21st Century Fox has been holding talks to sell most of the company to Disney

[Finger Cookin]

I think it's important to keep in mind that the worth and value of Disney regaining the properties it licensed to Fox are insignificant in terms of the scope of this deal. It's much more interesting in what this means for Hulu, for Sky, and influence the Murdoch's might have on the Disney board.

This is coming from someone who watches every Disney and Fox movie related to Marvel characters already. The merger won't change that.

Originally Posted by Wormius

I am kind of surprised Disney didn't take this opportunity to be the hero and dismantle Fox News. I guess that would have been a bit too political for Disney.

Fox is interested in selling TV and movie production. It is not interested in selling its news properties.

[sureLoss]

There is also an NHL aspect to this deal, which might point more and more to the NHL returning to ESPN (owned by Disney) when the contract is up with NBC in 2021.

Fox's regional sports networks have the regional NHL TV rights for: Anaheim, Arizona, Carolina, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Florida, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Tampa Bay

Not confirmed yet, but sounds like those deals will transfer to Disney.

[iggy_oi]

I’m not sure expecting better movies with less competition between studios is sensible. It’s reminiscent of when WWE bought WCW, at the time WWE was one of the most popular programs on tv, but when they lost their only major competition the product suffered(and never recovered)because they knew their fan base had no other options, this combined with their more family friendly format change IMO led to a lot fans switching to UFC.

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

There is also an NHL aspect to this deal, which might point more and more to the NHL returning to ESPN (owned by Disney) when the contract is up with NBC in 2021.

Fox's regional sports networks have the regional NHL TV rights for: Anaheim, Arizona, Carolina, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Florida, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Tampa Bay

Not confirmed yet, but sounds like those deals will transfer to Disney.

Are the regional sports networks going to transfer to Disney at all? Articles I've read don't mention them specifically, but mention that local stations, Fox News, Fox Broadcasting Co., and the Fox Sports channel (FS1) not being included in any potential deal.

[speede5]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

I’m not sure expecting better movies with less competition between studios is sensible. It’s reminiscent of when WWE bought WCW, at the time WWE was one of the most popular programs on tv, but when they lost their only major competition the product suffered(and never recovered)because they knew their fan base had no other options, this combined with their more family friendly format change IMO led to a lot fans switching to UFC.

You must not follow stocks very close. WWE is doing quite well.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

Are the regional sports networks going to transfer to Disney at all? Articles I've read don't mention them specifically, but mention that local stations, Fox News, Fox Broadcasting Co., and the Fox Sports channel (FS1) not being included in any potential deal.

From the CNBC article:

The deal contemplates the sale of Fox's Nat Geo, Star, regional sports networks, movie studios and stakes in Sky and Hulu, among other properties. What would remain at Fox includes its news and business news divisions, broadcast network and Fox sports.

FS1 is their national channel.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by speede5

You must not follow stocks very close. WWE is doing quite well.

I’m talking about the product itself. The ratings for WWE programming have dropped to almost half their peak(right before the purchase of WCW)

I don’t watch wrestling anymore, but haven’t the last few WWE events in the city been at the corral instead of the dome? That to me suggests the product is suffering.

Disney will no doubt continue to grow as a result of this, but as a consumer I’m not concerned with their stocks, I’m concerned about the product that may begin to deteriorate.

[Finger Cookin]

There's other factors involved with ratings declines in any TV show - like there being a billion alternatives to watch now, and that more people use services like Hulu and Netflix now instead of just watching traditional TV.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

There's other factors involved with ratings declines in any TV show - like there being a billion alternatives to watch now, and that more people use services like Hulu and Netflix now instead of just watching traditional TV.

This is true. But the general consensus among fans seems to be that the quality of the product has diminished significantly. And the ratings prior to their peak were much lower as well, in fact they were almost put out of business because WCW was destroying them in ratings.

[Nadal Fan]

Besides X-Men fox also has Avatar, Independence Day, Planet of the Apes I wonder if any of those would get rebooted under Disney. I would love for Apes to continue but I'd be concerned if Disney was at the helm.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Nadal Fan

Besides X-Men fox also has Avatar, Independence Day, Planet of the Apes I wonder if any of those would get rebooted under Disney. I would love for Apes to continue but I'd be concerned if Disney was at the helm.

Avatar is already slated for 4 sequels ( Avatar 2 & 3 are currently filming and 4 & 5 planned). Disney even added a new Avatar sequel based area to Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World that opened a few months ago. If anything Disney already had a financial interest in the Avatar franchise doing well, this just increases it and probably makes it more likely all the sequels get made.

[speede5]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

There's other factors involved with ratings declines in any TV show - like there being a billion alternatives to watch now, and that more people use services like Hulu and Netflix now instead of just watching traditional TV.

WWE is making their money with their monthly pay per view package. Stock has almost doubled in the last year or thereabouts.

[Azure]

I think we as consumers will have to accept that there will never be ONE streaming network like Netflix with rights to everything we want to watch.

Disney competing head on with Netflix might be a good thing for getting more great original content out there. Which would be better for us.

But we'll probably have to pay another $10 per month to watch it.

[getbak]

If this deal goes through, it will give Disney 60% control of Hulu (Disney, Fox, and Comcast each own 30% and Time-Warner owns 10%).

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by speede5

WWE is making their money with their monthly pay per view package. Stock has almost doubled in the last year or thereabouts.

The company is performing well because they have diversified with things like the creation of the WWE network. The current live product does not have the same demand it used to either. The WWE relies on bringing back aging stars so fans buy the PPV for nostalgia, they have no incentive to improve their product because fans continue to buy the same recycled ideas and stars because their is no other real alternative, especially when you consider that children make up a large portion of their fan base so ufc isn’t an option.

My concern is that any entertainment company(like Disney in this case) who increasingly eliminates their competition IMO runs the risk of their product becoming bland if consumers have no choice but to continue buying a now inferior product because there is no alternative for the product. I think what happened with the WWE product is a good example of this. And like the WWE I think because Disney knows people will always want to watch movies, old and new, and these acquisitions makes them the biggest producer of new films and owner of the most franchise and back catalog licenses, so they will continue to make money even if their newer product isn’t well received. If they can continue to grow off royalties alone, where is the incentive to improve their product?

[nik-]

What is their incentive to improve their product now?

All of these studios are putting out the same thing again and again and making 500+ million a shot. It's all formulaic at this point. No, massive mergers aren't good for the industry, but at this point it doesn't matter. The industry is not good for the industry.

[GreenLantern]

I'd love to see a X-Men vs. Avengers movie.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by nik-

What is their incentive to improve their product now?

All of these studios are putting out the same thing again and again and making 500+ million a shot. It's all formulaic at this point. No, massive mergers aren't good for the industry, but at this point it doesn't matter. The industry is not good for the industry.

Their incentive to improve their product comes from having to compete for their share of the audience market. If their movies suck, the competition gets the consumers. If their is no competition and moviegoers have to take what is given to them, there is very little incentive to improve the product IMO.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

Don't worry, there's still Time Warner, Sony, NBC Universal/Comcast, Viacom, and MGM, among others.

and Vivid, don't forget about the folks that bring you quality home entertainment.

as an aside, it stuns me that WWE stock is doing so well.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

There is also an NHL aspect to this deal, which might point more and more to the NHL returning to ESPN (owned by Disney) when the contract is up with NBC in 2021.

Fox's regional sports networks have the regional NHL TV rights for: Anaheim, Arizona, Carolina, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Florida, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Tampa Bay

Not confirmed yet, but sounds like those deals will transfer to Disney.

That's interesting. They also just recently bought most of MLBAM which own's NHL gamecenter. They'd own a lot of regional television rights for baseball and hockey, and also the out of market streaming rights. They might have some master plan for ESPN becoming how you watch all hockey and baseball.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybr.../#7f849a384a5d