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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: 20th Century-Fox (1935-2019)
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Mark Ogden
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 943
From: Little Falls, N.J.
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 03-19-2019 04:55 PM
As I am typing this, Twentieth Century-Fox is in its last few hours as independent studio before being swallowed up tomorrow by Disney. It’s a shame to see this happen, even though the label itself will continue under the Mouse. After recovering from the debacle that was Cleopatra, the Zanuck-era Fox went on an impressive run of production, with the kind of stuff that the young me found very watchable. As I look at my home video collection, I notice that Fox is the most represented major studio in both film and television, with titles from Sunrise (1927) thru to Florence Foster Jenkins (2016), with stops at things like The Day the Earth Stood Still, Fantastic Voyage, Planet of the Apes, Phantom of the Paradise, Star Wars, Alien, Rocky Horror, Young Frakenstein, Office Space, Idiocracy et. al. in between. Their TV division was no slouch either, I grew up with Batman, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, MASH and so many more. Technologically, of course, they more-or-less pioneered the 2:39 aspect ratio domestically, with their own sized sprocket holes!
I suppose it all makes business sense, but it’s still hard to see great things get swallowed up by mediocre things, because the mediocre things have better finances. I’m watching with horror what AT&T is doing to HBO and Turner. A good friend is losing his job soon because WarnerMedia is shutting down HBO’s Long Island operations center, and there are rumors within the industry that Turner Classic Movies is on its way out in favor of something more contemporary. All this engulf and devour stuff sucks and breeds unexceptional and uninspired crap, IMHO. There will, of course, be great shareholder value ![[fu]](graemlins/fu.gif) .
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 03-19-2019 06:07 PM
quote: Mark Ogden
All this engulf and devour stuff sucks and breeds unexceptional and uninspired crap, IMHO. There will, of course, be great shareholder value .
Yeah, it's all about increasing shareholder value. And creating pseudo monopolies in the process. The goal is giant-sized companies with little, if any, competition. Abuse of consumers is sure to follow.
I think these latest mergers have been inspired by the rise of online streaming. Anyone who enjoys streaming TV shows and movies might want to mark this specific point in time for posterity. Once the streaming services from Disney, Warner and others get up and running the quality/value of the services will start to suck. As the major studios stick it to Netflix and Amazon, yanking lots of programming from those platforms, it's almost a sure fire bet they won't offer similar levels of pricing and value as Amazon and Netflix. I totally expect big price hikes and stingy program offerings to go with it. In the long run streaming could end up sucking as bad as traditional cable/satellite service.
Meanwhile the Justice Dept, other regulators and lawmakers are asleep at the wheel. These global media companies are far bigger and more pervasive in their reach than the classic big movie studios were before the government broke them apart. Sony owns a big electronics company that makes TVs, camera gear and even lots of pro broadcast gear. Disney is on the board of Apple. AT&T owns a great deal of telecom infrastructure. But as we know the regulators don't care about huge and monopolistic these companies get. As long as the shareholders are doing well the concerns of anyone else don't matter.
One thing I think is funny is these buy-outs are happening at a time when a bunch of major franchises are about to end. And that would make the value of these buy-outs a past-peak thing. The glory days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will come to an end next month with Avengers: Endgame. Also in April, HBO's Game of Thrones series will start its final season. Lots of other franchises are long in the tooth. These giant media companies are becoming content gate-keepers of a whole lot more gates. But what in the way of NEW content will these pseudo monopolies develop to convince customers to pay the steep prices they're going to charge?
Wasn't HBO's operations center in Long Island there from the very beginning of the network? It's a shame people out there are losing their jobs over AT&T's buy-out. But job losses are another common feature to mergers and acquisitions. The new, bigger company gets loaded up with debt. One way to reduce the bill [i]and bring more "value" to shareholders is cutting the hell out of payroll.
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Marcel Birgelen
Film God
Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 03-20-2019 04:08 AM
quote:
About the only potentially good thing I see about Disney buying up 20th Century Fox: we could possibly, finally see the original, unaltered versions of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi released on Blu-ray or even in theaters again. Maybe.
Psst... Despecialized Editions ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
I'm not trying to get anybody to pirate stuff, but, if you, like me, own the original editions on VHS and LaserDisc and the DVD and Blu Ray editions of the altered ones, I feel somewhat entitled to get the best version of them available right now.
I would still buy the original versions on Blu-Ray if Disney would ever release them...
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 03-20-2019 10:16 AM
I remember that office on East 23rd Street. I often walked past it on the way to classes at School of Visual Arts. I didn't know it was the original network operations center. If I recall correctly after roughly 30 years, the office was pretty non-descript. No big signs or anything. Just some HBO graphics on the office door.
quote: Mark Ogden
TV wise, it will be very interesting to see how they will operate their streaming operation, and whether or not they will still licence product to Netflix and other services. The industry scuttlebutt is that HBO will at some time in the future drop off cable and become a streaming-only service themselves, to increase revenue and compete more directly with all of the others. Gonna be bloody.
Just to repeat it again, I don't know/why the DOJ let this merger fly, at least not with making the newly merged company divest a bunch of properties. Disney will now have control of two major OTA broadcast networks, ABC and Fox. This is almost like letting NBC and CBS merge. Shit, I wouldn't even be surprised to see that now. Disney has control of a bunch of cable networks, including ESPN -one of the networks that makes traditional cable TV too damn expensive.
Regarding HBO "de-coupling" completely from traditional cable, they're already well on their way with that now. The network's departure from Dish appears to be permanent. The other premiums have their own stand-alone streaming options now. As for AT&T/Warner's goal to "grow revenue" with HBO, I think that's some wishful thinking. What does HBO have to offer once Game of Thrones is done? The network does have some good original programming. But is it worth paying $179.88 per year for HBO Now?
I do agree though that it's gonna be bloody. But I think it's going to get bloody in ways these giant sized companies do not expect. Millions of Americans have been cord-cutting for a reason. As tight a strangle-hold grip as these few companies try to get on the distribution of movies, TV shows and music other options are going to pop up. These giant companies only seem to be interested in selling bland, predictable content and not taking chances on new ideas. That will open up opportunities for others, perhaps content creators in other countries. Disney, AT&T/Warner and Comcast can't wall off America's Internet from the rest of the world.
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Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 03-20-2019 01:25 PM
I suppose that the counter-argument to Bobby's comments would be this (at least with respect to television): we used to have to worry about consolidation in the television and radio industry when available RF spectrum space limited the number of possible channels. In the future, with online streaming, there is (in principle) no limit to the number of "broadcasters." Anyone with good programming is free to make it available to the world.
And, yes, I realize that the situation is not that simple, and that many people (myself included) still get their television programming over RF. Also, the ability to self-distribute content has always existed in the motion-picture industry, but it's pretty rare to find a movie that wasn't distributed by one of the big studios playing at a Regal or AMC (or other major chain) cinema. Independent distributors have had some success with VHS/DVD distribution, but that has been limited as well.
It will be interesting to see how this shakes out over time, particularly with respect to the home streaming situation.
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Martin Brooks
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 900
From: Forest Hills, NY, USA
Registered: May 2002
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posted 03-20-2019 11:04 PM
quote: Bobby Henderson
Disney will now have control of two major OTA broadcast networks, ABC and Fox.
No it won't. The Fox network is part of New Fox, which Disney does not own.
Disney does NOT get the following:
Fox Broadcasting Co.
Fox Television Stations Group
Fox News Channel
Fox Business Network
Fox Sports including: Big Ten Network, Fox Deportes, FS1, FS2, Fox Soccer Plus, Fox College Sports and Fox Sports International.
New Fox also retains ownership of the 20thCFox studio lot, although it will be leased by Disney.
And Disney doesn't get the 39% of Sky that Fox owned which has been since been sold to Comcast.
Disney does get:
Fox Entertainment Group:
--20th C Fox
---Fox Searchlight, Blue Sky Studios, Fox Star Studios
--Fox Networks Group
---FX Networks
National Geographic Partners
Star TV
Hulu (30%) (Disney already owned 30%)
Endermol Shine Group
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Dave Bird
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 777
From: Perth, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted 03-21-2019 03:24 PM
Ha ha, I remember that letter, I remember just being impressed they took the time to send a schmuck like me one! I just hope we never lose the Fox fanfare. Disney is delightful to deal with in this country, the 3-week bookings on their bigger titles are a little tough for us with one screen, so we do pass on some of them. Be nice if we can get our second screen built, won't be an issue then, even if it kind of flops, we could play first on Screen 1, then Screen 2 then play second on Screen 2.
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