Square Studios. Who report back up the food chain to senior executives out in Burbank.
Thank you Wikipedia.
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Byron Allen said "ABC and all linear TV assets," which would mean Freeform, Disney Channel, and everything else. He'd only be paying $2 billion for ABC itself. Like I said, stealing it for pennies.I found this article helpful; it's a nice little primer that explains who Nexstar is (I had no idea they owned local San Diego station KUSI), and why they would want to buy ABC. Also a note at the end that says ABC is valued at about $4 Billion, but Byron Allen offered $10 Billion. Hmm...
Why little-known Nexstar wants to buy ABC from Disney
Nexstar, the largest owner of local TV stations in the US, is one of the prospective buyers of Disney's ABC networkqz.com
Sell the O&Os, then. They don't need that. But you can't have ABC News and not ABC itself. If ABC itself doesn't own ABC News, it's not ABC News. (The proposed and inherently stupid ABC News-CNN merger idea of 2002 would've had ABC own equity in the proposed combined venture, so they could still call it ABC News on their side. While Disney itself would still own ABC itself.) Likewise, if they keep ABC Signature, they can't CALL it ABC Signature, they'd just fold it into 20th Television. Same with Disney-ABC Domestic Television.
If they want the ABC name and value, they need ABC itself. Simple as that. Selling 8 O&Os makes sense, but not the network or its affiliates.
Disney Irish
Premium Member
You seem to think its an all or nothing type of deal, ie all of ABC and all its assets or nothing, and that is not necessarily the case. There is many ways to package this deal if it were to happen.
For example Disney can certainly keep all the content creation pieces of ABC such as ABC Signature, ABC News, etc., and sell the rest. In that situation Disney can license the content such as ABC News back to the new owner of the network for broadcasting nightly. This is how the network affiliate model works today, its not owned by Disney, its owned by someone else and they license the content from Disney to broadcast on the network.
Basically Disney is getting out of the linear distribution model and moving into the the full DTC model via streaming. And yes that means maybe some of the assets get retained while others get sold. And yes that means maybe some of the retained assets get renamed and/or merged into other assets owned by Disney.
Reading these last few articles, I can see why the ABC News staff in New York and DC is freaking out over a Nexstar sale.
Nexstar owns several small news networks and political sites that are Center, or Center-Right politically, like News Nation and The Hill. Even Nexstar's small local stations are Center-Right, like our local station KUSI here in San Diego that offered notably tough coverage of the Newsom Administration's response to Covid lockdowns and has been very dogged in its approach with local SD politicians regarding the homeless and drug crisis downtown and around PetCo Park. KUSI does not do stenography after softball questions, they do real journalism and ask hard questions.
In short, Nexstar may not be a Fox News, but it certainly isn't a CNN or MSNBC in their political tilt and the way they ask questions and follow major political stories. For extremely highly paid ABC News folks like George Stephanapolous (sp?) or Martha Raddatz, the thought of being sold off to Nexstar would be like Foster Farms Chicken buying up a chain of vegan restaurants.
No wonder they're panicking in New York over this news.
Nexstar owns several small news networks and political sites that are Center, or Center-Right politically, like News Nation and The Hill. Even Nexstar's small local stations are Center-Right, like our local station KUSI here in San Diego that offered notably tough coverage of the Newsom Administration's response to Covid lockdowns and has been very dogged in its approach with local SD politicians regarding the homeless and drug crisis downtown and around PetCo Park. KUSI does not do stenography after softball questions, they do real journalism and ask hard questions.
In short, Nexstar may not be a Fox News, but it certainly isn't a CNN or MSNBC in their political tilt and the way they ask questions and follow major political stories. For extremely highly paid ABC News folks like George Stephanapolous (sp?) or Martha Raddatz, the thought of being sold off to Nexstar would be like Foster Farms Chicken buying up a chain of vegan restaurants.
No wonder they're panicking in New York over this news.
It is if they want to use the ABC News and ABC Signature names. And Disney is never going to completely abandon linear or cable distribution, no matter how much people agitate for it. And no, this isn't "analog vs. digital spectrum" or "VHS vs. Betamax" or anything like that, because linear TV, cable and streaming are perfectly complementary with each other. Disney needs as many arrows in its quiver as possible.
I don't put faith in any Murdoch "news" sources.
Disney Irish
Premium Member
The name of the production is really a minor point here. There is many ways to package the deal where names are still used, or licensed, or changed, or whatever.
Its not just that anyone is calling for it, its that there is no new growth and only a shrinking consumer base in linear tv/cable. So as a company trying to refocus into growth areas they have to shed those areas that aren't growing. So at some point whether now or in the future they will be moving out of linear tv/cable, that is just a fact.
In the end it doesn't matter what any of us here post, it'll be up to Disney and the Board to decide. So we'll just have to wait and see, but it does appear they are considering these and any other offer for any of their assets including all or parts of ABC.
Tha Realest
Well-Known Member
Since Iger is only with Disney due to the Cap Cities merger, shouldn’t he go with the legacy ABC side of the business?
It would certainly help lower payroll.
I about dropped my Fortnum & Mason's the other morning when I read in a link here that ABC's Good Morning America is paying a combined $75 Million in payroll to their three anchors and weatherman to do that show no one watches any more.
That same article said that many ABC News "personalities" have salaries in the 8 figures. That's $10 Million or more per year, for those that don't have all ten fingers at their immediate disposal.
For what? ABC News? Good Morning America's second hour when they do kale-heavy cooking segments and pet care tips???
Why do any of these network news organizations even still exist? All three of them are the same, and all three of them parrot each other in stenography skills and inane obfuscation of reality. And it's 2023, not 1985. Their time has clearly passed, even if that reality terrifies them.
They should all bank their last 8 Figure contract, and get ready to go talk to a half empty bingo hall in Scranton or Hartford.
That's actually Iger will never sell the network. He's sentimental about his original home. He's not going to sell it off because he loves it too much.
They're only that way because they tried to out-Murdoch Murdoch. They lost their edge trying to be like Fox.
The Great Gonzo
Well-Known Member
What does ABC even have on it? That channel sucks. I'd rather watch grass grow, it's bound to be more entertaining.
Quite a bit, with the likes of Shark Tank, GMA (No. 1 morning show), World News Tonight, 20/20, Nightline, Kimmel, NFL, NBA, General Hospital, Abbott Elementary among others.
And a massive history over there that Disney should certainly aggressively exploit more particularly via streaming, with the likes of Primetime (Live), Day One, Dinosaurs, All My Children, One Life to Live, Port Charles, Loving, The City, Home Improvement, Ellen, The Drew Carey Show, NYPD Blue, Hiller and Diller, Boy Meets World, Family Matters, Relativity, Second Noah, My So-Called Life, George Lopez, My Wife and Kids, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Modern Family, Black-ish, The Wonder Years, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, The Practice, Charlie's Angels, Maverick, and so on and so forth.
Indy_UK
Well-Known Member
So what is the potential aim then?
Disney to be made up of:
Theme Parks, Resorts and merchandise
Theatrical Cinema / Physical media
Direct to consumer being made up of Disney+, ESPN+ and possible Hulu + Live TV?
All linear channels sold on (possibly including National Geographic which I thought was the best addition after the Fox buyout) and the shows/content to move solely to streaming?
Disney to be made up of:
Theme Parks, Resorts and merchandise
Theatrical Cinema / Physical media
Direct to consumer being made up of Disney+, ESPN+ and possible Hulu + Live TV?
All linear channels sold on (possibly including National Geographic which I thought was the best addition after the Fox buyout) and the shows/content to move solely to streaming?
Disney Irish
Premium Member
That is the idea, as linear tv dies the future is DTC offerings via streaming. So it makes sense in the long term to sell off those assets that are part of a dying medium and push that content to DTC, despite what some think.
Disney Irish
Premium Member
If we take the Byron Allen offer of $10B as an example, that brings down TWDC current debt by ~25%.
I would say that makes a sizable dent into the debt.
Disney Irish
Premium Member
Allen reaffirmed his $10B bid today -
deadline.com
Appears internal discussions still happening on the fate of Disney's linear TV channels.
Byron Allen On His $10B Offer For ABC And Other Disney Networks: “Capital’s Not An Issue”, But Bob Iger “Is Not Ready” Yet To Pursue Linear Sale
Media entrepreneur Byron Allen, one of many parties interested in acquiring ABC and other linear TV assets from Disney, said he has “access to plenty of capital,” and Disney’s int…
deadline.com
Appears internal discussions still happening on the fate of Disney's linear TV channels.
Murdoch's fault. He could have told Comcast to get stuffed, and that "we're not reopening the bidding, our deal with Disney is sound." Maker Studios did that with Ryan Kavanaugh, after all.
But Iger never approached the idea of "overpaying" prior to 2019. Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm were all at fair market value, the right price.
Disney's already paid off the immediate $5.5 billion of debt through the cost savings movements. The rest of the debt is all long-term and won't mature for years. Cash flow as well as the selling of the overseas pay-TV assets alone will whittle things down considerably. That alone will cut it down by a quarter, before selling any US assets.
And make no mistake, ABC is not going anywhere. Allen may get the stations, but he's not getting the network or any of the other channels.
Disney Irish
Premium Member
21CF was a public company, Murdoch could not just tell Comcast to "get stuffed" as they had a fiduciary responsibility to get the most value for the company they can. If they just told Comcast to go away there would have been a shareholder lawsuit for not fulfilling their fiduciary duties, SEC takes that stuff very seriously.
Maker Studio was different as it was a private entity with only a handful of investors that had to be made whole.
The debt being discussed is the long term debt that was accrued during the 21CF acquisition as well as the pandemic bridge financing they took on. And while its going down slowly investors having been pushing to have it paid down faster hence the push to sell assets like ABC and other legacy linear assets.
As for whether Disney will or won't sell their US linear assets, as was discuss whether its the Allen deal or someone else Disney will eventually sell them. As legacy linear while you feel is a companion to streaming is a dying media and as such Disney will be getting out of that distribution model whether now or in the near future. Basically don't look for Disney to have those assets 5+ years from now, likely less.