The Walt Disney Co. has set a $52.4 billion, all-stock deal to acquire 20th Century Fox and other entertainment and sports assets from Rupert Murdoch's empire. The deal between Disney and 21st Century Fox marks a historic union of Hollywood heavyweights and a bid by Disney to bolster its core TV and film businesses against an onslaught of new competitors in the content arena.
Disney is betting on an ambitious purchase of a sizable chunk of 21st Century Fox, hoping that more cable networks, production studios and other properties will buoy it into the future as it dives into the direct-to-consumer streaming distribution business with sports and entertainment services planned to launch in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/disney-fox-merger-deal-52-4-billion-merger-1202631242/
Also at The NYTimes, The Verge, and the The LATimes
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Sky bidding war erupts with £22bn formal bid from Comcast
US cable TV giant Comcast has made a formal £22bn bid for Sky that values the UK broadcaster at £12.50 a share.
The move threatens Rupert Murdoch's attempts to take full control of the pay-TV group. The media mogul's 21st Century Fox has already agreed to buy the 61% of Sky it does not already own - an offer worth about £19bn. Sky said it was withdrawing its recommendation for the Fox bid following Comcast's move.
Sky shares closed 3.4% higher at £13.59 - more than £1 above Comcast's offer, suggesting a bidding war for control of Sky could erupt. Disney, which struck a $66bn deal with Fox in December to buy most of its entertainment assets, could also make a play for Sky.
Disney's $66 billion deal included Fox's shares of Sky.
See troll: Comcast CEO Brian Roberts: Sky Is a Great Opportunity but Not a 'Necessity'
Also at Bloomberg.
Related: Disney to Buy 21st Century Fox Assets for $52.4 Billion in Historic Hollywood Merger
Disney whistleblower told SEC the company inflated revenue for years
A former Walt Disney Co. accountant says she has filed a series of whistleblower tips with the Securities and Exchange Commission alleging the company has materially overstated revenue for years.
Sandra Kuba, formerly a senior financial analyst in Disney's revenue-operations department who worked for the company for 18 years, alleges that employees working in the parks-and-resorts business segment systematically overstated revenue by billions of dollars by exploiting weaknesses in the company's accounting software.
[...] A Disney spokesperson said the company had reviewed the whistleblower's claims and found that they were "utterly without merit."
Kuba's whistleblower filings, which have been reviewed by MarketWatch, outline several ways employees allegedly boosted revenue, including recording fictitious revenue for complimentary golf rounds or for free guest promotions. Another alleged action Kuba described in her SEC filing involved recording revenue for $500 gift cards at their face value even when guests paid a discounted rate of $395.
[...] Kuba's filing alleges that flaws in the accounting software made the manipulation difficult to trace, though the consequences could be significant. In just one financial year, 2008-09, Disney's annual revenue could have been overstated by as much as $6 billion, Kuba's whistleblower filing alleges. The parks-and-resorts business segment reported total revenue of $10.6 billion in 2009, according to its annual report filed with the SEC.
Also at Deadline and Bloomberg.
Related: Disney Asks Employees to Contribute Towards DisneyPAC, TPP
Disney to Buy 21st Century Fox Assets for $52.4 Billion in Historic Hollywood Merger
Disney May Be Trying to Buy More of Hulu From AT&T's WarnerMedia
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @09:05AM (3 children)
Why not merge the entire entertainment industry into one corporation. The plebs care not by which hand they are fed their diet of bread and circuses.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Friday December 15 2017, @09:32AM
One or five, it's the same thing when they're all in bed with each other, and the government makes the bed.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday December 15 2017, @09:40AM
Because they don't know how to carve up the profits without mergers and lawyers sorting it out.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @05:43PM
Exactly. Another too-big-to-fail corp.
(Score: 5, Funny) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Friday December 15 2017, @10:59AM (2 children)
Expect future Star Wars films to portray the Sith in a more sympathetic light.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @05:53PM
Because changing the existing films would be sacrilege. ;)
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 16 2017, @02:29AM
Darth Kelly Ann can describe the 'alternate facts' about how the Empire is good for everyone, and Jabba the Trump can declare tax cuts for the extremely wealthy.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Friday December 15 2017, @11:59AM (3 children)
Netflix and others, beware, the behemoth want to gulp a sizeable size of the streaming market.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday December 15 2017, @05:04PM (2 children)
I'm assuming, that things like this merger are partly why Netflix is seriously investing in Original content.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Saturday December 16 2017, @12:08AM (1 child)
Stuck between Disney/Amazon on one side, and Comcast/AT&T on the other, I don't see how Netflix survives.
I give them a couple years before their US assets get purchased by one of the big content or ISP guys.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday December 18 2017, @03:53PM
Perhaps, but Netflix is the front runner here. They are the ones that killed off Blockbuster and really pushed the Online consumption model. Everyone else is playing catch up. I also prefer the reasonable monthly fee, with no "premium" pay-per-view. Pay-per-view can die a miserable death and I would be fine with that. I would go to the theater, if I want pay-per-view. Somewhat more expensive that way, but an arguably better experience. (2yr old kid kinda makes it hard to do much Theater going, though.)
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Leebert on Friday December 15 2017, @12:04PM (3 children)
Does this mean we can have the proper intro returned to Star Wars movies?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @02:12PM
Imperial Storm Troopers with Mickey Mouse ears?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @02:13PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCPj4JPbKtA [youtube.com]
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15 2017, @03:57PM
Also Fantastic 4 and X-Men movie rights reunite with Marvel.