assembled by Ray Keating
News/Analysis
DisneyBizJournal.com
March 20, 2019
The Wall Street Journal did a nice summary this morning on the now-completed Disney-Fox deal. Here are 6 quick takeaways from the Journal...
1. “Disney will now control Fox’s movie and television production studios, as well as its FX cable network, Fox Searchlight label and National Geographic properties.”
2. “Studios today need a deep stable of characters and franchises to sell streaming subscriptions, movie tickets, toys and theme-park admissions. That trend has led to rapid consolidation. AT&T Inc. acquired Time Warner Inc., a merger the telecom giant is planning to use to pipe entertainment onto its phones and launch its own direct-to-consumer streaming service. Comcast Corp. , to boost its NBCUniversal and Universal Pictures divisions, purchased DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. in 2016. CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc. are seen as a potential merger this year by industry analysts.”
3. “Disney’s rise has been driven by its acquisitions: For a combined $15.4 billion, the company has purchased Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd.”
4. “Disney is positioning its bet on Fox—by far the biggest acquisition in the company’s history—as a central element of its long-term strategy. The rise of Netflix has forced traditional studios to look for ways to create direct business relationships with consumers, skipping the multiplex and going directly into the home.”
5. “In a sign of the awkwardness of the Disney-Fox mashup, edgier Fox fare—such as FX shows like 'American Horror Story' or 'Pose' and movies like 'Deadpool' —will appear on streaming service Hulu, over which Disney will assume majority control now that the deal has closed. However, many FX shows are on Netflix and will remain there for some time.”
6. “Acquiring Fox’s 20th Century Fox Television Studio gives Disney one of the industry’s most prolific producers of content and a large library that includes such hits as ‘The Simpsons,’ ‘The X-Files’ and ‘Modern Family.’ Disney has put Fox’s television team in charge of its TV operations, including the ABC network, its cable networks and ABC Studios.”
Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels, with three books - Reagan Country: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel, Heroes and Villains: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Storyand Shifting Sands: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story– published in 2018. In addition, the second edition of Warrior Monk: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novelwas published in January 2019. He can be contacted at raykeating@keatingreports.com.
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