Amazon's New Secret Agent

Film distribution sure looks different these days.  

Gone our the old studio days.  Now streaming rules the roost, and that is very evident in today's acquisition.

Today, Amazon's finalized its purchase of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer $8.45 billion.  This marks Amazon's biggest push into the streaming wars, with the acquisition of the MGM brand and the library dating back to 1986.  Please note, the Forbes article linked to is wrong.  Amazon will not be getting access to the full historic MGM library.  The MGM film library prior to 1986 are already owned by Warner Bros. through Turner Entertainment.  This is what makes TCM possible, and is why Amazon doesn't own The Wizard of Oz.  It does however now have James Bond, Thelma and Louise, Robocop, and Silence of the Lambs, for example.  

This represents the other strategy in the streaming wars - acquisition.  Disney leapt ahead because of its deep library.  Netflix maintains its position because of its commitment to the creation of original content.  Amazon is buying the deep bench to keep content on its platform.  As each studio is launching their own service, this is the quickest way to have content.  And at this point, with MGM for sale and floundering, bets were on either Amazon or Apple purchasing it.

Current CEO, Jeff Bezos basically admitted as much in his remarks today.  “The acquisition’s thesis here is really very simple: MGM has a vast, deep catalog of much-loved intellectual property. With the talented people at MGM and Amazon Studios, we can reimagine and develop that IP for the 21s century… People who love stories are going to be the big beneficiaries.”

It will be interesting to see how this plays out on Amazon's Prime Video Service.  Does Amazon start prioritizing MGM films over all others?  Does Amazon in its storefront do the same?

It's certainly interesting times.

Disney Acquisition of 20th Century Fox Closes

It's official.  The Disney acquisition of 20th Century Fox has closed as of 12:02 am ET this morning.  The New York Times has summed this up with a quote from The Lion King.  "Everything the light touches is yours."

This makes Disney the largest studio by far.  The website for the Walt Disney Company has already been  updated to reflect the change.   Images for Avatar, The Simpsons, Fox Searchlight, National Geographic, Fox Sports India, and Deadpool have been mixed in with Frozen, Toy Story, Fantasia, Captain Marvel, and Star Wars.

Disney now owns the 20th Century Fox movie and television studio, which has one of the greatest remaining back catalogs, Blue Sky Animation, the National Geographic and FX cable networks, most of the streaming service Hulu, and Star, the fast-growing television service provider in India.  Disney also gets back full distribution rights to the Star Wars franchise, particularly A New Hope, and the X-men and Fantastic Four families back into Marvel Studios.

The process will still continue.  Disney has to offload Fox's 22 regional sports channels, plus a stake in A+E Networks, Fox Sports, and as well as follow some added stipulations on the ownership of National Geographic and Nat Geo Wild channels.  But this is a huge steps in Disney's continued growth and development.

Streaming will continue to be the division to watch as the companies begin to intertwine.  Disney+ will be rolling out later in the year and National Geographic is expected to be a pillar of the platform.  Disney is further expected to attempt to acquire WarnerMedia's 10% of Hulu, which would bring it's ownership up to 70%. That would allow Disney to monopolize the platform with its more adult programming.  Arm-chair analysts could also see Disney seeking to reach an agreement with Universal for the remaining 30%, likely some sort of swap involving theme park rights, distribution rights, and The Simpsons.

Interesting times.

Disney's New Century

We'll it is official.  Both boards have approved the acquisition, just a month after the Justice Department approved the merger with certain caveats.

It looks like The Walt Disney Company will be able to acquire 21st Century Fox with limited hurdles.  This makes Disney the largest of the remaining Big 5 film studios.  Think about it.  This gives Disney seven of the top ten highest grossing films and twelve of the top twenty.  Twenty-five of the top fifty.  That's amazing.  One company accounts for half, the other studios combined share the other half.

There will be a few points that will be key to watch over the coming months:

• Will Disney secure the approval for the acquisitions for the remaining international governments or will there be any that try to hold up this deal?
• Will Disney go forward with Fox's planned acquisition of SKY International?
• Will Comcast succeed in its acquisition of SKY instead?
• Will Disney and Comcast reach some sort of agreement regarding SKY?  If so, what will be the cost?  Will Comcast trade its portion of Hulu, Marvel theme park rights in Florida and Japan, and/or its film rights to the Hulk and Namor for SKY?  It sounds crazy, but Disney traded Al Michaels for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.  
• Would Disney likewise throw in the Regional Sports Networks it must divest and/or the Simpsons?
• What becomes of New Fox with Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Sports, and the Fox Broadcasting Network?
• Will Disney re-brand 21st Century Fox to minimize the association with the New Fox?  21st Century Films or 21st Century Pictures, perhaps?
• Will Disney keep Blue Sky Animation or sell it as being a redundant acquisition?
• Who will ultimately get the regional sports networks?
• If Disney does not trade (or sell) Hulu, how will it interact with Disney's own planned streaming service?

Very, very interesting.  

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