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FOX/Disney deal

TheBigA said:
Apparently 2018 will be the start of the ESPN sports streaming platform.
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When they finally own the Fox regionals what happens to Fox Sports Go. And will Disney start charging extra for streaming. If I have to pay extra to get ESPN and YES on top of the $10 a month I'm already paying I'm going to be pissed.
 
I wonder if Disney's streaming service will be the end of the free ride (sort of) that cord cutters who get their internet service through certain providers now get on ESPN3. I know the cost is part of the phone/internet bill, but it's still access to ESPN content for people who reject cable.
 
CTListener said:
I wonder if Disney's streaming service will be the end of the free ride (sort of) that cord cutters who get their internet service through certain providers now get on ESPN3. I know the cost is part of the phone/internet bill, but it's still access to ESPN content for people who reject cable.
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For those that are paying a cable fee for ESPN another added charge will be a kick in the head and not go over well. Disney has to tread lightly with this or alienate more people.
 
Don CT said:
When they finally own the Fox regionals what happens to Fox Sports Go. And will Disney start charging extra for streaming. If I have to pay extra to get ESPN and YES on top of the $10 a month I'm already paying I'm going to be pissed.
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Fox Sports Go will remain with "New Fox" as that's for the national Fox Sports, the FSN RSN would be moved over to the ESPN app and also be rebranded to the ESPN branding too.
 
Will_H_69_9 said:
Fox Sports Go will remain with "New Fox" as that's for the national Fox Sports, the FSN RSN would be moved over to the ESPN app and also be rebranded to the ESPN branding too.
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Considering that Fox Sports only has content on the weekends there will be a lot of down time for the new Fox Sports Go. Since they are also losing FXNow it would make sense for New Fox to combine Fox Sports Go with the news division. The majority of FSG content was on the regionals.
 
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-solution-to-bring-sky-in-house-idUSKBN1FM1HY

Here is an update on the Sky Deal and Rupert Murdoch

LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch’s Fox is hoping the creation of an independent editorial board to protect the news channel at bid target Sky (SKYB.L) will satisfy regulators and allow it to finally take control of the European pay-TV group.

Britain’s competition regulator told Twenty-First Century Fox (FOXA.O) last month that Murdoch’s near eight-year, $15.7 billion pursuit of Sky would be blocked unless a way is found to prevent the media mogul from influencing Sky News after a deal.

Fox had earlier offered to create an editorial board with a majority of independent directors. People familiar with the matter, lawyers and investors believe a stronger mechanism to guarantee independence should be enough to gain approval.

The takeover is being closely watched in the United States where Fox has agreed to sell most of its assets including Sky to Walt Disney Co (DIS.N), which wants to buy all of Sky in the deal and not just the 39 percent that Fox already owns.

WORKING ON A SOLUTION
Fox is likely to have taken encouragement from a comment from the regulator that given that Fox may not own Sky for long, it will be willing to accept the most cost-effective solution.

“Fox are still confident they can get the deal done,” a person familiar with the situation said. “They’re working on new suggestions for the remedies.”

As Britain’s biggest owner of national newspapers, every move by Murdoch is scrutinised by his political allies and enemies alike. Britain’s competition regulator worries that a deal to own all of Sky News would give him too much sway over public opinion.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s government has the final say on the deal, but will have to stick to the regulator’s advice or face possible legal action. Lawyers and consultants think Fox can land Sky by offering a fully independent board for Sky News and long-term funding, preventing it from having to make the more costly option of spinning off the channel or selling it completely. Sky, Europe’s leading pay-TV provider in 23 million homes across Britain, Ireland, Austria, Germany and Italy, has kept up the pressure by warning it could close the loss-making but award-winning channel if it prevented a takeover. ROLLING NEWS

Sky News launched in 1989 when Murdoch, having shaken up the newspaper market, sought to smash the dominance of the BBC and commercial network ITV by launching four channels as part of a new paid-for satellite service. The 24-hour channel, the first in Britain to follow in the footsteps of global pioneer CNN, immediately gave the fledgling network visibility, and it has punched above its weight in terms of influence ever since. Watched closely in newsrooms, boardrooms and the offices of state, Sky News is a politically neutral outlet that has forced the taxpayer-funded BBC to up its game in rolling news. The challenge is to find a system that protects Sky News’ independence without forcing so much separation that it puts the channel into financial jeopardy. Murdoch has funded Sky News through nearly 30 years of losses. It has an average weekly reach of 4.4 million viewers, or average share of TV viewing of 0.56 percent, according to BARB ratings for the week ended Jan. 21. It reaches millions more through its online and radio output. In its provisional findings, the competition regulator suggested a system where independent directors form an Editorial Board for Sky News, perhaps appointed by media regulator Ofcom. The Board would appoint the head of Sky News, who would in turn retain editorial control. The regulator has asked interested parties to respond. ”It is a difficult circle to square,“ said a competition lawyer who is familiar with the case. ”It has to be independent enough to still be a viable independent voice, but not so independent that it is left to wither away. “But it can be done.”
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Unless you've followed British media closely for 30 years, many RD readers won't know the backstory here.

For various reasons, cable TV never caught on in the UK, while broadcast TV was heavily regulated and restricted to just 4 channels, only one of which (ITV) could really be called 'commercial TV'. By the late 80s many Brits were screaming for more TV choice, and the obvious way was to blast it in from space to home dishes. Enter two players, Rupert Murdoch and British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB). Murdoch launched Sky TV with backing from his newspaper empire and with a large portfolio of American programming and BSB was in partnership with ITV.

The two basically fought themselves to a stalemate and the only way forward was merger. The merged company was technically called BSkyB, but continued to use Sky branding and Sky equipment, however Murdoch only owned 39 percent of the company. The merged company went on to be very sucessful, shook up UK broadcasting forever, but Murdoch was never truly happy with the compromise and ever since he's wanted 100 percent control.
 
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-new-bid-for-fox-assets-sources-idUSKBN1FW05C

Update Comcast the owners of NBC are mulling for a new bid for Fox Assets

Reuters) - Comcast Corp is considering a new offer for Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox assets, despite an agreement in December to sell them to Walt Disney Co for $52.4 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.


Comcast’s deliberations indicate that it believes it still has a chance to clinch a deal with Fox, even though it previous bid last year for more than $60 billion was rejected over concerns that regulators worried about media consolidation could thwart it, the sources said. Comcast may decide not to make any new offer, the sources said. Its decision will be informed by how Fox justifies the deal with Disney in a regulatory filing to its shareholders sometime before they are asked to vote on the deal this summer, the sources added.

The sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. Comcast, Disney and Fox gave no immediate comment.

Comcast might be prepared to offer protections to Fox such as agreeing to remove certain assets from the deal that prove controversial in Washington, D.C., including regional sports channels, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on Comcast’s deliberations.

It was is possible that instead of re-engaging in pursuit of all of Fox assets, Comcast could zero in on something in particular, such as European pay TV giant Sky, the Wall Street Journal report said, citing anonymous sources.

The Murdoch family, which controls Fox, preferred a deal with Disney because it would rather be paid in Disney than Comcast stock, and expects a potential deal with Disney to be cleared by U.S. antitrust regulators more easily, sources told Reuters in December.

Disney struck a deal with Fox to buy film, television and international businesses. The deal is set to bring to a close more than half a century of expansion by Murdoch, 86, who turned a single Australian newspaper he inherited from his father at the age of 21 into one of the world’s most important global news and film conglomerates. The new, slimmed down Fox will focus on TV news and sport.
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https://www.fiercecable.com/cable/comcast-tries-to-outbid-fox-for-sky-31b-offer

Another Update Comcast and Sky

Comcast today announced an unsolicited $31 billion bid to purchase U.K.-based European broadcast group Sky, disrupting an earlier $25.8 billion bid by 21st Century Fox and its impresario, Rupert Murdoch, to buy the remaining 61% of the company they don’t currently own.

“We think Sky is an outstanding company,” said Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, in a statement. “It has 23 million customers and leading positions in the U.K., Italy and Germany. Sky has been a consistent innovator in its use of technology to deliver a fantastic viewing experience and has a proud record of investment in news and programming. It has great people and a very strong and capable management team


In the U.K., the Competition and Markets Authority has expressed concern that the Murdoch Family Trust will seek to influence culture and political opinion in Europe with assets like Sky News, much in the same way it does in the U.S. with Fox News. The regulator had suggested spinning off Sky News and insulating it from Murdoch’s influence might be one potential remedy.

However, following Disney’s $52.4 billion bid to buy a large portion of 21st Century Fox assets, it was assumed Fox’s reduced market power in Europe might ease regulatory concerns regarding any Sky deal.

For his part, Roberts insisted that Comcast would do nothing to influence Sky News’ content.

A Sky purchase would transform the largely U.S.-centric Comcast into a truly international company. In fact, Comcast’s lack of assets in the European region is an asset as far as regulatory approval is concerned.
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