This morning, Comcast filed its bid with the European Commission to purchase 100% of British satellite broadcaster Sky for $31 billion, setting the regulatory approval process in motion.
If you’re a theme park fan (and I can only guess that you are if you’re visiting this page), Comcast’s move should be important to you, and here’s why.
If you recall, back in December, Disney announced that it would be purchasing a number of key assets from 21st Century Fox, including the film and television libraries of 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight, the FX and National Geographic brands, and Fox’s 39% stake in Sky, among others, for $52.4 billion in stock. This followed a bidding war with Comcast, which ultimately withdrew its higher bid.
But Comcast was far from done. The bid to purchase 100% of Sky, if approved, removes a valuable asset from Disney’s acquisition, overpricing the Mouse’s bid for Fox. As if that were not enough, Reuters is now reporting that Comcast is seeking a credit facility to make an unsolicited $60 billion cash bid to counter Disney’s $52 billion stock offer to purchase Fox’s assets.
For both companies, ownership provides one important thing – film and television content and major distribution channels. Disney is preparing new streaming services to compete against Netflix and Amazon, while Comcast looks to increase the scope of its Xfinity platform.
Each company also has a unique reason for purchase – Disney would gain the home entertainment distribution rights to the original Star Wars films, and Marvel franchises licensed to Fox, such as X-Men, would come under direct control of the Marvel Studios and Marvel TV banners.
For Comcast, a major advantage to owning Fox lies within its Universal Parks & Resorts division, and here are six reasons why Fox would be a better fit at Universal than at Disney:
- With the exception of three major acquisitions – Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar – Disney has drastically underutilized its acquired film and television properties (not counting broadcast brands like ABC and ESPN) in its theme parks, including The Muppets and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The Disney/MGM Studios show Doug Live!, based on the popular character from Jumbo Pictures, acquired by Disney in 1996, was canceled after only a two-year run.
Universal has a long history of relying on licensed intellectual property (IP) from other studios. A walk around Universal Studios Hollywood reveals flagship attractions featuring licensed IP from Fox (The Simpsons), AMC (The Walking Dead), Hasbro (Transformers), Sanrio (Hello Kitty), and Warner Bros (Harry Potter). Even more licensed IP appears when looking at Universal Orlando (Marvel, Toon Lagoon, and Dr. Seuss at Islands of Adventure, Sony Pictures’ Men in Black at the Studios) and Japan. In addition to the Springfield lands, home of the Simpsons rides, Universal has had a strong history of working with Fox on attractions for Halloween Horror Nights. Since the closure of The Great Movie Ride at the Disney Hollywood Studios, Disney’s licensing of Fox IP has been limited to Pandora at Animal Kingdom, which was signed into motion in 2011, a year before Disney purchased Lucasfilm.- Disney was once the owner of Touchstone, Hollywood, and Miramax, and darker, adult themes could be found throughout its films and television shows. Although some of ABC’s television shows have a more mature feel, the company has decided to gear itself towards family audiences in its films and theme parks. This is why one will find Chucky the psychopathic doll at Universal’s Hollywood Horror Nights, and Duffy the Bear at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Fox’s edgier properties just fit better with Universal’s edgier vibe.
Auditions are starting for performers at 20th Century Fox World Malaysia, located in the Resorts World Genting resort. This will be the first Fox theme park since the now closed ones in Sydney, Australia and Ranchos Palos Verdes, California (yes, you read that right. 20th Century Fox managed Marineland of the Pacific in the 1970s). The park will be owned and operated under license by Genting, which operates casinos worldwide under the Resorts World brand. One such property, Resorts World Sentosa, is home to Universal’s only licensed theme park – Universal Studios Singapore. The two companies already have a strong relationship and two Universal-licensed theme parks can only solidify it further.- Universal is adding about 700 acres to its Orlando resort (with the southern border only 1/3 mile from SeaWorld’s property). The new Universal resort in Beijing will be over 1,000 acres, and its budget has almost doubled to more than $6 billion. (read my article on Universal Studios Beijing here). Large properties with multiple new theme parks need strong established IP.
- Aliens. Disney already had their shot at a scary alien attraction. I have a feeling Universal could do the franchise justice.
A note on IP. Just because a company owns intellectual property, that does not mean they have rights to it in a market – that’s dependent on pre-existing licenses. Universal’s exclusive use of Marvel’s IP for theme parks east of the Mississippi is a perfect example. As is the United Arab Emirates, where Marvel is licensed to the IMG Worlds of Adventure theme park in Dubai, DreamWorks Animation is licensed to Dubai Parks & Resorts for its MOTIONGATE Dubai theme park, and a brand-new Warner Bros. theme park is opening in Abu Dhabi, but without Harry Potter, because the theme park rights to that property in the UAE were licensed to another theme park developer years ago (I’ll let you guess who).
The fate of those Fox assets isn’t a done deal for Disney. Keep an eye on this one folks. I own stock in both Disney and Comcast. So, either way, I’m both a winner and a loser.
What are your thoughts folks – do you think Universal or Disney will come out on top? Or potentially a deal between the two which gives each the assets they most want?