The Disney owns Fox thread

[Sithborg]

This quote from a CNN analyst should give everyone pause.

As for Fox, Wieser said the smaller entity could see some advantages from putting more concentrated attention on the news business, perhaps even integrating the Fox News channel more with its Fox broadcast stations.

Fox could expand its broadcast operations, helped along by a Federal Communications Commission vote on Thursday altering and possibly killing the national limit on local television station ownership. And with Sinclair Broadcasting Group posing a potential challenge to the dominance of Fox News, Fox could "nip that in the bud by taking a superior broadcast footprint," Wieser noted.

That is not a good thing. The only good thing is that Ailes is dead, as we was a major factor for Fox's brand of "fair and balanced".

 

[psylockolussus]

Can't wait for the Disney-Fox merger!

 

[Teelie]

It's terrible but hey we get Star Wars and Marvel movies under one studio so who cares if it ruins absolutely everything else!

Yeah. That narrow minded thinking is really helpful. The larger implications are absolutely terrible and they should not be allowed to go forward. It has the potential to be worse than many of the past mergers ever were and I really doubt Disney is going to let Fox run untouched or with the same degree of content it used to have.

The monopoly implications alone are absurd but it clearly does not matter because again, the X-Men can play nice with Spider-Man and the Avengers and we'll get some kind of unaltered ANH?

 

[terry78]

They also now own Hulu.

 

[Limonade]

They also now own Hulu.

They will own the stake that Fox had on Hulu. I don't think it's 100%, tho.

Maybe it's significant amount though. I'm too lazy to look it up.

 

[Kane52630]

It's 50%

 

[Wheels]

Does Disney own the publishing rights to the Buffyverse as well?

 

[HBarnill]

People will lose their damn jobs but hey, Star Wars and X-Men!

Better get my flamethrower.

 

[terry78]

It's 50%

Which may as well be all of it when Disney is your partner.

 

[Limonade]

Which may as well be all of it when Disney is your partner.

Oh sheeeet! Is that true? Disney was the other stake owner of Hulu?

Update: Okay you made me look it up, you devils.

30% Disney
30% Fox
30% Universal/Comcast
10% Time Warner
-----------------------------------------
Source: wikipedia

60% for Disney... yeah, dunno how this joint venture is going to work in Hulu now.

 

[green]

I believe they now have 60% in Hulu, 30% before and additional 30% with fox shares.

 

[Wheels]

Time Warner has a minority stake but Disney and Fox had the biggest shares.

 

[Steyin]

The larger implications are absolutely terrible and they should not be allowed to go forward. It has the potential to be worse than many of the past mergers ever were and I really doubt Disney is going to let Fox run untouched or with the same degree of content it used to have.

I haven't seen one person on this board explain the larger implications. Everyone just screams its great or its terrible.

As someone who knows little of past Disney mergers aside from them getting Lucasfilm/Marvel/ESPN/Pixar, etc, what are the pros and cons here?

I'd also think it would be stupid for Disney to significantly alter Fox film brands as more variation would be better for them than limiting the types of output they would produce.

 

[MadVillainy]

Did not know Disney would be getting a majority of Hulu

I mean if that's the case... Why start their own steaming service?

 

[Limonade]

Did not know Disney would be getting a majority of Hulu

I mean if that's the case... Why start their own steaming service?

They could push out the other stakeholders easier now.

Seems, to me, like this move for Fox is pretty deliberate and gained Disney lots of wins. This plan has been in works for a while.

Also, explains how they're going to do their own streaming service and pulling out of Netflix. Just by controlling Netflix direct competitor.

Spicy!

 

[green]

Did not know Disney would be getting a majority of Hulu

I mean if that's the case... Why start their own steaming service?

I wondered that too, especially after reading this part from Variety.
http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/disney-fox-merger-deal-52-4-billion-merger-1202631242/

The deal also gives Disney majority control of Hulu, as Disney also owns a 30% stake in the streaming giant. But that sets up a potential clash over the direction of the company with Comcast and Time Warner, who together own the remaining interest in Hulu. The expectation is that Disney will try to buy out those stakes, although Comcast may not be inclined to sell given that Disney intends to launch its own OTT services to compete with cable and other MVPDs.

 

[Sithborg]

I haven't seen one person on this board explain the larger implications. Everyone just screams its great or its terrible.

As someone who knows little of past Disney mergers aside from them getting Lucasfilm/Marvel/ESPN/Pixar, etc, what are the pros and cons here?

I'd also think it would be stupid for Disney to significantly alter Fox film brands as more variation would be better for them than limiting the types of output they would produce.

Disney now has a pretty major control of movie output. They can continue their bullying practices with even more power now. Also, News Corp is now a bit more free to expand the Fox New brand into their broadcast channels, which is not a good thing. Those are the big things for now, but with something this big, something else is bound to pop up in the details.

 

[David H.]

spooky

 

[MadVillainy]

I wondered that too, especially after reading this part from Variety.
http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/disney-fox-merger-deal-52-4-billion-merger-1202631242/

Then that probably means they will try to buy everything out and rebrand Hulu as their streaming service

 

[green]

Then that probably means they will try to buy everything out and rebrand Hulu as their streaming service

I could see them doing both. Keeping Hulu and using it to compete with Netflix and having a Disney channel that is solely Disney content. Who knows though. This whole thing is expected to take 18 months for regulatory review so we won't be getting any answers for awhile.

 

[green]

Does Disney own the publishing rights to the Buffyverse as well?

Yes, Disney gets the entire TV Whedonverse.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

It's terrible but hey we get Star Wars and Marvel movies under one studio so who cares if it ruins absolutely everything else!

Yeah. That narrow minded thinking is really helpful. The larger implications are absolutely terrible and they should not be allowed to go forward. It has the potential to be worse than many of the past mergers ever were and I really doubt Disney is going to let Fox run untouched or with the same degree of content it used to have.

The monopoly implications alone are absurd but it clearly does not matter because again, the X-Men can play nice with Spider-Man and the Avengers and we'll get some kind of unaltered ANH?

This is where I am at. I was fine with X-Men where they were personally. But so many franchises are now under them it's scary. For me, competition between studios is a good thing and means more good movies generally speaking.

Now a lot more movies are likely to be Disneyfied. And I speak as someone who likes a lot of their movies.

 

[Teelie]

I haven't seen one person on this board explain the larger implications. Everyone just screams its great or its terrible.

As someone who knows little of past Disney mergers aside from them getting Lucasfilm/Marvel/ESPN/Pixar, etc, what are the pros and cons here?

I'd also think it would be stupid for Disney to significantly alter Fox film brands as more variation would be better for them than limiting the types of output they would produce.

It's been said before, I even said it directly there but I will give it to you in a single easy to understand word: Monopoly. No they are not there yet but it is a massive consolidation of content under one roof. If you can't understand that then I'm afraid nothing else will get past your blinders.

Though besides that the other implications are that Disney will also be able to water down content (Fox has a long history of R-rated content that is almost certainly going to be Disneyfied) and further power to control copyright. They already forced their way into extending copyright laws into absurd centuries of ownership instead of after the death of the author. This kind of power only incentivizes them to increase it longer because if they lose ownership of such a huge amount of content to public works then their empire collapses.

Further, it means they have more control over prices of movie tickets, how much cable will charge for the channels and content they own. This is all about content and how to own as much of it as possible. They are going to use this to pull further content away from Netflix and onto their own streaming service, further fragmenting the streaming networks already there.

They own a huge chunk of pop culture now and this will stifle any attempts to fight them when they can just snuff out the competition by denying them a platform to air on. When Disney gets ownership of 60% of Hulu they can dictate to their preferences what new content can be aired.

It's a massive problem but because they might promise to not do certain things like not interfere with the studios independence (when has such a promise ever been truly kept?) they will inevitably decide they know better and become a literal WalMart of media.

Again, this is not new and a lot of comments have been made, even in this thread but if you bothered to read absolutely anything outside your sphere of comfort and an actual analysis of this you would know that already.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

 

[Teelie]

To be blunt: Angry. It is absolutely terrible to anyone who does not want to live in Disneyland.