The Rebooted "Keep Hope Alive" (that the rights can revert back to Marvel) Thread - - - - - - - - - Part 18

[Dark Raven]

If, hypothetically, Disney only had a casual interest in Sky, it would be in their interest to say they had a strong interest (since they know Comcast is interested and any value they will get from Comcast will be greater if they at least pretend they're very interested also).

And if, hypothetically, Comcast only had a casual interest in Fox, it would be in their best interest to say they had a strong interest (since we know Disney is interested and Comcast's bargaining position will be stronger if they indicate they want Fox plus Sky).

Judging either company's real interest is difficult because of the situation.

If a poker player says they've got a great hand, maybe they do, maybe they don't. There's no way to know because it's all part of the game.

On the other hand, if either were still trying to woo that female Fox shareholder, I don't know if it's better to say they have only a causal interest in her or a strong interest. Sometimes both tactics can work or backfire.

 

[MasterCat]

Star I think is probably one of the most intriguing assets Fox has. More so, what is very interesting is how under the radar they've been, getting little to no attention in just about every article and discussion on this topic. It's an asset with huge potential, giving whoever owns it a foothold into the South Asian market. Comcast no doubt has their eye on that asset.

I agree. What kind of money do Disney films make in India? I'm under the impression that the Indian market is almost entirely domestic. If so, Disney content on Star could be a Trojan horse to open up the Indian cinema market as well as a business in its own right.

 

[Detective Conan]

Looks the Cheetopuff-in-Chief is ******** over ABC.

Could The President turn against the Fox/Disney deal and try to get it blocked like has with the AT&T merger? Yes, I’m aware that Trump has ties to Murdoch and he reacted favorably to the deal(mostly because it won’t impact his daily consumption of Fox & Friends) but perhaps he might do a 180 and turn his back on Murdoch, and oppose the deal like he does with the pending AT&T/Time Warner?

After all, even if the Disney deal fell through and Comcast did end up acquiring Fox it wouldn’t impact Fox News at all since that portion of Fox still stays with Murdoch(He’s only selling the Film/television assets; Fox Sports and News are not being sold off).

Hmm....

 

[Dark Raven]

Because Rosanne was cancelled he's butt hurt? Or some other reason?

 

[Detective Conan]

Because Rosanne was cancelled he's butt hurt? Or some other reason?

Nope. He’s fuming over the ‘liberal’ ABC criticizing him and feels entitled to just as much of an apology as the Roseanne’s target(Valeria Jarret).

 

[Big Bang]

Could The President turn against the Fox/Disney deal and try to get it blocked like has with the AT&T merger?

No. The AT&T/TWX deal has actual justification for blocking it on the grounds of combining Turner Broadcasting with DirectTV. Any argument for blocking a deal has to provide legal justification for doing so.

President Trump can't, and won't, get involved in the Disney/Fox deal.

 

[Orba]

Looks the Cheetopuff-in-Chief is ******** over ABC.

Could The President turn against the Fox/Disney deal and try to get it blocked like has with the AT&T merger? Yes, I’m aware that Trump has ties to Murdoch and he reacted favorably to the deal(mostly because it won’t impact his daily consumption of Fox & Friends) but perhaps he might do a 180 and turn his back on Murdoch, and oppose the deal like he does with the pending AT&T/Time Warner?

After all, even if the Disney deal fell through and Comcast did end up acquiring Fox it wouldn’t impact Fox News at all since that portion of Fox still stays with Murdoch(He’s only selling the Film/television assets; Fox Sports and News are not being sold off).

Hmm....

Don't forget that Rupert Murdoch wants the deal to happen with Disney, and Murdoch is someone with a direct line to Trump. And Disney includes Ike Perlmutter, another buddy of Trump's.

 

[ADollarADay]

Please keep politics out of this thread. The only relevant point here is that POTUS cannot make a decision on any merger, that includes T/TWX or any FOXA/FOX merger.

Star I think is probably one of the most intriguing assets Fox has. More so, what is very interesting is how under the radar they've been, getting little to no attention in just about every article and discussion on this topic. It's an asset with huge potential, giving whoever owns it a foothold into the South Asian market. Comcast no doubt has their eye on that asset.

On the Sky front, Comcast seems to be inching more closely to being in the top spot to get it. Letting Sky go ultimately I think is going to make the most fiscal sense.

Just found this article that puts all of this in perspective, and really gives focus on what the real driving force is going to be (i.e., the Cloud).

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/last-mile-dominance-cannot-help-164105321.html

Interesting article. Thing is Disney (and others) will have and have been investing in cloud. Disney specifically is doing so through Bam. They will have to have loads of data centers for ESPN/ESPN+, Disney streaming, and presumably Hulu. It's a necessity.

Regarding Star, I agree. I think the sharks at Disney and Comcast know that though. India is going through a transformation right now. Not saying they'll ever get like China, but the BO, licensing, products etc could be huge there. Don't be surprised if a Disneyland eventually opens there in the next 20 years as well.

I agree. What kind of money do Disney films make in India? I'm under the impression that the Indian market is almost entirely domestic. If so, Disney content on Star could be a Trojan horse to open up the Indian cinema market as well as a business in its own right.

Indian movies are mostly domestic affairs, correct. Mainly Bollywood. Iger did mention that in an interview recently where the breakout hits will be mainly domestic movies and they are investing in that.

That said, IW has done fantastic and tripled the 2nd best Marvel movie there at ~45MM. Jungle Book also did well. See above about India and what I think its future might hold.

 

[Big Bang]

Interesting article. Thing is Disney (and others) will have and have been investing in cloud. Disney specifically is doing so through Bam. They will have to have loads of data centers for ESPN/ESPN+, Disney streaming, and presumably Hulu. It's a necessity.

Cloud streaming, yes. As far as large cloud infrastructure, that is primarily the realm of big tech. Namely Amazon and Microsoft, and to a slightly lesser extent Google and Apple. Even Disney and Netflix mostly rents cloud infrastructure from the large providers, and that is where the major threat of the tech firms creeps in.

Regarding Star, I agree. I think the sharks at Disney and Comcast know that though. India is going through a transformation right now. Not saying they'll ever get like China, but the BO, licensing, products etc could be huge there. Don't be surprised if a Disneyland eventually opens there in the next 20 years as well.

Yeah, I think too that it is only a matter of time before major theme parks start opening in South Asia. It is probably only a matter of time before Disney creates a character for the Princess line that hails from that region to cash in alongside any parks they implement.

 

[ADollarADay]

Cloud streaming, yes. As far as large cloud infrastructure, that is primarily the realm of big tech. Namely Amazon and Microsoft, and to a slightly lesser extent Google and Apple. Even Disney and Netflix mostly rents cloud infrastructure from the large providers, and that is where the major threat of the tech firms creeps in.

I wasn't trying to suggest they would put up a major cloud infrastructure to challenge AWS or Azure. Too costly and they are way too late to the game. I can only see 4 or 5 major players there that probably control greater than 90% of the market, and hence most of the internet. The threat of that is pretty big, to your point.

Yeah, I think too that it is only a matter of time before major theme parks start opening in South Asia. It is probably only a matter of time before Disney creates a character for the Princess line that hails from that region to cash in alongside any parks they implement.

Iger recently talked about this. Mainly looking for other places, he hinted at a 2nd park at DLS, a 2nd resort in China (presumably Chongqing) and somewhere else in the world. He was asked about India and I think it's probably in the pipeline once the middle class grows.

 

[DyfeddRex]

I wasn't trying to suggest they would put up a major cloud infrastructure to challenge AWS or Azure. Too costly and they are way too late to the game. I can only see 4 or 5 major players there that probably control greater than 90% of the market, and hence most of the internet. The threat of that is pretty big, to your point.



Iger recently talked about this. Mainly looking for other places, he hinted at a 2nd park at DLS, a 2nd resort in China (presumably Chongqing) and somewhere else in the world. He was asked about India and I think it's probably in the pipeline once the middle class grows.

I wouldn't be so sure they won't do their own server farm/data center at some point. Sometimes, it is safer to keep your data on your own, which is why so many social medias are doing their own. (Facebook just announced a new dc here in utah, so makes sense to me for Disney to try handling it themselves, but the people to run/design them are the hardest part to get, not the tech).

As for the other locations for a Dizland, Brazil maybe? who knows. Only Iger.

 

[DyfeddRex]

On the other hand, if either were still trying to woo that female Fox shareholder, I don't know if it's better to say they have only a causal interest in her or a strong interest. Sometimes both tactics can work or backfire.

Still waiting on response to the bribe offer, as I don't do "woo" pitching.

 

[Bach]

I don't really think Disney'll let Comcast have Sky to be honest.

 

[Marvel united]

In 10 days all hell breaks loose and Comcast will attack

 

[Big Bang]

I don't really think Disney'll let Comcast have Sky to be honest.

At the moment, I see Comcast coming out with 61% of Sky and Disney getting Fox's 39%. Whatever happens after that is anyone's guess.

In 10 days all hell breaks loose and Comcast will attack

Interestingly, ever since that expert spoke up and said he thinks the Gov is going to win, I've seen an uptick in articles speaking to that point and an abrupt drop in articles about AT&T succeeding. Not evidence of any sort that matters, but I found it interesting.

 

[Detective Conan]

[YT]PT-Pm_rOtJA[/YT]

 

[Iceman]

Some big days coming up. Just hope it all works out.

 

[Tymminator]

I didn’t watch it, but due to past things she has done and said, I just can’t take Grace Randolf seriously at all.

 

[Detective Conan]

I didn’t watch it, but due to past things she has done and said, I just can’t take Grace Randolf seriously at all.

I kind of think of Grace as the female John Campea(to some degree) but I do think in this video she gives a thorough breakdown of the situation right now which I think can be useful for anyone in this thread who's not well versed in the area of how corporate mergers work, and wants to understand this better.

 

[ADollarADay]

Interestingly, ever since that expert spoke up and said he thinks the Gov is going to win, I've seen an uptick in articles speaking to that point and an abrupt drop in articles about AT&T succeeding. Not evidence of any sort that matters, but I found it interesting.

Which expert is that?

 

[Big Bang]

Which expert is that?

Herbert Hovenkamp. A University of Pennsylvania law and business professor who is described as being an antitrust expert. First I've ever heard of him, but multiple publications seem to be giving him quite a bit of credibility.

One such article:
https://www.thewrap.com/att-time-warner-merger-blocked-deal-expert/

 

[Flint Marko]

So I asked this in the Cinematic Universe thread when this was being discussed a few weeks back and only heard crickets, so I figure this would probably be a better place to ask:

What sort of objective, inarguable benefits would there be for consumers if Comcast ended up purchasing 20th Century Fox instead of Disney?

Obviously we as fans want the Marvel heroes to be folded back into Disney's control, but why are there people rooting for Comcast to upend the Disney deal? I asked this when people in that thread said they'd prefer Comcast because they don't want to see Disney grow any larger.... but Comcast is also a giant, ever-growing media conglomerate. So what's the benefit? Why would anyone want Comcast to win this bidding war?

Apologies if this has been covered already and I just missed it.

 

[Detective Conan]

Obviously we as fans want the Marvel heroes to be folded back into Disney's control, but why are there people rooting for Comcast to upend the Disney deal? I asked this when people in that thread said they'd prefer Comcast because they don't want to see Disney grow any larger.... but Comcast is also a giant, ever-growing media conglomerate. So what's the benefit? Why would anyone want Comcast to win this bidding war?

Well in terms of the comic book film side of things there are Fox X-Men fans who fear that if the Mouse got control of the property then they would sanitise it and you wouldn’t get any more R-rated comic book films like ‘Logan’ and ‘Deadpool’ plus you also have those who feel Disney already has too much going for it already since they already have Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars so they feel that Disney getting Fox would hurt the film industry in the long-run since Disney doesn’t really do indie movies(they’re a franchise-driven company). So if Comcast wins they’d likely keep Fox as a subsidiary they own, and let them continue on with their period piece based X-films like nothing ever happened(I don’t want this) and allow Fox to keep making R-rated comic book films.

Can’t answer the first part of your question as I’m not much in the know of the business side of things. I’ll leave that to much smarter people like Big Bang to answer stuff.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

Well in terms of the comic book film side of things there are Fox X-Men fans who fear that if the Mouse got control of the property then they would sanitise it and you wouldn’t get any more R-rated comic book films like ‘Logan’ and ‘Deadpool’ plus you also have those who feel Disney already has too much going for it already since they already have Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars so they feel that Disney getting Fox would hurt the film industry in the long-run since Disney doesn’t really do indie movies(they’re a franchise-driven company). So if Comcast wins they’d likely either keep Fox as a subsidiary they own and let continue on with the period piece based X-films like nothing happened(I don’t want this).

Can’t answer the first part of your question as I’m not in the know much of the business side of things. I’ll leave that to much smarter people like Big Bang to answer stuff that.

Until this deal was announced, I hadn't even imagined a Marvel X-Film, but now I'm excited by the prospect. After the first couple X-films, I became bored with Fox's cliché, formulaic, unambitious treatment of the franchise.

Marvel may have some tropes and a certain identifiable style, but they don't tell the same story with the same characters over and over again in the same way Fox has with the X-characters.

 

[Detective Conan]

Until this deal was announced, I hadn't even imagined a Marvel X-Film, but now I'm excited by the prospect. After the first couple X-films, I became bored with Fox's cliché, formulaic, unambitious treatment of the franchise.

Marvel may have some tropes and a certain identifiable style, but they don't tell the same story with the same characters over and over again in the same way Fox has with the X-characters.

The fact the Mutants are even this close to coming home is surreal. Even if Comcast wins out in the end I will never forget December 14th 2017! Personally I always wanted the FF to go back and was content with Fox keeping the Mutants but Dark Phoenix looks and sounds like a total turd-show so they’ve gonna have to reboot the franchise anyway so what better way than the MCU?