Mega Media Mergers to fight against Netflix

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  • Yes. Family legacy is part of it, but its the first bit that is more relevant and the reason why he is selling most of his empire to Disney. As Murdoch put it himself in a Sky News interview a few months ago, he was the disrupter once shaking up old media with his new Sky and Star satellite platforms, then Netflix came along...

    Amazon and Apple are trillion dollar companies. Microsoft, Google and the other tech players won't be far behind. Netflix is spending several billion dollars on new content each and every year. Murdoch couldn't compete with that and so sold out to Disney to make that company a much stronger competitor to the tech companies. So, rather rather than owning 100% of something which will ultimately be worthless, he will become the largest shareholder in Disney. Who knows, in time that may even turn into a controlling share.

    Murdoch believes his new "Fox" company which will retain ownership of America's Fox Network and Fox News channel, is the future and he will concentrate on news (his roots) and sports. Problem with that theory is that Amazon has already started to show sports and if it so chooses, can outbid anyone, except Apple, for sporting rights. Also, the tv production and film production units are being sold to Disney, so Murdoch will be left with a network channel which does not have its own programming arm. A recipe for disaster, but it does help the legacy issue as son Lachlan controls this bit while son James concentrates on his outside interests like Tesla and eventually may become the next Disney CEO.

    True, but as I just said in answer to Rob, I don't think Murdoch's new "Fox" company has much of a future, but being a large shareholder in Disney, is another matter entirely.

    Thank you. That is really interesting. I'm glad that Rupert M is "still in there pitching". There are so many aspects to him which I greatly admire: his relatively hands-off editorial freedom, which is rare for a newspaper proprietor, the way his Times newspaper holed up in Wapping and single-handedly defied the print trade union and arranged his own national distribution (using TNT - an Australian company!), his genuine apology and remorse over the telephone hacking scandal (by stark and refreshing contrast to James Murdoch who babbled away in management-speak trying to offer mitigating excuses). From what you say, in spite of him being dwarfed by the titans, he's still looking for ways to punch above his weight, with a renowned well resourced news channel, which is one heck of a big niche. Not bad for an 87 year old! As for having a big share in Disney, I've never quite got my head around what routes are open for Disney to expand or credibly diversify - I feel there is a limit to how much one can expand within the constraint of family entertainment. It's a big niche but I don't see that it has much image degrees of freedom to venture beyond its target audience.

  • Disney is far more than just family entertainment and once it gains control of Fox, it will have an even greater diversity. Just to repeat something I said earlier in this thread, I think, the enlarged Disney will control a third of all Hollywood content. Think about that for a second. Here are some of the company's hot properties:

    Star Wars

    Avatar

    Marvel

    Alien

    Pearl Harbour

    Simpsons

    Die Hard

    Titanic

    Sound of Music

    Planet of the Apes

    Pulp Fiction

    and of course Mickey Mouse and co

    That's just a small selection of what the enlarged Disney will control and as you can see, not all of that is family friendly fare... And with Marvel's Xmen franchise currently made by Fox coming under Disney control, all of Marvel's films will be owned by Disney and they've already stated that they will reboot the Xmen franchise into the Marvel universe almost guaranteeing billions more in revenue.

    Beyond House of Cards, now made infamous by allegations against Kevin Spacey, name seven big films or series' made by Netflix?

    Netflix is incredible and spending on new content at am incredible rate, but Disney has been round for 90 odd years and it will take some doing to beat them in the long run.

    As for Murdoch, he's guaranteed his family will remain players into the future. How big a role that will be, is as yet unknown, but I would not be surprised that with Comcast's dosh, the Murdoch's decide to increase their shareholding in Disney yet further.

    As for the person, I don't like him and the sexual assault allegations at his Fox News channel, bullying and phone hacking illustrates what a seedy operation he overseas. Whether he is directly responsible though, is another matter. I agree about Wapping and to his credit he has kept The Times relatively free of his interference and still put out the loss making educational supplement, but as I said over on Cable Forum yesterday, he has single handedly damaged the traditional, quality, British broadcasting forever and that is not something we should cheer about.

  • Most of the good adult movies on Disney's list arrive from acquisition rather than initiation. If Disney wants to broaden its franchise beyond the family entertainment market it ought to create a holding company with a catchy but neutral name and create sub-brands that are compatible with different segments, or at the very least not using Disney for anything mature, intelligent and though-provoking.

    As for Netflix, I'll hold off subscribing until they publish in advance of my subscribing a list of what they offer. So far, once released, it's well promoted but usually nothing special

    Fox News is nothing for Murdoch to be proud of, except in commercial terms. One could also say that of The Sun. Yet I admire his commercial nous. The Sun and Fox each effectively fulfil mass audience segments.

    Murdoch's reason for being is not improve the world but to make money from the way the world is and the way it is heading. You say vis vis phone hacking at N-o-W and shenanigans at Fox News that "whether he is directly responsible though is another matter". I don't think it's another matter. He's the head of a conglomeration of companies and divisions worldwide. To even contemplate that he is even remotely responsible is just plain ridiculous.

    As for Murdoch "single handedly damaging the traditional quality of British Broadcasting forever, you darn well know that damage, such as it is, has been caused by (a) viewers and (b) the complacency of broadcasting when it had a near captive market. Murdoch's assault British broadcasting has actually forced British broadcasting to up its game. To that extent I think Murdoch's competition has been of benefit to viewers, except perhaps those like yourself who value "tradition".

    As Danny DeVito said in The Heist (script by David Mamet): "which of us is perfect?"

  • James Murdoch has resigned from the board of Sky plc, owner of Sky News, as Comcast takes majority control in a £29.7bn deal.

    Mr Murdoch's departure together with that of six other directors was announced by Sky shortly after Comcast said it was now the majority owner of the company.

    Almost all done now. Comcast can now force through the purchase of the remaining Sky shares it doesn't own and Sky will be delisted from the stock exchange next month and cease to be a independent company.

    I wonder what Comcast will do with Sky?

  • Netflix added nearly seven million new customers in the three months to September, bringing its total to more than 137 million members worldwide.

    The growth was stronger than expected, prompting the firm's shares to jump more than 10% in after-hours trade.

    And here's yet a further reminder from the other day on why the old media companies are merging together. Netflix is a monster. Can anyone catch up with them?

    With 137m subscribers, it will be a hard task even for the enlarged Disney once it's got its hand on all the Fox content, to catch up with Netflix, but they are the best contender, in my opinion, to do it.

  • Sky ceases to be a company today as it gets de-listed from the London Stock Exchange, completing Comcast's takeover of it.

    https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jimmy-fal…isition-1158044

    The EC has approved the Disney/Fox deal but Disney will have to give up its 50% stake in A&E Networks in the EEA. As the UK is still in this area at the moment, this includes us too. THe channels affected are History, H2, Crime & Investigation, Lifetime and Blaze.

    https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disneys-f…ditions-1148195

  • Two updates to this thread starting with last week's news:

    Justice Department loses appeal to block AT&T-Time Warner merger, won't appeal again

    The U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday tossed out the Justice Department’s appeal of the AT&T-Time Warner merger.

    A three-judge panel ruled the two companies could maintain its merger, saying the government's argument that an earlier court ruling erred was "unpersuasive."

    The American regulators tried to block this merger over the last year, but have now accepted the court ruling on this, thus cementing America's largest telephone/broadband company takeover over one of Hollywood's Big 6 major studios.

    And today:

    Disney Sets March 20 Closing Date for 21st Century Fox Acquisition

    After decades of building his massive global media empire, Rupert Murdoch finally sells out to the House of Mouse, while keeping his newspapers and tv stations in America. This will reduce The Big Six Hollywood studios down to five.

    Both of these mergers are a direct result of the increasing competition from Netflix and we now await to see when/if CBS and Viacom re-merge, thus giving the green light for larger players, possibly someone like America's largest mobile operator Verizon, to gobble them up.

    All of this to do with streaming and specifically, Netflix.

  • Microsoft hits $1 trillion market valuation

    Microsoft has seen its stock market value top $1 trillion (£774bn) after reporting better-than-expected sales and profits.

    The US software giant passed the mark briefly on Thursday, before its share price fell back.

    It makes it one of only three public firms to have hit the $1tn mark, the others being Apple and Amazon.

    Another reason why these media mergers are happening as Microsoft joined the trillion dollar club last week.

    I expect the next set of mergers will involve CBS and Viacom coming back together again before being gobbled up by someone like Verizon, then Lionsgate and Malone's companies may get bought out too. Microsoft could buy the lot, or perhaps go for Netflix...

  • Lions Gate spikes on report of CBS informal offer for Starz

    This happened a few days ago and is a reminder that the media mergers frenzy is far from over.

    Although CBS' offer has been rebuffed this time, CBS has been trying to buy Starz for sometime as it seeks to bolster its roster of premium drama to fill its streaming service.

    Reminder: Starz was owned by John Malone, ultimate owner of Virgin Media, until he swapped his stake in Starz for a share of Lionsgate.

    Could this move signal a wider merger between John Malone's companies (Liberty, Discovery, Charter etc) and CBS/Viacom, as I predicted earlier in this thread??

  • CBS board plans merger talks with Viacom: CNBC

    (Reuters) - CBS Corp’s board is preparing for merger talks with media company Viacom Inc, CNBC reported on Thursday, citing sources.

    The merger talks between the two companies are expected to start in mid-June, the report said, adding that the companies have not yet held discussions

    I've spoken about this for a long time and now its about to happen and as I've said, I believe the merged CBS/Viacom will in itself be gobbled up and/or merge with other companies.

    This has a direct impact on the UK, because Viacom own our Channel 5 and a load of cable/sat channels too. As I said on Cable Forum last week and here in the past, I believe ITV will be taken over this year possibly by Disney and I reckon we'll end up with the three big American tv networks on our channels too, like this:

    Sky One -> NBC (Sky is now owned by Comcast who own the NBC Universal media companies.)

    Channel 5 -> CBS (as discussed above) and

    ITV -> ABC (Disney own the ABC network in the States)

    Although I think BT will take a crack at trying to buy ITV too.

    Once the CBS/Viacom merger is done with, we then see what John Malone does. I do expect his companies, perhaps including Virgin Media, to join with CBS/Viacom and become part of a merged global media/tech/telecoms company which also includes Vodafone and Verizon.

  • AT&T And Dish Network Stocks Gain On DirecTV Merger Speculation

    Rumblings are getting louder about a potential merger of leading satellite TV distributors DirecTV and Dish, with stocks in both services’ parent companies gaining ground in Friday trading.

    Like in the UK, traditional pay tv companies in the States are haemorrhaging subscribers to streaming services like Netflix and these satellite companies are no different.

    Since AT&T bought Timer Warner last year, is has a terrifying amount of debt on its books, so if it were able to sell DirecTV to Dish, that would at least improve their balance sheet a bit.

    There is a important side story here which is the proposed merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, America's 3rd and 4th biggest mobile companies, that I mentioned in this post last year.

    T-Mobile's boss has been heavily critical of Dish for a long time because Dish has been hoarding tons of mobile spectrum which it has not been using and many pundits have speculated that Dish wants to buy Sprint and create a massive 5G network to rival the likes of Verizon and in effect knock out T-Mobile If Dish also owns DirecTV, it has the potential to become the dominant force in wireless in the future.

  • For three days every July, the big action in the world of media Opens a New Window. and technology Opens a New Window. is supposed to move to the small resort town of Sun Valley, Idaho, where CEOs and other business leaders Opens a New Window. gather to attend Allen & Company’s annual conference, also known as the “Summer Camp for Billionaires.”

    All the American billionaires are having their annual shin dig this week and I would expect news of the CBS/Viacom merger and the Sprint/T-Mobile merger shortly afterwards, perhaps as soon as next week.

    Disney's boss Bob Iger will be attending as will Apple boss, Tim Cook. Iger also sits on the Apple Board... the real mega mergers are still to happen.

  • The T-Mobile and Sprint merger was reportedly supposed to be a done deal weeks ago after much of their total spectrum assets were set to be allocated to Dish to spur the creation of another major carrier. But according to The Wall Street Journal, talks have slowed, and it’s unclear when the two parties will come to an agreement.

    T-Mobile and Sprint announced their $26 billion merger over a year ago, and the Journal reports that it will once again push past another deadline, July 29th, before closing the deal. This will be the second such extension since the initial announcement that has struggled to receive approval from the Justice Department.

    The Sprint/T-Mobile is delayed, because Dish (a American satellite tv company which owns a lot of mobile spectrum) is trying to buy some of the asses that have to be divested if the merger is cleared. The American regulators are very keen on there still being a 4th mobile network which would be lost when T-Mobile and Sprint merge, so it all hinges on the deal done with Dish.

    The CBS/Viacom merger announcement is imminent. Reminder: Viacom owns our Ch5 and lots of satellite channels.

    Why is this of any relevance to us? Because the mergers will not stop and these telcos will continue to merge with content companies including the CBS/Viacom remerged company and then the tech companies like Apple, Amazon etc will gobble them all up in the end, in my opinion. So, it will effect us all in one way or another eventually.

  • CBS’ plan to acquire Viacom for up to $15.4 billion could be announced Aug 8, giving its controlling shareholder the ability to leverage IP like 'Star Trek' across film and TV to better compete with Disney, Netflix and the rest.

    In 2005, the parents of Star Trek divorced, with CBS winning custody of the TV shows while Viacom got the film franchise, courtesy of its Paramount Pictures. It's all but certain, though, that a reconciliation is in the works and an announcement of their intended reunification, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter, is due Aug. 8, the day each is set to report quarterly earnings.

    Star Trek is a major brand and something the merged company needs as it takes on Netflix and other streamers, but as I've said before, these two companies combined are still not big enough to compete with Netflix, the Disney/Fox juggernaut, Comcast/Sky and the others.

    More consolidation is coming and soon.

  • CBS, Viacom Reach Tentative Management Structure for Combined Company

    CBS and Viacom moved one step closer to a highly anticipated reunification after the companies agreed upon an executive structure, the latest signal that the two media conglomerates, controlled by the Redstone family, were heading toward a new merger.

    The agreement remains fluid, according to people familiar with the situation, but calls for Viacom CEO Bob Bakish to take the reins of a combined Viacom and CBS, with Joe Ianniello, acting CEO of CBS Corp. being offered a position overseeing all of the CBS-branded assets at a newly merged concern. Christina Spade, CBS’ chief financial officer, could become the CFO of the new company, these people said.

    Well, it looks like they're almost ready to merge with Vicom's current boss set to be in charge of the merged company.

    Will our Ch 5 owned by Viacom get renamed to CBS at some point?

  • Still waiting on the CBS/Viacom merger announcement. It was meant to be yesterday when both companies reported their latest earnings, but it's now expected to come on Monday or soon afterwards.

    And as I keep saying, this will then trigger further media consolidation, as if the media industry is not consolidated enough!:rolleyes:

    And there's lots of speculation around Dish too, apart from its yearnings to become a mobile player. Some pundits believe AT&T is about to offload DirectTV (their satellite tv operation) and allow that to merge with Dish creating one massive satellite tv company in the States.

  • CBS and Viacom to Combine

    NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 13, 2019-- CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS.A, CBS) and Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), two of the world’s leading entertainment companies, today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine in an all-stock merger, creating a combined company with more than $28 billion in revenue.

    .(Source: ViacomCBS Inc.)

    The combined company, ViacomCBS Inc., will be a leading global, multiplatform, premium content company, with the assets, capabilities and scale to be one of the most important content producers and providers in the world.

    That's it. That's the merger announcement and our Channel 5 will be owned by this merged company.

    The merger will probably be complete by the end of the year and then I expect it will then merge again with either Discovery, Sony Pictures, Lionsgate or even all of them.

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