I Hulu is probably one of the jewels of this deal I think Disney is REALLY interested in direct competition with NetFlix Rocket River
So this gives us Netflix, HBO, Disney (and probably Amazon who isn't quite there yet but will buy their way in) who will offer video streaming channels large numbers of people will subscribe to. What happens to NBC Universal and CBS? They seem to be left in the dust. I suppose one of them could buy Netflix.
I don't think being junior partners on Hulu will be enough in the long term for either as cable subscriptions (and revenue) continue to plummet. I firmly believe if Disney's online product launch of ESPN next year is compelling enough, cable's decline will accelerate. That will be the watershed event that frees a large chunk of sports fans to dump cable. No network will survive as a major player unless they have a strong online channel. This is why Disney is buying Fox. To offer an online product that can actually compete with Netflix. Netflix is spending $7 billion on programming this year, increasing to $8 million in 2018. Apparently creating their own content is much less expensive than buying from others.
I've said it a hundred times before: F*** you, Comcast! Comcast says it will bid on Fox, in attempt to block Disney acquisition Even though Disney made an offer By Ashley Carman@ashleyrcarman May 23, 2018, 9:02am EDTSHARE Comcast really wants to own 21st Century Fox. The company announced today that it’s planning and is in the “advanced stages of preparing” an offer for Fox in the hopes that it’ll reject Disney’s existing bid to acquire the company’s entertainment arm. Comcast says: “Any offer for Fox would be all-cash and at a premium to the value of the current all-share offer from Disney.” This move has been expected and rumored. It doesn’t affect Fox’s news and sports assets, including Fox News and Fox Sports. Disney offered Fox a $52.4 billion all-stock deal late last year, and shareholders are expected to vote on the offer this summer. Comcast is hoping to sneak in with this all-cash offer ahead of that vote. Fox cut off earlier talks with Comcast over antitrust concerns, suspecting that the deal would never be approved. But now it seems that another major deal — Time Warner and AT&T — might pass through. If that happens, Comcast could potentially acquire parts of Fox without alarming regulators. This deal is important to Comcast because having 21st Century Fox’s massive and popular content library would give the company a leg up in a battle against streaming services. As part of this deal, Comcast would even acquire part of Hulu. Basically, every company is fighting to own content. We can see this fight playing out with Disney’s plans to launch its own streaming service (where Fox content would be nice to include). Netflix currently streams some Disney productions and will start losing access in 2019 when Disney’s new service launches. Because Disney is doing its own thing, Netflix is now heavily investing in its own series.
That, and Comcast sucks. The streaming wars are about to get intense as hell if Comcast and Disney go into business for themselves.
Fox Shareholders Will Decide Whether To Sell To Disney Or Consider Comcast's Offer In July Well, it appears as if we'll finally get some clarification about whether or not the X-Men and Fantastic Four are heading back to Marvel because a date has been set for a vote which will decide Fox's fate. Josh Wilding | 5/30/2018 Filed Under: "Disney" Source: The Hollywood Reporter It's been confirmed today that Walt Disney and 21st Century Fox have set a date of July 10th for shareholders to decide whether or not the latter company sells the bulk of its assets to Walt Disney or instead considers a potential offer from Comcast Corp (they recently made their intentions clear to offer a cash bid which could bring a swift end to the merger which has comic book fans so excited). Should Comcast make that deal before this vote takes place, "21st Century Fox may postpone or adjourn the special meeting of its stockholders to allow reasonable additional time for the filing, mailing, dissemination and review by its stockholders of any such disclosure prior to the meeting." Unfortunately, it's hard to imagine that Comcast won't put in that counterbid before then but it's also possible that they'll wait to see how Fox's shareholders respond to the Disney deal because a negative result could go in their favour. Either way, it now appears as if we're closer to finally getting some answers about whether or not the X-Men and Fantastic Four really are on their way to the MCU. Disney still seems like the better bet but should Comcast offer considerably more money, shareholders could be wooed by the rival company. If that happens, the good news is that the Deadpool franchise will live on in its current form. The bad news is so will every single one of Fox's Marve
Fox to Marvel seems like something that can very easily be approved (over the course of 1-2 years). Fox to Comcast seems like more red tape and more likely to get broken up by regulators. Thoughts?
Disney and Fox Deal Close Date Revealed One of the largest mergers that the entertainment industry has seen yet might be a few steps away from becoming a reality. According to new reporting from Variety, 21st Century Fox president Peter Rice told employees that the company's acquisition by Disney will be ready to close on January 1st, 2019. Rice broke the news at a town-hall staff meeting, where he was joined by John Nallen, the 21st Century CFO set to become COO of so-called New Fox. Rice is expected to join Disney as a top TV executive once the deal takes place. Even with previous reporting suggesting that the deal could be in its final stages, this update is surely a bit of a surprise. Quite a few regulatory hurdles have come up so far since the deal was first put in place, but it seems like those haven't stopped the acquisition. Of course, the pop culture ramifications of the Disney/Fox deal will be pretty massive, but its role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn't been far from some fans' minds. While the deal wrapping up earlier definitely won't have any bearing on next year's Avengers 4, it sounds like it will eventually lead the way for the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and more to join the MCU. “Not until we’re given the word,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige explained earlier this yearof plans with the Fox characters. “I have vague dreams and vague ideas. But right now, bringing to life the 10,000-plus characters that Marvel fully controls is what the gameplan is.” "That whole Disney buying Fox deal is- none of us saw that coming, and we're amazed and excited, because we always dreamed of having the X-Men and Fantastic Four in the MCU, but nothing's actually been decided or announced," Marvel Studios Visual Design Supervisor Andy Park told ComicBook.com. "So, I have nothing to spill, 'cause I don't even know what the future is. The only thing I've read … these thing are going to take at least 12 months to 18 months for something to even happen." But when the two slates of Marvel characters do combine together, it sounds like Feige will definitely be the one in charge of it all. "I think it only makes sense," Disney president Bob Iger said in a recent interview. "I want to be careful here because of what's been communicated to the Fox folks, but I think they know. It only makes sense for Marvel to be supervised by one entity. There shouldn't be two Marvels." Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019; the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019; and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019.
Like I said before, if it's all but a certainty, I don't see why Fox cant just license out specific parts now. Like an advance.
