Disney buying Fox's catalog

Rumors are that the deal is almost certain, that we'll hear about it this week, possibly as soon as Thursday. It would theoretically give Disney assets like The Simpsons, Alien, X-Men, and others.

I don't like the rumors that say Fox's James Murdoch (son of human slime mold Rupert Murdoch) could potentially weasel himself into running Disney through this buyout after Iger retires from the role.

Esper said:

I don't like the rumors that say Fox's James Murdoch (son of human slime mold Rupert Murdoch) could potentially weasel himself into running Disney through this buyout after Iger retires from the role.

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James Murdoch leans left, unlike his father, so any political fears you might have are unfounded.

The Simpsons and Disney? Very interesting! It sounds like good news for Marvel as well.

EvilChameleon said:

James Murdoch leans left, unlike his father, so any political fears you might have are unfounded.

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A negligible distinction with companies like these. Particularly with people as unfettered by morality as Rupert Murdoch and his son.

I'm not a fan of this deal because further consolidation of power and access to entertainment under the House of Mouse is worrying, no company should have this much under their umbrella. Doubly worrying considering Disney's streaming plans. I really couldn't give a fuck about X-Men 'returning home'.

Her said:

A negligible distinction with companies like these. Particularly with people as unfettered by morality as Rupert Murdoch and his son.

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James has donated tons of money to the Clinton foundation. So has his wife. Again, I'm not worried about ABC suddenly becoming the next FOX News if James does indeed take over for Iger. And regardless, the favorite to become the next CEO is Bob Chapek.

I'm not a fan of this deal because further consolidation of power and access to entertainment under the House of Mouse is worrying, no company should have this much under their umbrella. Doubly worrying considering Disney's streaming plans. I really couldn't give a fuck about X-Men 'returning home'.

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Better Disney than Comcast, who was also bidding. Also, like I said on another website, the mission statement at Disney is to deliver entertainment to people through movies, TV shows, and parks. Sometimes even ESPN and shows on ABC. It's not like this is an ISP buying another ISP.

EvilChameleon said:

James has donated tons of money to the Clinton foundation. So has his wife. Again, I'm not worried about ABC suddenly becoming the next FOX News if James does indeed take over for Iger. And regardless, the favorite to become the next CEO is Bob Chapek.

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I mean, I wouldn't exactly be using that as an example of massive political difference, but I digress. My point wasn't about the politics of James Murdoch, my point is that his own political views barely matter, particularly when these apparent political differences to his father, or to most other people in that tier of the industry, results in the same outcome and have the same tactics to achieve said outcomes. Companies of these size do not have much meaningful difference in practice. My worry is that Bob Iger at least has a somewhat respectable reputation, neither Murdochs have one in the slightest.

Better Disney than Comcast, who was also bidding. Also, like I said on another website, the mission statement at Disney is to deliver entertainment to people through movies, TV shows, and parks. Sometimes even ESPN and shows on ABC. It's not like this is an ISP buying another ISP.

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Disney really isn't much better than Comcast, it just lacks the access to infrastructure than Comcast has. You're missing the point entirely about my distaste with Disney's evergrowing consolidation of content under its umbrella.

EvilChameleon said:

James Murdoch leans left, unlike his father, so any political fears you might have are unfounded.

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I was thinking more about how Fox has had so many failures, but all that aside, the politics of someone who runs a media conglomerate can't be good.

My first thought when I saw this news was "hmm, Disney wanted to get Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" (the original Star Wars film from 1977), since the LucasFilm acquisition deal from a few years back left that film in the hands of Fox perpetually.

The thing with these mega-mergers, including this one, that worries me, is that eventually there will only be one company that basically controls the entire industry such a company represents (similarly to what we have now with Google, Facebook, and Netflix dominating their respective industries). If these mergers are necessary "to stay competitive in a global economy", why was Ma Bell broken up? (Don't give me that crap about how "things were different in the early 1980s when AT&T was broken up", since the economy was already becoming heavily globalized even then. If antitrust laws are obsolete, why has the EU regularly slapped Google with multi-billion Euro fines over the past several years?)

Her said:

Disney really isn't much better than Comcast, it just lacks the access to infrastructure than Comcast has. You're missing the point entirely about my distaste with Disney's evergrowing consolidation of content under its umbrella.

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Not only Disney, but Sinclair Broadcast Group is a major concern among many, since they own and operate a shipload of television stations across the United States (including my local Fox, NBC, and The CW affiliates), and utilize "sidecar" fake companies (Cunningham Broadcasting and Deerfield Media) to skirt FCC-imposed ownership limits. Not to mention radio station groups iHeartMedia (iHeartRadio) and Cumulus, both of which are dangerously overleveraged, to the point where the latter recently filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy.