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  • Disney Now Owns all of Hulu: What This Means

    Disney Now Owns all of Hulu: What This Means

    On Tuesday, Disney purchased the rest of Comcast’s 33% share in the streaming service Hulu. When Disney acquired Fox, they received most of the rights to the streaming service, so Tuesday’s acquisition brings them into line as the only owners of Hulu. What will this mean down the road when Disney rolls out their own Disney Plus streaming service?

    Disney’s Hulu Ownership

    NBCUniversal

    While Comcast has sold their ownership stakes in the streaming service, their NBCUniversal content isn’t leaving the service any time soon. Disney and Comcast agreed that Hulu will continue to carry the NBCUniversal content from Comcast through until 2024, giving it another good five years on the service.

    It’s also worth noting that Comcast will continue offering Hulu through their own Xfinity X1 cable service. Hulu Live will continue carrying Comcast’s content through to 2024, as well. In short, little will be changing for the average Hulu owner due to this.

    Disney Plus

    Disney’s upcoming proprietary Disney Plus streaming service will be offered for $7 per month, a surprisingly low subscription. The Disney Plus service will carry all of Disney’s animated films and live-action movies, as well as all Star Wars and Marvel Cinematic Universe content.

    Hulu will likely be offered in bundles with Disney Plus, which will allow Disney to make their own streaming service more of an appealing purchase for those who are on the fence. Buying a subscription just for Disney movies might not be the most appealing idea, but what if it came with Hulu and all your favorite syndicated cable TV shows? That’s a very different deal.

    What This Means

    The average Hulu user will see no serious changes in their service right away. No content will be leaving the service immediately or coming to it as a result of this, though it will change things down the road. Namely, current Hulu subscribers can look forward to bundles with Disney Plus when that service launches later this year.

  • The Avengers and the X-Men Crossover is Saved! Disney to Buy Fox

    The Avengers and the X-Men Crossover is Saved! Disney to Buy Fox

    That’s right, we may still be able to see Iron Man and Cyclops onscreen together! In response to Comcast’s bid to buy Fox for $65 billion in cash, Disney upped their bid. What does it take to own a massive entertainment conglomerate? Well, a bid of $71 billion in cash and stocks seems to be the magic ticket. That eye-watering sum is even more impressive when you consider that Fox will have to spin off its news branch and maybe even its sports networks. Why’s that, you ask? Regulatory approval processes are quite complicated. 

    Fox Wary of Regulatory Approval 

    One reason Fox seems to be seriously considering Disney’s bid is regulatory boards. While AT&T recently won a case to acquire Time Warner, that doesn’t guarantee the same would happen for Comcast. Disney, on the other hand, is an entertainment company, not a telecom. Fox is likely weighing that in their consideration of being bought by the House of Mouse. Additionally, they could realize that there is simply more money to be made by partnering with the massive maker of Marvel and Star Wars. Getting the budget of Disney behind their films would help Fox reach even more audiences and make even more money. 

    Shareholders Signing Off on Disney Deal 

    The deal won’t actually be complete until the shareholders okay it. Which is ironic, as the Comcast deal was going to have to wait until a July 10th shareholder meeting to be approved. Disney’s bid beat that approval to the punch. Still, Fox and Disney shareholders could still oppose the bid. However, such opposition seems highly unlikely at this stage and is really more of a formality.  

    That being said, the deal will also still have to pass regulatory approval. Fox’s assets would be considered and could have to be spun off into new companies if a board deems it necessary for the merger. Avoiding a lack of meaningful competition is an important facet of such boards, so moves like this can be risky for large companies. Disney, for their part, seems convinced that it won’t be an issue. Interestingly, the sale would include Fox’s 30 percent stake in Hulu. Both Disney and Comcast also hold a 30 percent stake in the online media platform. The final ten percent is owned by Time Warner, for the curious.  

    The Future 

    Hopefully the future holds a huge crossover film of the X-Men and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Is it too much to ask for a good movie version of Avengers vs. X-Men? We don’t think so. Make it happen, Disney! 

     

  • Avengers and X-Men Crossover in Danger? AT&T Time Warner Takeover

    Avengers and X-Men Crossover in Danger? AT&T Time Warner Takeover

    We really want to see Wolverine going toe-to-toe with the Hulk. Or Reed Richards and Tony Stark talking shop. Or Thor and Storm making sparks together. Really, we just want all the Marvel characters to come together on the big screen. And we’re so close! Disney has but in a bid to buy 20th Century Fox. But this darn AT&T ruling could really mess it up. 

    Comcast and Fox 

    Marvel Comics owns the rights to all of their characters, of course. They can create comic books, television shows and pretty much anything they want with their characters. But they sold the film rights to a ton of them to other companies in the late 90’s. Sony owns the film rights to Spider-Man, for instance, and Fox has the rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four. However, the House of Mouse owns Marvel now. And they want their stuff back. 

    Disney put in a bid to purchase Fox last year for an absurd $54.2 billion in Disney stock. Comcast, seeing dollar signs, decided that they, too, wanted to buy Fox. But they put their plans on hold. See, A&T, for their part, was in court defending their attempt to acquire Time Warner.  

    AT&T Won that Case 

    And then AT&T won their case, and the regulatory board is likely to allow their acquisition. This gives Comcast a pretty clear-cut course to acquiring Fox. Fox, for their part, seemed hesitant to go for the Comcast offer, even though it was higher than Disney’s because it was uncertain if the deal would pass a regulatory board.  

    Now that there’s proof that such a merger can pass the board, Fox might just take the deal. This would spell disaster for our dreams of an Avengers and X-Men crossover. Which would be a serious shame. We just want to see Captain America and Professor Xavier exchanging tips for leading groups of super-powered people! And maybe have Scarlett Witch meet the X-Men film version of Quicksilver so she can have her mind blown! Okay, that one’s not happening anyway, but we can dream! In the meantime we’ll just have to read Marvel comics if we want to see the two super-teams cross paths! 

    Feature Image Credit: MovieWeb