Why the Fox Network could be severely damaged by the 21st Century Fox sale

[TMC]

http://www.vulture.com/2017/11/21st-...adcast-tv.html

According to Vulture's Joseph Adalian, “the big, high-quality scripted shows” Fox is known for “would no longer make much financial sense” if such a sale were to take place. He adds: “So what would happen to Fox were it to suddenly find itself divorced from its production partner? Multiple industry insiders interviewed by Vulture say it’s likely Murdoch would dramatically scale down scripted programming and reshape the network to focus on sports, reality and talk shows, live events, and possibly news.”

[tlc38tlc38]

Basically, it'd be crap on a stick.

[Regulus]

Viewership is down, and how do the networks and providers react? They cancel their scripted series and replace them with schlock, they add more commercials to their breaks and raise subscription fees. And how do their viewers react? The stop watching their shows and cancel their subscriptions to Pay-TV. They are in a DEATH SPIRAL. I've never seen a company raise prices and lower the quality their products stay in business for long. Customers either acquire the product from a cheaper source or replace that product with something else. It won't be long before we see a media corporation declare bankruptcy.
They will then ask Uncle Sam for a "Bail Out". WHEN they do this they better thank Heaven I'm not the President of the USA. If congress pass such a bill I'd instantly VETO it.

[TMC]

https://talkiesnetwork.com/2017/12/0...ey-buying-fox/

Positive: Disney’s Streaming Service
A while back, Disney announced that they would be pulling most of their content from Netflix and would create their own streaming service that would showcase their product. I, like many other fans, found this to be an odd choice as Disney may be a big company, but they don’t have nearly enough material when compared to Netflix to open their own streaming service. With the purchase of Fox’s film and television assets, this would give fans a bigger incentive to invest in the product.

Not only would we get to watch Disney’s classic animated films, but we’d get Avatar, The Simpsons, all Marvel films, Alien and so much more. On top of that, fans would get to watch original content made specifically for the streaming service. With this in mind, Disney’s decision to buy Fox’s assets becomes a lot clearer.

Negative: More Mature Film and Television Content Going Away
As I said above, Disney buying Fox could put a stop to the r-rated superhero film genre but that’s not all. Disney could halt more mature film and television content from Fox in general. Films like War for the Planet of the Apes and shows like Fargo would not be something that Disney would strive to produce. Their current slate of films revolve around animation, family-oriented live-action, Marvel and Star Wars films. On the television side, it is the ABC, Freeform and Disney Channel networks, all seen as family-friendly content.

Should the deal occur, we may see a serious drop in edgy television shows as Disney would probably want more power over Fox’s various entertainment divisions, especially on the T’V side as Disney would receive channels such as FX in the deal. It’s hard to think that Disney would get behind a show like American Horror Story but stranger things of happened before.

Potential Positive: Disney Making Fox its Mature Film and Television Wing
Here me out for a second with this one. Back in the 90’s Disney was the parent company to several film studios such as Miramax. For those who don’t know, Miramax is the studio that produced films such as Pulp Fiction. This means that Pulp Fiction was technically a Disney film for the time that the house of mouse own Miramax. Disney would be wise to not just use Fox’s film archive strictly for their streaming service. If Disney buys Fox, they could turn the studio into its more mature imprint.

This would allow Disney to not slap its castle logo on the film and still give fans more mid-budget films with adult themes. Not only does it allow filmmakers to shine and create their vision for a story, but it allows Disney to avoid cannibalizing its own audience at the multiplex. Disney could tap into a target audience they hadn’t used in over 20 years.

[king of comedy]

It looks like the pros outweigh the cons.

[tlc38tlc38]

After thinking about it, there are absolutely NO shows on any FOX network that I watch/like...so, go ahead, Disney, buy it! C

ome to think of it, I haven't cared for Disney since the mid 90s. So either way, I could care less.

[Svenfan1234]

I'm just worried about what will happen to the 20th Fox shows on the digital subchannels like Antenna TV and MeTV (MTM, Bob Newhart, Batman, etc.) because we know Disney isn't friendly with them.

[TMC]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-...ios-1512907201

Some people close to the deal talks said Twentieth Century Fox could become a production label within the Walt Disney Studios, akin to Pixar and Marvel. In that scenario, Fox operations such as theatrical and home-video distribution would likely be cut back, resulting in job losses among the studio’s approximately 3,200 employees.
Fox under Disney would likely make fewer movies, further reducing the number of releases from traditional Hollywood studios at a time when Netflix and Amazon are aggressively expanding their film output, primarily for their streaming platforms, these people said. The six major studios released 139 films last year compared with 189 in 2007, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.
Movies are essentially a stagnant business, with global box-office revenues up just 1% last year and U.S. home-entertainment revenues down 7%, according to the MPAA and the Digital Entertainment Group. That is why many in Hollywood believe consolidation is inevitable.
As he has reshaped Disney’s movie operation in his 12 years running the company, Mr. Iger has reduced the number of films it makes. Disney now focuses almost exclusively on big-budget pictures based on existing properties—meaning sequels, remakes and comic-book adaptations.
The strategy has been successful, with higher average grosses per picture and higher profit margins than competitors.
Fox’s movie studio, led by CEO Stacey Snider, has a reputation as more “filmmaker friendly” and releases more movies—24 this year compared with Disney’s eight—at all budget levels. Unlike Disney, it makes a number of original live-action movies.
Combined profits from Fox’s movie and television studios were just over $1 billion in the company’s most recent fiscal year, compared with nearly $2.4 billion for Disney’s film studio alone. Fox doesn’t report separate movie-studio results.
One certain thing, the people familiar with the talks said, is that Disney has its eye on Fox’s two biggest movie franchises. “Avatar,” which still ranks as the highest-grossing movie of all time with $2.7 billion world-wide, was recently turned into a set of attractions at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Fox recently began production on a quartet of sequels to the 2009 hit and Disney would likely integrate the brand into its movie business and exploit synergy with its theme parks and merchandise units.
Fox also controls the movie rights to Marvel’s X-Men under a deal that dates to the 1990s, before Disney owned the super-hero company. Reuniting characters that have long coexisted in comic books but not on the big screen would be a creative coup for Marvel Studios and create new merchandising opportunities.
​Fox’s Marvel pictures, including the R-rated hit “Deadpool,” have been less family-friendly than Disney’s, though, and it may be a challenge to merge the two sensibilities.
On Fox’s Los Angeles studio lot, anxiety is high as staffers speculate about their future while also trying to focus on three movies they will be opening in the next two weeks: the animated “Ferdinand,” the musical “The Greatest Showman” and the historical drama “The Post.”
Nodding to wildfires raging just a few miles away from the studio, a Fox staffer on Wednesday tweeted, “Power outages here at the office. Not sure if it’s related to the fires or just the first phase of Disney cost cutting measures.”
“TOO SOON,” replied a colleague.
Executives and producers who work at Fox say they expect their business would be slimmed down but hope Disney would allow them to maintain an independent culture and continue to make a range of films, some of which aren’t based on existing franchises. They said they recognize their business would likely be oriented more toward providing content for streaming platforms like Hulu, but hope Disney would keep releasing movies of all types in theaters first.
I highly suggest you read the full article as there are a ton interesting tidbits that I think you'll find interesting.

[TMC]

Here’s what Disney would own under a deal with 21st Century Fox
Under the preliminary deal, set to be announced Thursday, Disney would obtain 20th Century Fox's movie and television studios, 22 regional Fox Sports cable networks, Fox’s stake in Hulu and cable channels that include FX and National Geographic. The deal would mean shows like The Simpsons and FX’s The Americans would go under the Disney umbrella.

[TMC]

http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/fox/2...-disney-merger

In television, there are companies that make the shows, the studios, and there are companies that broadcast the shows, the networks. When Disney agreed to buy Fox, they bought 21st Century Fox's film and TV studio, as well as the FX and National Geographic cable channels, but not the Fox Broadcasting network and stations.

That network, along with Fox Sports and Fox News and some other, smaller assets, will form a new media company, New Fox, when the deal is completed in an estimated 12 to 18 months.

This announcement came out of Fox's presentation at today's Television Critics Association winter tour where the impact of no longer having a in-house studio to create primetime content was also a topic of discussion.

According to TVLine, Fox CEO/co-chairmen Dana Walden confirmed that "the network will continue to do entertainment programming," and that the loss of an in-studio studio could open New Fox up for more primetime drama involvement from other studios like Warner Bros. and Sony. That being said, New Fox is expecting for 80 percent of its programming to be live and sports.

In the mean time, Fox is operating with "business as usual," said Fox CEOs/co-chairmen Gary Newman, with the development of new series going forward as usual. Fox anticipates a usual number of pilots in May for the 2018-2019 TV season.

[TV Guy]

The fact is: the era of network broadcasting as we know it is coming to an end. People want to watch on demand, and they don’t want the number of ads that network TV shows. This was always going to happen, but the move from four to five acts has hastened the demise of the networks (hour long dramas now have five acts instead of four). Shows are unwatchable now because of the frequent breaks. And because there are so many other sources for new series, the broadcast networks are having trouble competing.

New Fox, as mentioned above - will be mostly live news and sports programming. The 20% of the network that is scripted in theory should be of better quality, as opposed to the case now, where they fill their schedule with a bunch of shows no one watches.

I believe it’s only a matter of time before one of the other broadcast networks tries a “strip” (five day a week, non-scripted show) in primetime, a la The Jay Leno Show a few years ago. Leno may have been the wrong content, but the idea was right. In the coming years, the broadcast networks are simply not going to spend the amount of money on scripted programming that they are today. The shrinking audiences don’t justify it.

[TMC]

Why the “New Fox” is looking a lot like “Dead Fox”
Despite Fox honchos insisting that it’s business as usual following the Disney-Fox deal, the situation at the Fox network looks “bad. Really bad,” says Tim Goodman.

[icecream]

Originally Posted by TV Guy

I believe it’s only a matter of time before one of the other broadcast networks tries a “strip” (five day a week, non-scripted show) in primetime, a la The Jay Leno Show a few years ago. Leno may have been the wrong content, but the idea was right. In the coming years, the broadcast networks are simply not going to spend the amount of money on scripted programming that they are today. The shrinking audiences don’t justify it.

I really liked Jay's primetime strip. NBC was even making money on it, but The Jay Leno Show was ultimately cancelled because the affiliates complained about it hurting their 11PM newscasts. So no, another strip will not be happening. Traditional broadcast primetime will never go away (maybe for FOX but not CBS, ABC, and NBC).

[mets82]

I never understood why the affiliates complained. I mean I didn't watch The Jay Leno Show but he's not that bad of a comedian.

[glickmam]

Originally Posted by Svenfan1234

I'm just worried about what will happen to the 20th Fox shows on the digital subchannels like Antenna TV and MeTV (MTM, Bob Newhart, Batman, etc.) because we know Disney isn't friendly with them.

I couldn't agree more. One show I'm particularly worried about is Mr. Belvedere, mostly because of how Disney chief Bob Iger was constantly screwing the show over back when he was president of ABC Entertainment. I'm afraid that Iger will lock the show up in the vaults for good to rid himself of what he perceives as an albatross around his neck, and therefore, the DVD releases from Shout! Factory will stop cold dead.