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    Disney Wraps $71B Deal For Fox Entertainment Assets

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments3277 Views
    Cars enter and leave Fox Studios, Tuesday, March 19, 2019, in Los Angeles. Disney has closed its $71 billion acquisition of Fox’s entertainment business on Wednesday, March 20, in a move set to shake up the media landscape. The closure paves the way for Disney to launch its streaming service, Disney Plus, due out later this year. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

    By Mae Anderson, Technology Writer

    LOS ANGELES (AP) --

    Disney has closed its $71 billion acquisition of Fox's entertainment business, putting "Cinderella," ''The Simpsons," ''Star Wars" and "Dr. Strange" under one corporate roof.

    The deal is likely to shake up the media landscape. Among other things, it paves the way for Disney to launch its streaming service, Disney Plus, due out later this year. It will also likely lead to layoffs in the thousands, thanks to duplication in Fox and Disney film-production staff.

    By buying the studios behind "The Simpsons" and X-Men, Disney aims to better compete with technology companies such as Amazon and Netflix for viewers' attention – and dollars.

    Disney needs compelling TV shows and movies to persuade viewers to sign up and pay for yet another streaming service. It already has classic Disney cartoons, "Star Wars," Pixar, the Muppets and some of the Marvel characters. With Fox, Disney could add Marvel's X-Men and Deadpool, along with programs shown on such Fox channels as FX Networks and National Geographic. Fox's productions also include "The Americans," ''This Is Us" and "Modern Family."

    The deal helps Disney further control TV shows and movies from start to finish – from creating the programs to distributing them though television channels, movie theaters, streaming services and other ways people watch entertainment. Disney would get valuable data on customers and their entertainment-viewing habits, which it can then use to sell advertising.

    Disney CEO Bob Iger said in an earnings call in February that Disney Plus and other direct-to-consumer businesses are Disney's "No. 1 priority."

    Cable and telecom companies have been buying the companies that make TV shows and movies to compete in a changing media landscape. Although internet providers like AT&T and Comcast directly control their customers' access to the internet in a way that Amazon, YouTube and Netflix do not, they still face threats as those streaming services gain in popularity.

    AT&T bought Time Warner last year for $81 billion and has already launched its own streaming service, Watch TV, with Time Warner channels such as TBS and TNT, among other networks, for $15 a month.

    In addition to boosting the Disney streaming service, expected to debut next year, the deal paves the way for Marvel's X-Men and the Avengers to reunite in future movies. Though Disney owns Marvel Studios, some characters including the X-Men had already been licensed to Fox.

    Disney also gets a controlling stake in the existing streaming service Hulu, which it plans to keep operating as a home for more general programming. Family-friendly shows and movies will head to Disney Plus.

    No pricing has been disclosed for Disney Plus. The streaming service will feature five categories of material: Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic. Disney charges $5 a month for ESPN Plus, a service that offers programming distinct from the ESPN cable channel.

    Meanwhile, Fox Corp. — the parts of 21st Century Fox that are not part of the deal, including Fox News, Fox Sports and Fox Broadcasting — started trading on the Nasdaq under the "FOX" and "FOXA" tickers on Tuesday.

    Category:News
    Tags:DisneyFox



    Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance

    Saturday, November 23, 2024

    Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.

    The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.

    "This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."

    The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."

    And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.

    Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.

    Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.

    Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."

    It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More

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