By Ben Munson June 22, 2018 | The Walt Disney Company is promising to sell off even more Fox assets if its $71 billion deal for the company’s studio and cable network businesses earns regulatory approval. In a filing with the SEC, Disney said that it would be willing to part ways with Fox assets representing up to $1 billion in total EBITDA. That’s an...
By Dade Hayes and Dawn C. Chmielewski June 20, 2018 | Disney CEO Bob Iger said changes in consumer habits are driving the company’s aggressive pursuit of 21st Century Fox studio and network assets. Facing historic levels of competition from Netflix and other digital players, traditional media powers have no choice but to act, he said in a conference call this morning with Wall Street analysts. “Direct-to-consumer distribution has actually become an even more...
By Keach Hagey and Erich Schwartzel June 20, 2018 | Walt Disney Co. raised its offer to purchase most of 21st Century Fox to more than $71.3 billion in cash and stock, topping an unsolicited offer from rival Comcast Corp. and escalating the bidding war for the coveted media properties. Disney’s new offer is far higher than its original deal, $52.4 billion in stock, and surpasses...
By Janko Roettgers July 19, 2018 | Roku plans to launch a marketplace for video subscription services in the coming months, which will allow consumers to sign up for and watch subscription services without the need to download separate apps on Roku devices, Variety has learned from multiple sources familiar with the company’s plans. The marketplace is said to be similar to Amazon Channels, a popular à la...
By Gerry Smith and Scott Moritz June 15, 2018 | HBO’s new owner is looking to devote more money to the network behind “Game of Thrones” and “Westworld.” John Stankey, the incoming head of AT&T Inc.’s entertainment division, plans to boost the service's original-programming budget to keep pace with deep-pocketed rivals like Netflix Inc. AT&T took over HBO and the rest of Time Warner Inc. on...
By Dawn C. Chmielewski and Dade Hayes June 14, 2018 | Comcast is prepared to make concessions, including shedding Fox’s stake in the online streaming service Hulu, in order to win regulatory approval for its $65 billion offer to acquire most of 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets, according to sources. The U.S. cable giant, in a competing bid submitted yesterday, promised to match any of the remedies...
By Peter Kafka June 12, 2018 | Verizon? Go right ahead. Charter? You, too. Amazon and other tech companies with billions to burn? Go for it. That’s the message from a federal judge, who has ruled today that AT&T can buy Time Warner — and, crucially, didn’t apply any restrictions to his decision. That clears the way for other “vertical” mergers, which means other...
By Stewart Clarke June 5, 2018 | The British government gave the green light Tuesday to 21st Century Fox’s bid to take over Sky, on condition that Sky News be offloaded to a third party such as Disney. The government also cleared a rival bid for Sky from Comcast, paving the way for the two U.S. media giants to battle it out for Europe’s biggest pay-TV company. Read more on...
(Above) 'Dear Dictator' is a new release from Cinedigm, which is pushing into China. By Stephanie Prange and Erik Guenwedel May 27, 2018 | In a marketplace dominated by major studio blockbusters and digital goliaths, indie film suppliers are holding their own in home entertainment. These scrappy companies are showing resourcefulness and cunning, embracing technology and industry consolidation, while staying true to their...
By Dade Hayes May 29, 2018 | “Comcast must be looking into the 10-year future,” veteran media analyst Todd Juenger, of Sanford Bernstein, writes, “and has concluded: 1) there will only be a handful of global, entertainment video services, 2) most of those slots are already taken (Netflix, Amazon, Google/YouTube, Facebook?, Apple?), 3) likely only one company from ‘old media’ can make it...
