Disney’s takeover of 21st Century Fox means that they now control a huge amount of everyone’s most beloved films and TV series.
The move was announced in December 2017 and is projected to take until around 2021 to complete. A staggering $66.1bn deal, this merger (that includes taking on a large amount of Fox’s debt) ranks amongst the largest of its kind in history.
This decision places Disney in control of some very sought-after properties including the X-Men, James Cameron’s Avatar series and The Simpsons (which predicted the merger way back in a 1998 episode) cementing their position as an entertainment titan.
It’s also clear that Disney is looking to leverage this deal to break into new markets, especially the online streaming space where it hopes to compete with Netflix due to its ownership of huge properties such as Marvel and Star Wars.
Although there is understandable uncertainty about what will happen to the shows and movies (especially those geared towards adults such as the FXX cult hit It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) it seems that Disney are going to shift content for older audiences onto Hulu, which they now own a majority stake of, and keep the media for younger viewers back for their own streaming service.
However, there is some speculation as to whether Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox may end up doing harm as well as good – with industry experts predicting large scale job losses to make the amalgamated corporation more efficient.
Commercial finance experts, ABC Finance Ltd., have compared these media giants to get to the bottom of what this means for both employees of the two media giants and their end users.
Read on to see how this significant merger will affect everything from TV and the cinema box office to sports broadcasting and streaming platforms:
Disney Fox Merger by ABC FINANCE LTD.