Disney/FOX Acquisition Thread

[rhino4evr]

It's insane that this company started from a man drawing mouse cartoons, and has continued to thrive without him way after his death.

 

[rhino4evr]

Disney Sets Deal To Acquire Most Of Fox In Game-Changing Hollywood Merger | Deadline

Noteworthy points:
Iger will be CEO until 2021 :bang:
James Murdoch might become head of Television.
The main studio and Searchlight should remain largely intact. The TV networks on the other hand are trickier to forecast.

I'm not sure why people have a problem with Iger. Especially theme park fans.

 

[Macfr3ak]

This is extremely sad/bad news for Universal

 

[s8film40]

It's insane that this company started from a man drawing mouse cartoons, and has continued to thrive without him way after his death.

Depends on your definition of thrive. If thriving means buying other peoples stuff sure. I would say the company is obviously successful, but has continuously declined in vision and creativity since losing it's founder. I expect this merger to further drift Disney away from what Disney was, but yes I think they will find a way to have great financial success with this.

 

[s8film40]

This is extremely sad/bad news for Universal

Yeah, I agree. Content is everything, Comcast is focused too much on delivering that content. If a new better way to deliver that content appears in the near future they could see much of their business vanish and be left with a whole lot less content to keep them relevant.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

It's insane that this company started from a man drawing mouse cartoons, and has continued to thrive without him way after his death.

Because it’s not that anymore. See the countless parodies of corporate interval videos that state the multi country conglomerate started in the 1800s making wooden dentures.

I'm not sure why people have a problem with Iger. Especially theme park fans.

Stagnation for years at WDW and DLP. Doesn’t affect all fans.

This is extremely sad/bad news for Universal

Eh, not really. It’s bad for theater owners and those working in the entertainment industry though.

 

[KengKun]

What will happen to Springfield in USO and USH?

 

[zg44]

What will happen to Springfield in USO and USH?

They'll continue unchanged until the expiration of the Simpsons contract at which point the rights will revert to Disney (sometime in the late 2020s).

It's insane that this company started from a man drawing mouse cartoons, and has continued to thrive without him way after his death.

To be fair, this is entirely due to the 1995 Disney-ABC merger which brought ABC and ESPN into the fold; those are nearly 2/3s of the value of the current Disney conglomerate and which gave them the power to make so many purchases under Iger.

 

[KengKun]

Then in the late 2020s, they'll need to replace Springfield?

 

[Macfr3ak]

Eh, not really. It’s bad for theater owners and those working in the entertainment industry though.

I feel like it is. Specially for the theme park division and its fans. The fact that Disney rivals universal in the theme park sector and can now hog these properties is not a good thing. I absolutely believe that if Marvel was not owned by Disney at the current moment.. Marvel island would've gone through one of the biggest renovations at the property.. I don't want to get into the whole contract debate of what universal can or cant do with the properties but it definitely adds a factor that obviously hinders the creativity of innovation. NOW throw in the Simpsons (currently at Universals parks) Also X-Men and all of the properties that were just taken off of the shelf not only by this deal but possibly the AT&T Time Warner deal for universals liking and this war starts to get ugly.

I know universal has a bunch of properties of their own and now even more so with dreamwork's but lets be honest they seem to go with whats popular and they don't do a very good job of reviving properties that they own.

Just sucks for Universal fans in a way.. starts to make you think.. how long before some one makes a bid for Sony film properties. Also Nintendo as a whole.. if i were universal i would want to avoid another Marvel situation from happening.

 

[zg44]

Then in the late 2020s, they'll need to replace Springfield?

Yes, all these contracts work in such a way that if they expire without a new contract extending it, the attraction must shut down on the expiration date.

Look at Harry Potter for example; that contract has 2 built in extensions after which it expires on June 30, 2029. So if Universal doesn't sign a new contract with WB before that, it has to shut them down on that date. The license expires and they would be in breach of contract if they still sell merchandise or keep the rides open after that date.

Universal will begin planning a new attraction to replace Simpsons within a few years of the expiration.

 

[quinnmac000]

This is extremely sad/bad news for Universal

Actually the opposite. You never know when something special will come up for sale now.

 

[Macfr3ak]

Actually the opposite. You never know when something special will come up for sale now.

Specialties are becoming a rarity

 

[UniversalRBLX]

So several things possibly happening at Universal HQ right now: (They probably have already thought about this)
> Keep Simpsons to expiration date or should Nintendo gobble up this space later on?
>American Horror Story? At this point, if they don't have a multi-year contract might as well try to get Stranger Things.
>Keep Marvel as long as you can

 

[Magic-Man]

So several things possibly happening at Universal HQ right now: (They probably have already thought about this)
> Keep Simpsons to expiration date or should Nintendo gobble up this space later on?
>American Horror Story? At this point, if they don't have a multi-year contract might as well try to get Stranger Things.
>Keep Marvel as long as you can

I still think they should buy out Netflix as a whole.

Edit: And DC comics

 

[zg44]

Actually the opposite. You never know when something special will come up for sale now.

Exactly, and who has the biggest pockets in the business with the strongest cash flow and fastest growing media operations among legacy media companies? Comcast and NBCUniversal.

Comcast is an absolute buyer under every scenario. Disney purchasing Fox's assets just opened up the game. And there will be a lot of other sellers.

Viacom, Sony Pictures, Lionsgate, MGM all look very undersized right now compared to Disney, Comcast and AT&T-TimeWarner.

So several things possibly happening at Universal HQ right now: (They probably have already thought about this)
> Keep Simpsons to expiration date or should Nintendo gobble up this space later on?
>American Horror Story? At this point, if they don't have a multi-year contract might as well try to get Stranger Things.
>Keep Marvel as long as you can

Universal will keep MSHI forever in IoA.

Specialties are becoming a rarity

A couple of other Big 6 studios are likely to sell in the future.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

What will happen to Springfield in USO and USH?

Nothing for a long time.

I feel like it is. Specially for the theme park division and its fans. The fact that Disney rivals universal in the theme park sector and can now hog these properties is not a good thing. I absolutely believe that if Marvel was not owned by Disney at the current moment.. Marvel island would've gone through one of the biggest renovations at the property.. I don't want to get into the whole contract debate of what universal can or cant do with the properties but it definitely adds a factor that obviously hinders the creativity of innovation. NOW throw in the Simpsons (currently at Universals parks) Also X-Men and all of the properties that were just taken off of the shelf not only by this deal but possibly the AT&T Time Warner deal for universals liking and this war starts to get ugly.

I know universal has a bunch of properties of their own and now even more so with dreamwork's but lets be honest they seem to go with whats popular and they don't do a very good job of reviving properties that they own.

Just sucks for Universal fans in a way.. starts to make you think.. how long before some one makes a bid for Sony film properties. Also Nintendo as a whole.. if i were universal i would want to avoid another Marvel situation from happening.

You’ve stated you don’t want to debate the Marvel contract despite bringing it up, so I’ll just leave it at you’re over reacting.

So several things possibly happening at Universal HQ right now: (They probably have already thought about this)
> Keep Simpsons to expiration date or should Nintendo gobble up this space later on?
>American Horror Story? At this point, if they don't have a multi-year contract might as well try to get Stranger Things.
>Keep Marvel as long as you can

1) Contract probably has cancellation penalties.
2) Final approval will be in 2019, they have 18 months or so to renew the multi year contract.
3) ok? They have it into perpetuity and both companies have stated they don’t see it changing.

 

[quinnmac000]

Exactly, and who has the biggest pockets in the business with the strongest cash flow and fastest growing media operations among legacy media companies? Comcast and NBCUniversal.

Comcast is an absolute buyer under every scenario. Disney purchasing Fox's assets just opened up the game. And there will be a lot of other sellers.

Viacom, Sony Pictures, Lionsgate, MGM all look very undersized right now compared to Disney, Comcast and AT&T-TimeWarner.

Add in StudioCanal, ITV, and all the foreign entities looking to expand as well. Also add Discovery in the mix.

Another hidden benefit for Comcast based on Iger's statements, its seems Hulu will be the premier Disney streaming service. Even with 30% ownership, thats a lot of profits for little work especially since Hulu currently only operates in Japan and the United States.

Sky and Star are nice but I don't Disney fully thought out the effects of Brexit and its effect on Sky operations within Europe being diminished. And India is not a upcoming major market anytime soon.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Another hidden benefit for Comcast based on Iger's statements, its seems Hulu will be the premier Disney streaming service. Even with 30% ownership, thats a lot of profits for little work especially since Hulu currently only operates in Japan and the United States.

What? No. He said Disney is going ahead with their streaming service and will use Hulu as the adult and M rated content dumping ground.

 

[Scott W.]

Crazy.