IT'S A SHARK EATS SHARK WORLD
The media industry is eating itself alive - who will survive?
Happy Thursday Peaceniks. Welcome to Shark Week!
The Ellison family is now surrounded by lawsuits — twelve states, the WGA, and even their own shareholders are now suing them to block their irrational merger with Disco Bros.
There’s a hearing tomorrow to rule on the twelve state Attorneys General’s request for a temporary restraining order on the deal to allow for diligence in their case. In their suit, the Paramount shareholders accuse Nepo Kid and Sugar Daddy Ellison of corruption — claiming specifically that David and Larry promised Orange Julius Caesar (aka Trump) that they would gut CNN and fire the President’s enemies in exchange for approval of their merger. And the WGA is suing based on their claim that the deal would decimate creative jobs in the Media. Regardless of what happens in these cases, should the deal be delayed until October 1, the Ellisons would then owe WBD a ticking fee of $650 million, per quarter, for every quarter that the deal does not close.
Meanwhile, in Kabletown…
Brian Roberts, another CEO whose main qualification for getting the gig was being born with his dad’s last name, is taking apart the Media erector set that he spent the last two decades putting together. Comcast is splitting up — again. For the second time this year, Comcast is spitting out a huge chunk of the Media operation it spent billions to buy, spinning out all of the entertainment holdings under NBCUniversal, including NBC, its cable networks, its theme parks, and its TV holdings in the UK.
At the very same time, Comcast’s UK TV division, Sky, is buying someone else — its main advertising rival and British Public Broadcaster, ITV.
It’s the Media equivalent of digging a hole, to simply fill it up again, in the hopes of filling a hole in the soul of a dying Media empire. And all of this is almost certainly a preface to even more buying and selling ahead.
It’s incredibly likely that someone will make a move to buy NBCU after this — and I think it’s pretty obvious who that someone is…
Then, there’s the fable of the Fox and the Roku…
IMHO, Fox is the only traditional Media company with any real strategy for modern transformation, and their acquisition of Roku personifies it. Fox’s total audience, across all their holdings is almost entirely over 55, which is not a sustainable business. However, their moves to shift the money they got from selling the studio and cable channels to Disney (which Disney has yet to make work, btw) into a diversified digital enterprise portfolio proves that this Nepo Kid is actually earning his keep, as opposed to the Oracle Prince, who’s simply cos-playing mogul.
This Media M&A Mania is like a corporate wildlife film on the survival of the filthiest rich. And it’s all part of SHARK WEEK on The Media Odyssey podcast!
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Today, Marion Ranchet and I break down all the bloodthirsty battles for survival amongst the Media Titans, explain why these companies are so desperate to deal, and handicap what’s going to happen next.
If you want all the data from the videos above, click here. If you want an entertaining hour of insightful insights on the churning world of Media Mergers, check out the pod.
APPLE PODCASTS | YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY
Stay cool out there!
ESHAP