Disney just acquired Fox Entertainment and this may be the biggest media deal of the decade.
Disney’s take over of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Entertainment business for $71.3 billion is one of the biggest media deals in history. This means that franchises such as Avatar, Deadpool, Simpsons, and X-Men are now owned by Disney.
Disney’s Acquisition of 21st Century Fox Will Bring an Unprecedented Collection of Content and Talent to Consumers Around the World: https://t.co/QrInKEHwGc pic.twitter.com/HB3JGNMQEt
— The Walt Disney Company (@WaltDisneyCo) March 19, 2019
What is Disney Getting Out of this deal?
As part of the acquisition, Disney will take over 21st Century Fox assets such as the iconic 20th Century Fox studios, television channels National Geographic and FX as well as Asian platform Star.
Disney already makes so much money, so why the need to swallow an entire other production brand? That’s because Netflix is threatening traditional entertainment. Now with the 21st Century Fox’s fleets under its command, Disney is going head-to-head with Netflix.
We all know the future of entertainment is direct-to-consumer (DTC) thanks to digital platforms. While Disney is preparing for what’s to come with their own digital streaming platform Disney Plus, they are still fighting the current.
Disney Duel
While the dent digital platforms have made on the television business is irreparable, the cinematic world is too big for Netflix.
A recent study proves that Netflix caused a 50 percent drop in television viewership in 2015. Initially, Netflix and Amazon only streamed content by studio creators but now they’re creating original series and movies. Both platforms own their own movie studios.
Looks like digital platforms are challenging Hollywood to a duel.
Classic Hollywood and influential film-makers were not happy about Netflix and Amazon’s presence in the Academy Awards. They called it a challenge to the traditional industry model of business.
With this new threat to their dominance, Hollywood studios have not created a coordinated strategy to counter the eminent DTC Goliath.
CEO of Disney Robert Iger even admitted to this threat in an interview to The New York Times. He went on to explain how Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox is a direct response to the looming threat of DTC and how this decision will create ‘significant long-term value’ for Disney and its shareholders.
“The pace of disruption has only hastened. This will allow us to greatly accelerate our direct-to-consumer strategy, which is our highest priority.”
Iger says this acquisition is not such a merger of resources but also create content and talent to compete and lead in a ‘dynamic and transformative era’.
https://twitter.com/matrixsauce/status/1108124448094334977
What Does This Deal Mean For Pakistani Consumers?
Disney has a reputation of imposing tough terms on its films in the North American exhibition sector.
Pakistan is also an important emerging market for DTC platforms, but Disney isn’t selling us their screening rights. So how will that effect 21st Century Fox distributors?
General Manager at Super Cinemas, Khurram Gultasab says that it won’t affect the exhibition sector in Pakistan. He said that since Pakistan has separate distributors which are aligned with both the movie studios, this means smooth sailing for Fox screenings. That sounds good in theory, but we’ll have to wait and see after Captain Marvel refused to play in Pakistani theaters.
“If the studios decide to enforce any change in policies through the distributors, then it might. It is a wait and see situation for us.”
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Captain Marvel Won’t Play in Pakistan and Avengers Endgame Might Not Either
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There are good things that can come from this. So far, the Marvel film franchises did not use the term mutant, evolution and X-Men for their heroes. That’s because Fox owned those franchises before. Now we’ll be seeing X-Men in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), with head honcho Kevin Feige in charge of bringing these heroes together.
