Disney in talks to acquire FOX RSN's UPDATE 8/23 FOX may buy them back

[Bizz]

How was ESPN even able to afford purchasing the Fox Sports RSNs? Aren't they so deep in money problems that they had to lay off like 60% of their staff over the past year?

 

[NSH615]

I don't see what left of Fox bidding up anybody post merger. What they did not sold to Disney was all the stuff that would have triggered some regulator intervention.

As for ESPN their interest in Hockey is mild on a good day. That may change with all the regional content they just acquired, or it might get worse and they dump a lot of it. Not everything that Fox used to own will make it post merger. Long story short everybody involved in this merger will have bigger fishes to fry for the next couple of years than going after the NHL tv deal.

Both will still need content, something they are both short on currently, other than useless talking heads that nobody watches. I can still see both parties bidding.

 

[LadyStanley]

Disney to buy 21st Century Fox assets in a deal worth more than $52 billion in stock

Part of the deal is Fox's international assets, including Sky (which has carried NHL in Europe).

 

[tsanuri]

The key thing here is - Rupert Murdoch never sells. Does he think the bubble is about to burst?

Except he didn't really sell. It's Disney stock plus them taking debt.

 

[cutchemist42]

Ummm. No. To name two such transactions:
Columbia/TriStar: 1987
United Artists/MGM: 1981

And don't forget Pixar and LucasFilm.

Article from January on "Hollywood" merger mania Hollywood's Merger Mania: Inside the Studios' "Size Anxiety," Scramble to Match Silicon Valley



There are models on what is needed and how you have to be able to expand capacity (quickly, seamlessly).



Disney has segregated content for decades. Touchstone is their PG-13+ outlet.

Touchstone's films: List of Touchstone Pictures films - Wikipedia

Hmmm? Ive seen many say this is the 1st time one of the Big6 purchased another Big6?

 

[Fenway]

Hmmm? Ive seen many say this is the 1st time one of the Big6 purchased another Big6?

Not many players left. You have AT&T, Comcast, Charter (now Spectrum) and the Mouse.

Comcast and Disney face more scrutiny because the own OTA outlets in many markets and the FCC can step in - RSN's by comparison are not fully regulated by the FCC. They must follow guidelines but they do not need FCC approval to go on the air.

NESN is being wooed by both ESPN and Comcast and the Red Sox/Bruins are evaluating their options. NESN is probably worth 2 billion now as Comcast would love to enjoy a RSN monopoly in most of New England but Disney also sees NESN as being a perfect fit in their buying the FOX RSN's.

NESN and MSG Network are unique that stayed independent and the only other RSN that I can think of is Altitude in Colorado. NESN stands alone as a full 12 month service with baseball and hockey, MSG which really was the first RSN exists mainly because of the Knicks and Rangers and they keep the Islanders and Devils afloat.

Nobody has a clue on what the Red Sox are thinking.

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

Looking forward to the return of ESPN's iconic NHL theme on an annual basis

 

[Fenway]

Comcast is trying to stop the Disney/Fox deal

Comcast Seeks Control of Broadcaster Sky, Countering Murdoch and Disney

LONDON — Comcast may have found a way to disrupt Walt Disney Company’s plan to buy most of 21st Century Fox: topping Fox’s bid to buy the British satellite broadcaster Sky with its own $31 billion takeover offer.

The bid, plans for which were announced on Tuesday, seizes upon 21st Century Fox’s difficulties buying the piece of Sky that it does not already own. British regulators have expressed repeated concerns about giving Rupert Murdoch and his family more control over the country’s media, stretching the approval process out over more than a year and forcing 21st Century Fox to offer more concessions.

 

[Fenway]

Bottom line would indicate nothing should change for the upcoming hockey season.

Fox executives reportedly discussing buying back RSNs from Disney

Executives at Fox have discussed the possibility of buying back the collection of sports channels from Disney, recombining them with what will be left of Rupert Murdoch’s entertainment empire after the Disney deal, according to three people familiar with the matter. Industry executives say the channels could fetch between $15 billion and $20 billion.