Disney Shuts Down Fox's "Adult Movie" Division, Lays off Thousands

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AndyDursin
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Re: Disney Buys Fox, Acquires Film/TV Assets, Fox Keeps Broadcast Outlets

#31 Post by AndyDursin »

I hope I'm wrong too. This deal really isn't a good thing for anyone other than comic book nerds.

tjguitar85
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Re: Disney Buys Fox, Acquires Film/TV Assets, Fox Keeps Broadcast Outlets

#32 Post by tjguitar85 »

AndyDursin wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2017 4:54 pm I hope I'm wrong too. This deal really isn't a good thing for anyone other than comic book nerds.
...and potentially those with RSN's in FOX markets. The FOX RSN's (other than YES) are really lacking in local content compared to the Comcast RSNs, NESN, etc. Who knows what Disney will do with them, but I can't imagine they make them worse. ESPN already has studios in Los Angeles and some of the other markets, so it'd be nice if local versions of SportsCenter become a thing....

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Re: Disney Buys Fox, Acquires Film/TV Assets, Fox Keeps Broadcast Outlets

#33 Post by tjguitar85 »

Apparently Comcast is trying to swoop in on the FOX assets being offered to Disney. Is that any better?

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3328120-c ... fox-assets

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Re: Disney Buys Fox, Acquires Film/TV Assets, Fox Keeps Broadcast Outlets

#34 Post by AndyDursin »

Makes more sense from a content perspective. Universal has more avenues for, and likely interest in, the kinds of mature programming Fox produces and FX airs. They probably wouldn't shut down Fox's "adult" properties as Disney may well do. They also IMO would likely distribute Fox's back catalog more freely than Disney would.

The only thing that makes sense for Disney in the Fox acquisition deal really is the Marvel stuff, which is understandable...the rest of it is a strange marriage between companies whose content output seems to be totally divergent otherwise.

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Re: Disney Buys Fox, Acquires Film/TV Assets, Fox Keeps Broadcast Outlets

#35 Post by AndyDursin »

Fascinating that Comcast actually outbid Disney for Fox's assets but were spurned because of regulatory concerns. Now, however, they are thinking about putting in another bid while making some tweaks to the deal:

http://deadline.com/2018/02/comcast-mul ... 202285921/

I'd obviously rather not see Fox get sold to anyone, but at this point, "anyone but Disney" would be fine with me, as I personally don't believe Disney will have an interest in maintaining Fox's content output in the long-term. At least Universal does produce some R-rated fare and has produced adult-oriented TV shows (would be a much better fit for FX, etc.)

And of course, who doesn't want to see millions of Marvel fanboys cry out in hysterics over their dream merger falling apart? :lol:

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Re: Disney Buys Fox, Acquires Film/TV Assets, Fox Keeps Broadcast Outlets

#36 Post by tjguitar85 »

Based on what I saw in the article, they seem to think the hold up is owning cable networks. Why wouldn't that also be an issue with Disney? Both Comcast and Disney have major national cable networks. I guess Comcast would get a near monopoly on RSN's vs Disney who currently has 0.

If Comcast doesn't take FX, FXX etc, and FOX doesn't produce any scripted entertainment, what would FOX program on those channels? Or would they just sell them to someone else?

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Re: Disney Buys Fox, Acquires Film/TV Assets, Fox Keeps Broadcast Outlets

#37 Post by AndyDursin »

tjguitar85 wrote: Thu Feb 15, 2018 6:56 pm Based on what I saw in the article, they seem to think the hold up is owning cable networks. Why wouldn't that also be an issue with Disney?
I agree, it would be -- there are definitely issues there as well because Disney owns a slew of major cable outlets (all the ESPNs, all the Disney Channel variants, Freeform). If Comcast would be subjected to a monopoly dissection, so too would Disney you'd imagine (even though they seem to think there'd be lesser resistance there). I mean, if ESPN gets all those RSN's, wouldn't THAT be a monopoly in the world of sports broadcasting? Comcast/NBC doesnt have as much of a national footprint outside NBC Sports Channel, whereas ESPN has a handful of national channels.

From what I've read, whether Comcast goes after Fox is going to be predicated on how the government looks at the AT&T/Time Warner merger. If that goes through, people seem to expect Comcast will definitely reignite their pursuit of Fox.
If Comcast doesn't take FX, FXX etc, and FOX doesn't produce any scripted entertainment, what would FOX program on those channels? Or would they just sell them to someone else?
I would imagine they would sell to someone else. A lot of Fox's impetus to make this deal is geared to sell the "entertainment" part of the company off, and get out of the "high risk" game of scripted entertainment and its uncertain future (whereas in paying top dollar for Thursday Night Football, Fox knows roughly what that investment will bring in). I'd expect Sony or any number of other outlets would be interested in FX, FXX, etc. at the right price.

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Re: Disney Buys Fox, Acquires Film/TV Assets, Fox Keeps Broadcast Outlets

#38 Post by AndyDursin »

Been very little on this recently, but Fox held what many feel will be their last Cinemacon event today. Nobody mentioned Disney but it's clearly over for the people who work at Fox and they all know it. Disney is undoubtedly going to dismantle Fox as soon as the deal is over, just as I assumed they would. They want Fox's cable channels and will take the catalog as programming fare for Disney's new streaming service.

What they do going forward, after everyone at Fox loses their jobs, will be interesting to see. Will they sell off Fox properties to other studios? Use the name as a Touchstone Pictures like banner for whatever "adult content" they DO want to produce?

Either way, say adios while you can before it becomes part of the Disney brand and goes away.

http://deadline.com/2018/04/20th-centur ... 1202377626

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Re: Disney Buys Fox, Acquires Film/TV Assets, Fox Keeps Broadcast Outlets

#39 Post by KevinEK »

I just saw another article on Comcast potentially coming in on this deal.
From everything I can see, it would be a better scenario for Comcast to acquire the Fox assets and programming - and it would be a lot more compatible with where their company is than it would be for Disney.
Fox has been on borrowed time for quite a while, in that they've been borrowing against their own value for far too long.

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Re: Disney Buys Fox, Acquires Film/TV Assets, Fox Keeps Broadcast Outlets

#40 Post by AndyDursin »

I've written just that in this thread previously.

At least Universal would do something with Fox. Disney has no mechanism in place for R rated fare or Fox Searchlight beyond the cheapie Marvel shows they send to Netflix (which is right where Deadpool would have gone if they held the rights...would never have been a movie). I can't see them having a big interest in the type of programming FX produces. Universal on the other hand would and it would better match up with their sensibilities. At least it would make a lot more sense. I could see Comcast making another Alien or Die Hard....why would Disney have an interest in that?

If the DOJ loses the Time Warner/At&t merger, the decision of which is coming down very soon, then Comcast may be a big player in this after all.

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Re: Fox For Sale - Disney and (Maybe) Comcast Jockeying For Position

#41 Post by KevinEK »

The article I saw also suggests that Comcast could simply bid up the price and force Disney to pay a much higher amount than they were thinking. Something about this exercise being a bit of revenge between Comcast and Disney - since I think Comcast wanted to try to acquire something of Disney a few years ago and got rebuffed. This time, they either wrest Fox from Disney's grasp or make it super expensive for them. A lot of this has to do with corporate machinations and kids not playing very well with each other.

But I agree that we will learn a lot more soon - and we both agree Comcast would be a much better home for Fox's production output. Still would mean that a bunch of execs would lose their positions, but it might essentially maintain a lot of the producers who have production deals within Fox.

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Re: Fox For Sale - Disney and (Maybe) Comcast Jockeying For Position

#42 Post by AndyDursin »

Heres the Reuters story. Never thought I'd be pulling for Comcast but I am in this instance.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fox- ... SKBN1I82I7

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Re: Fox For Sale - Disney and (Maybe) Comcast Jockeying For Position

#43 Post by AndyDursin »

Heres the Reuters story. Never thought I'd be pulling for Comcast but I am in this instance. All cash deal? That's serious.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-fox- ... SKBN1I82I7

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Re: Fox For Sale - Disney and (Maybe) Comcast Jockeying For Position

#44 Post by AndyDursin »

The Sports Regional Network side of this also would fit better with Comcast, as they have RSN's all over the country already and a network in place.

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Re: Fox For Sale - Disney and (Maybe) Comcast Jockeying For Position

#45 Post by tjguitar85 »

AndyDursin wrote: Tue May 08, 2018 10:51 am The Sports Regional Network side of this also would fit better with Comcast, as they have RSN's all over the country already and a network in place.

Not to mention, the Comcast RSN's seem to have so much more local sports content than the FOX RSN's. In both Arizona and Southern California, The FOX RSN's basically just cover the teams they have the game rights for. NBC Sports Net in Northern California covers the entire region including the NFL and college teams which don't air on their networks.

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