Pumbas Nakasak
Heading for the great escape.
Only if you follow an alternative lifestyle, but I just dress normaly.
Pixie dust and imaginary guff all round...................
Pixie dust and imaginary guff all round...................
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Universal Studios Florida or Disney's Hollywood Studios?
- Thread starter celticssuck
- Start date
sknydave
Active Member
SirGoofy
Member
Unfortunately your enlightenment did nothing for your grammar.
agreed. But I can see what Universal has going for it as well. Lots of fun attractions. I'd love to go back there someday.
Nothing beats Hollywood Boulevard/Sunset at DHS for me, though. The music, the Streetmoshpere characters, the buildings, the automobiles, Tower of Terror, the Great Movie Ride...I love it!
Here's the story and it was just announced on CNBC that this deal sould be completed in two to three weeks.
Comcast, NBC Universal in advanced talks on merger
By Bob Fernandez
Inquirer Staff Writer
Comcast Corp., which for years has yearned for a big entertainment division that could produce blockbuster movies and popular cable TV shows, is in advanced talks to merge its cable networks with NBC Universal Inc., one of the nation's storied TV and movie studios.
NBC Universal released the Fast and Furious movies and Brokeback Mountain, among others; owns hit cable TV networks USA and Bravo; produces award-winning TV shows, such as The Office and 30 Rock; and operates amusement parks in Hollywood, Calif.; Orlando; and Osaka, Japan. Its 4,000-title library contains the classics The Deer Hunter and Schindler's List.
Comcast would own 51 percent of the new private corporate entity, which would be valued at $35 billion, and beleaguered General Electric would own 49 percent. GE, whose financial and manufacturing divisions were battered in the recession, owns 80 percent of NBC Universal. French company Vivendi owns the remaining stake.
There will be a "path-to-ownership" provision that would allow Comcast or General Electric to own 100 percent of the venture, sources said.
This multibillion-dollar gambit, which was not warmly received on Wall Street, is the fruit of the persistence of Comcast chief executive officer Brian L. Roberts, the Philadelphia company's grand strategist who previously failed in his bid for the Walt Disney Co.
The deal would create a vertically integrated media conglomerate, with Comcast-controlled companies producing and distributing movies and cable TV shows, and feeding Web sites with entertainment. It would be the largest company of its kind and seems to re-create the former Time Warner Inc. media empire. Time Warner recently separated its cable-distribution business and its entertainment businesses into different companies.
A Comcast-NBC Universal deal would not likely give consumers relief with lower cable bills. But it could slow the soaring growth of programming costs for Comcast, the nation's largest cable company with about 24 million subscribers, analysts said.
The plan is certain to present challenges, and it is fragile at this state, according to observers and to insiders.
A merger of Comcast and NBC Universal would raise antitrust concerns as to whether Comcast has an unfair advantage in the entertainment marketplace, said Art Brodsky, communications director for the advocacy group Public Knowledge. Other groups said they were waiting for the official announcement to comment.
A Comcast-NBC Universal deal could easily collapse because of its complexity, said a high-placed source. "It could just as likely fall apart." It may be weeks before an announcement is made. Comcast would not comment for the record. A General Electric spokesman said the talks were "really, really early."
Success is partly contingent on Vivendi's agreeing to part with its 20 percent stake in NBC Universal. Vivendi is expected to make a decision in November.
The new joint venture would pay General Electric $9 billion to $12 billion. This money would come from borrowings by the joint venture and be carried as debt. GE would pay Vivendi with some of this money.
Comcast would contribute to the joint venture, in addition to its cable networks, $4 billion to $6 billion in cash. The money would go to General Electric. Comcast would obtain this money from cash reserves and borrowings.
Comcast said the value of its cable networks was about $6 billion. Those networks include Style, E!, the Golf Channel, and the regional sports networks.
GE, which was hurt by the credit crisis, badly needs cash, and Comcast says it believes it is gaining control of NBC Universal on favorable terms. Comcast would do the deal without diluting its stock and would maintain a cash-stock dividend and stock buyback program, company sources said.
A Comcast-NBC Universal would face regulatory scrutiny at the Federal Communications Commission because of the need to transfer 10 NBC broadcast TV licenses to the new corporate entity. A TV license for NBC10 in Philadelphia is among those that would be transferred. The deal also could face scrutiny at the Federal Trade Commission, industry experts said.
A concern would be whether Comcast can gain an unfair advantage through the integration of the different businesses. For instance, Comcast could produce big-screen movies. It also may control the release dates of movies, possibly giving itself an advantage over movie-rental firm Netflix Inc., industry sources said.
Critics, in a review, also may ask how Comcast would treat other pay-TV providers, such as DirecTV and Verizon Communications Inc.'s FiOS TV, in distribution deals for NBC Universal-owned cable TV networks USA, Bravo, and CNBC.
"There will be huge fights over content distribution and access to programming," said Brodsky, of Public Knowledge. "There are all sorts of implications when you control that much distribution and that much product under one roof," he said.
Wall Street reacted sullenly yesterday to the news of the deal, which was first reported on the Hollywood Web site thewrap.com on Wednesday evening. Comcast shares fell 7.17 percent, or $1.21, to $15.67. The decline was steeper than the overall stock market. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 2 percent.
Some analysts were perplexed by the proposed joint venture. "I would rather they buy more cable companies," moaned one analyst, who asked that his name not be used.
"I don't understand the fascination with content," Craig Moffett, a telecom analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. L.L.C., who is typically upbeat on Comcast, said in an interview. In his newsletter, Moffett wrote yesterday morning:
"We expect investor reaction to be strongly negative. Investors have long pressed Comcast for an aggressive return of cash to shareholders. An acquisition of a major content studio, even if consummated at an attractive price, is most decidedly not what Comcast investors had in mind."
This happened before. In 2004, Comcast tried to buy Disney for more than $50 billion. Wall Street investors criticized Roberts for the unsolicited Disney bid, saying they expected him to use the cable operations cash flow to boost the company's stock price - not purchase Disney.
Roberts "never lived Disney down," said Christopher Marangi, an equity analyst with Gabelli & Co. Inc. "He surprised everybody with it," Marangi said. "From that point forward, there has always been the question as to what he would do with the cash from the cable business."
The NBC Universal deal is more modest than the Disney bid and comes as Roberts seems deeply concerned about the impact of the Internet on the cable TV business. He has watched the Internet challenge the music and newspaper businesses and wishes to avoid a similar situation.
Comcast's greatest fear is that cable TV customers migrate to the Internet and cancel their cable TV subscriptions. Some believe that Comcast hopes that by controlling more entertainment content, Comcast can somehow slow - or even manage - that migration between traditional cable TV and the Internet.
"Comcast can use this as an opportunity to shape the digital future," Marangi said.
"This gives Comcast a lot of control over how online distribution evolves," Moffett added.
Comcast, NBC Universal in advanced talks on merger
By Bob Fernandez
Inquirer Staff Writer
Comcast Corp., which for years has yearned for a big entertainment division that could produce blockbuster movies and popular cable TV shows, is in advanced talks to merge its cable networks with NBC Universal Inc., one of the nation's storied TV and movie studios.
NBC Universal released the Fast and Furious movies and Brokeback Mountain, among others; owns hit cable TV networks USA and Bravo; produces award-winning TV shows, such as The Office and 30 Rock; and operates amusement parks in Hollywood, Calif.; Orlando; and Osaka, Japan. Its 4,000-title library contains the classics The Deer Hunter and Schindler's List.
Comcast would own 51 percent of the new private corporate entity, which would be valued at $35 billion, and beleaguered General Electric would own 49 percent. GE, whose financial and manufacturing divisions were battered in the recession, owns 80 percent of NBC Universal. French company Vivendi owns the remaining stake.
There will be a "path-to-ownership" provision that would allow Comcast or General Electric to own 100 percent of the venture, sources said.
This multibillion-dollar gambit, which was not warmly received on Wall Street, is the fruit of the persistence of Comcast chief executive officer Brian L. Roberts, the Philadelphia company's grand strategist who previously failed in his bid for the Walt Disney Co.
The deal would create a vertically integrated media conglomerate, with Comcast-controlled companies producing and distributing movies and cable TV shows, and feeding Web sites with entertainment. It would be the largest company of its kind and seems to re-create the former Time Warner Inc. media empire. Time Warner recently separated its cable-distribution business and its entertainment businesses into different companies.
A Comcast-NBC Universal deal would not likely give consumers relief with lower cable bills. But it could slow the soaring growth of programming costs for Comcast, the nation's largest cable company with about 24 million subscribers, analysts said.
The plan is certain to present challenges, and it is fragile at this state, according to observers and to insiders.
A merger of Comcast and NBC Universal would raise antitrust concerns as to whether Comcast has an unfair advantage in the entertainment marketplace, said Art Brodsky, communications director for the advocacy group Public Knowledge. Other groups said they were waiting for the official announcement to comment.
A Comcast-NBC Universal deal could easily collapse because of its complexity, said a high-placed source. "It could just as likely fall apart." It may be weeks before an announcement is made. Comcast would not comment for the record. A General Electric spokesman said the talks were "really, really early."
Success is partly contingent on Vivendi's agreeing to part with its 20 percent stake in NBC Universal. Vivendi is expected to make a decision in November.
The new joint venture would pay General Electric $9 billion to $12 billion. This money would come from borrowings by the joint venture and be carried as debt. GE would pay Vivendi with some of this money.
Comcast would contribute to the joint venture, in addition to its cable networks, $4 billion to $6 billion in cash. The money would go to General Electric. Comcast would obtain this money from cash reserves and borrowings.
Comcast said the value of its cable networks was about $6 billion. Those networks include Style, E!, the Golf Channel, and the regional sports networks.
GE, which was hurt by the credit crisis, badly needs cash, and Comcast says it believes it is gaining control of NBC Universal on favorable terms. Comcast would do the deal without diluting its stock and would maintain a cash-stock dividend and stock buyback program, company sources said.
A Comcast-NBC Universal would face regulatory scrutiny at the Federal Communications Commission because of the need to transfer 10 NBC broadcast TV licenses to the new corporate entity. A TV license for NBC10 in Philadelphia is among those that would be transferred. The deal also could face scrutiny at the Federal Trade Commission, industry experts said.
A concern would be whether Comcast can gain an unfair advantage through the integration of the different businesses. For instance, Comcast could produce big-screen movies. It also may control the release dates of movies, possibly giving itself an advantage over movie-rental firm Netflix Inc., industry sources said.
Critics, in a review, also may ask how Comcast would treat other pay-TV providers, such as DirecTV and Verizon Communications Inc.'s FiOS TV, in distribution deals for NBC Universal-owned cable TV networks USA, Bravo, and CNBC.
"There will be huge fights over content distribution and access to programming," said Brodsky, of Public Knowledge. "There are all sorts of implications when you control that much distribution and that much product under one roof," he said.
Wall Street reacted sullenly yesterday to the news of the deal, which was first reported on the Hollywood Web site thewrap.com on Wednesday evening. Comcast shares fell 7.17 percent, or $1.21, to $15.67. The decline was steeper than the overall stock market. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 2 percent.
Some analysts were perplexed by the proposed joint venture. "I would rather they buy more cable companies," moaned one analyst, who asked that his name not be used.
"I don't understand the fascination with content," Craig Moffett, a telecom analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. L.L.C., who is typically upbeat on Comcast, said in an interview. In his newsletter, Moffett wrote yesterday morning:
"We expect investor reaction to be strongly negative. Investors have long pressed Comcast for an aggressive return of cash to shareholders. An acquisition of a major content studio, even if consummated at an attractive price, is most decidedly not what Comcast investors had in mind."
This happened before. In 2004, Comcast tried to buy Disney for more than $50 billion. Wall Street investors criticized Roberts for the unsolicited Disney bid, saying they expected him to use the cable operations cash flow to boost the company's stock price - not purchase Disney.
Roberts "never lived Disney down," said Christopher Marangi, an equity analyst with Gabelli & Co. Inc. "He surprised everybody with it," Marangi said. "From that point forward, there has always been the question as to what he would do with the cash from the cable business."
The NBC Universal deal is more modest than the Disney bid and comes as Roberts seems deeply concerned about the impact of the Internet on the cable TV business. He has watched the Internet challenge the music and newspaper businesses and wishes to avoid a similar situation.
Comcast's greatest fear is that cable TV customers migrate to the Internet and cancel their cable TV subscriptions. Some believe that Comcast hopes that by controlling more entertainment content, Comcast can somehow slow - or even manage - that migration between traditional cable TV and the Internet.
"Comcast can use this as an opportunity to shape the digital future," Marangi said.
"This gives Comcast a lot of control over how online distribution evolves," Moffett added.
Pumbas Nakasak
Heading for the great escape.
Wow, you were able to work out all that on your own from an article that focuses on cable out put and the impactof the internet.
Just gotta love fan bhoys and their irrational hatred for an amusement park.
Skip
Well-Known Member
Since you know, General Electric (and now Comcast) had a lot of say in the customer satisfaction services of the parks.
So you've decided to throw all logic and reasoning out the window and just skip right to the incoherent trolling, I see. Well good luck with that. :ROFLOL:
So basically the elimination, or severe damaging, of Universal is the only thing that will keep Disney at the number 1 spot? Wow! A more glowing endorsement of Universal I've never seen!
trr1
Well-Known Member
T-1MILLION
New Member
BryceM
Well-Known Member
Sorry to bring back this old thread... But USF wins, hands down.
I may be biased due to the fact that I actually prefer UOR over WDW, but I really do love DHS a lot. It's actually tied with Magic Kingdom as my favorite Disney park and I've already visited twice this year!
However, USF is more powerful as a whole. First off are the park icons. USF has the famous rotating Universal globe outside the entrance and DHS has... The hat. If DHS had the hat removed and used The Chinese Theater as the park icon, the theming and flow of the park would be increased by 100%.
The main draw for me at DHS is Tower of Terror and Rock 'N' Roller Coaster, some of my favorite rides out there. But Revenge of the Mummy beats out Rock 'N' Roller Coaster all the way. Mummy is probably the best themed roller coaster out there, but it still doesn't match up with Tower of Terror. I love them both equally though!
USF offers many more attractions over DHS, such as Revenge of the Mummy, The Simpsons Ride, MIB, Despicable Me, Hollywood Rip Ride RockIt, Disaster!, Twister: Ride it Out, Shrek 4-D, Terminator, Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster, Transformers: The Ride (soon!), E.T. Adventure and the Wizarding World expansion.
DHS literally has 5 rides, Tower of Terror, RnRC, The Great Movie Ride, Star Tours and Toy Story. Though I usually ride ToT and RnRc about 4 times each every time I go... Hahaha.
Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard are the only greatly themed areas in DHS. The rest is just a confused and random assortment of rides and attractions designated in "themed" areas. USF's streets of New York, San Francisco and Hollywood are amazing and really transport you to those cities, just like Hollywood Blvd. and Sunset Blvd. transport you to old Hollywood. Production Central really capitalizes on the Studio theme, but it entices you at the entrance of the park and draws you in. World Expo is very eye catching and holds two of the greatest attractions in USF. The kid's area needs to he DESPERATELY redone. Like, seriously. But so does half of DHS...
I love the themed dining at DHS though, such as Sci-Fi Dine In and 50's Prime Time. They are great! Never eaten at the Brown Derby though.. USF has Lombard's, which is fantastic! And the Irish Pub in New York is fantastic!
Both are great parks, but I would much rather spend the day at USF that offers more for me than re-riding the same rides (rides that I love) over and over again. The shows at DHS are "meh" and it almost capitalizes on shows. USF has a cohesive theme, adding on constantly, beautiful, full of different attractions that appeal to all ages and has some of the most top-notch attractions in the world. DHS offers great rides in what few rides that have, cool dining options and some parts are truly beautiful and eye-catching, but falls apart with a mess of a theme, the BAH, and stale attractions.
I may be biased due to the fact that I actually prefer UOR over WDW, but I really do love DHS a lot. It's actually tied with Magic Kingdom as my favorite Disney park and I've already visited twice this year!
However, USF is more powerful as a whole. First off are the park icons. USF has the famous rotating Universal globe outside the entrance and DHS has... The hat. If DHS had the hat removed and used The Chinese Theater as the park icon, the theming and flow of the park would be increased by 100%.
The main draw for me at DHS is Tower of Terror and Rock 'N' Roller Coaster, some of my favorite rides out there. But Revenge of the Mummy beats out Rock 'N' Roller Coaster all the way. Mummy is probably the best themed roller coaster out there, but it still doesn't match up with Tower of Terror. I love them both equally though!
USF offers many more attractions over DHS, such as Revenge of the Mummy, The Simpsons Ride, MIB, Despicable Me, Hollywood Rip Ride RockIt, Disaster!, Twister: Ride it Out, Shrek 4-D, Terminator, Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster, Transformers: The Ride (soon!), E.T. Adventure and the Wizarding World expansion.
DHS literally has 5 rides, Tower of Terror, RnRC, The Great Movie Ride, Star Tours and Toy Story. Though I usually ride ToT and RnRc about 4 times each every time I go... Hahaha.
Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard are the only greatly themed areas in DHS. The rest is just a confused and random assortment of rides and attractions designated in "themed" areas. USF's streets of New York, San Francisco and Hollywood are amazing and really transport you to those cities, just like Hollywood Blvd. and Sunset Blvd. transport you to old Hollywood. Production Central really capitalizes on the Studio theme, but it entices you at the entrance of the park and draws you in. World Expo is very eye catching and holds two of the greatest attractions in USF. The kid's area needs to he DESPERATELY redone. Like, seriously. But so does half of DHS...
I love the themed dining at DHS though, such as Sci-Fi Dine In and 50's Prime Time. They are great! Never eaten at the Brown Derby though.. USF has Lombard's, which is fantastic! And the Irish Pub in New York is fantastic!
Both are great parks, but I would much rather spend the day at USF that offers more for me than re-riding the same rides (rides that I love) over and over again. The shows at DHS are "meh" and it almost capitalizes on shows. USF has a cohesive theme, adding on constantly, beautiful, full of different attractions that appeal to all ages and has some of the most top-notch attractions in the world. DHS offers great rides in what few rides that have, cool dining options and some parts are truly beautiful and eye-catching, but falls apart with a mess of a theme, the BAH, and stale attractions.