20th Centry Fox looking to buy Warner: Good or bad for blu-ray?

[rickah88]

Do it!!!!
Perhaps then, we'll get the sweet "Premium Collection" line of digibooks and steelbooks released in the US!

[jceperley]

Kinda disappointed they rejected it, I'm not a fan of Warner - they've been getting weird in the catalog titles they release (then rerelease) and the titles they ignore. But where there's smoke, there's fire. Fox sounds like they're in a buying mood, could they up they offer? Could they buy up another studio instead? With the way things have been going, I could see them buying either Sony Pictures or Paramount.

[bluknight1]

Originally Posted by WorkShed

Warner may also be biding some time for 2016's beginning onslaught of DC films, if they can wait that long. As long as they can keep Nolan under their wing, Warner can stay above water.

I would have no problem with Fox taking the Warner catalogue, though. Warner is very much half in, half out when it comes to Blu-ray and have taken many shortcuts with the format. Several TV shows have yet to see the light of day and the ones that were released often have seasons without HD audio. Their disc packaging leaves a lot to be desired and they've all but given up on interesting menu design.

Fox at least appears to care with their discs, save for a few glaring releases.

Warner's catalog is huge as it is. If Fox acquired it, they would be overwhelmed. I'm not sure how I feel about this given Fox's pitiful amount of catalog releases this year, even though Warner hasn't been much better.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by dsman71

http://enews.earthlink.net/article/t...d-eb593846c946

Read the quote that says
*Time Warner has rejected a takeover bid worth about $76 billion from Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox and said it has no interest in further discussions about a combination of two of the world's largest media and entertainment companies.*

Again. Time Warner's statement is largely irrelevant, because Murdoch himself has said he is "determined" to go forward.

Warner is a public company, they have a fiduciary responsibility to hear future offers. No public company can say "we are not taking offers", as their shares (i.e. their ownership and voting rights) trade on a public market. Even if they are dead set against it "at any price", they might have to face a hostile takeover attempt

Again. This is not "old news" based on Warner's statement. It is something that will play out over weeks or months. It is only old news if 20th Centry FOX/Rupert Murdoch says they are no longer going to pursue the purchase - but they seem to be indicating the opposite.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

Even if Time Warner agreed to the sale the combined company would struggle getting approval from regulators. The combined company would create such a mammoth media conglomerate that would surely cause concerns that it would be bad for consumers. It's unlikely News Corp. will give up after one rejection, so this isn't over yet, and it will be interesting to see if anyone else jumps in the bidding. I've seen some speculation that Time Warner could be a target of Google or Apple if they decide to make a major push into the entertainment business.

U.S. regulators are now concerned about monopolistic corporate forces??? Did I just die and wind up in some alternate universe where the gears of the government machine actually work for a change?

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Warner releases way more catalog titles than Fox.

One thing to note, this failed merger wouldn't have joined the studios together. They'd still run separately, as they do now, but with both being under the same company, who knows what impact it would have. Rupert Murdoch is apparently fixated on taking over Warner, so this probably won't be the last we hear about this. Its likely going to get ugly.

It's not necessarily so that they'll always be run separately. In order to have the merger make sense for shareholders, they always talk about "synergies and cost efficiencies". So the first thing that happens is that they combine back room functions: accounting, finance, purchasing, HR, real-estate, IT, etc. Then over time, they put in another layer of management and both studio heads report to that person. Then, once one of the studios has a bad year, they combine either the movie studio or the TV business. And on and on. And since BD isn't much of a growth business, that could be one of the first things that would get combined in a merger.

But regardless of what Murdoch wants, this merger is very unlikely to happen. For WB to want it, he would have to offer a big increment over the current share price - I think he'd have to offer at least $100 a share (it's up 15.5% today already) - looks to me like he offered about a 12% increment over the current market cap. And I really don't think regulators would permit it anyway.

There's only six majors: WB (Time-Warner), Disney, NBC/Universal (Comcast), Columbia Tri-Star (Sony), Fox and Paramount (Viacom). A merger would reduce it to five. The Gov't let the record industry merge from six major labels in the 1980s (Warner, EMI, Sony [formerly CBS], Universal, BMG [formerly RCA] and Polygram) to only three today (Sony, Universal and Warner) but because broadcasters are involved in this potential merger, it's going to get far more review. And since the newspaper spying scandals in the UK, Murdoch isn't looking very good these days.

Murdoch is 83. You have to wonder how much longer he's going to remain Chairman. News Corporation is going to be a very different company once he's gone. Even if the merger is permitted to happen and Time-Warner accepts, it would take several years to accomplish.

[CinemaScope]

There's an item about this on the news in the UK as I post. They say it was an $84 billon offer that was rejected. They had someone on saying that Murdoch was still very keen, so I don't think it's all over yet.

[Jobla]

I'd say it's a very bad idea. Judging by the Fox Studio Classics MOD line and the Fox Movie Channel, the "F" in Fox stands for Fullframe.

[steve_dave]

Um...

Earlier on Wednesday, 21st Century Fox also confirmed that it had made a formal offer to Time Warner last month. ”The Time Warner board of directors declined to pursue our proposal,” the statement said. “We are not currently in any discussions with Time Warner.”

“We are not currently in any discussions with Time Warner.”

But then further into the article:

While the talks between the two companies have thus far been considered friendly, people involved in the discussions said that Mr. Murdoch is determined to buy Time Warner and is unlikely to walk away.

Source

Fox would have had to sell CNN to jump the regulatory hoop. Further, it looks it was not a bid to get movie studios but rather the premium channel HBO and its sister Cinemax. Also, if Murdoch doesn't want to walk away then why issue a statement contrary to that fact. Most companies either decline to comment further or keep silent on the matter.

[GenPion]

As inconsistent as WB's Blu-ray releases are (and I do hope to see more improvement down the line), I don't like the idea of another merger of companies -- two of the largest film studios around. If that happens (and given the number of films WB already has the rights to from other studios), a lot less focus will probably be given to some of these films being restored than it already is, and fewer films will be produced - it won't necessarily be something that "expands" production with Fox overseeing an equal number of films from WB, but it will be a downsizing merger that eliminates a lot of the opportunities in Hollywood to produce films - and there is already a noticeable loss in these opportunities compared to what used to be produced within the Hollywood system.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by AgentOrange

Again. Time Warner's statement is largely irrelevant, because Murdoch himself has said he is "determined" to go forward.

Warner is a public company, they have a fiduciary responsibility to hear future offers. No public company can say "we are not taking offers", as their shares (i.e. their ownership and voting rights) trade on a public market. Even if they are dead set against it "at any price", they might have to face a hostile takeover attempt

Again. This is not "old news" based on Warner's statement. It is something that will play out over weeks or months. It is only old news if 20th Centry FOX/Rupert Murdoch says they are no longer going to pursue the purchase - but they seem to be indicating the opposite.

You are

1) a shill

2) a Fox plant

3) Rupert Murdoch himself.

Please, stop with the FUD.

[Musicguy]

Don't forget AOL owned part of Warner sometime ago

[CobraVerde]

Originally Posted by Blu-ray Neo

I think it would be good for US.... The BD consumers.

Overall, 20th Century Fox is great when it comes to catalog releases and those releases tend to have pretty good transfers.

There are a lot of WB titles that haven't been released due to someone's infinite logic . Maybe with 20CF in charge, there is a possibility of those releases seeing the time of day.

Not only does WB release more catalog titles than Fox, they have the largest native library of films of any studio — and added to the fact, WB now distributes for Paramount, as well.

[EVERYONE LIES]

Sell MGM back to Ted Turner and i'll be happy.

[Bucky]

By hook or by crook, Murdoch will get Warner.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

You are

1) a shill

2) a Fox plant

3) Rupert Murdoch himself.

Please, stop with the FUD.

You are

Ignorant.

[Nailwraps]

You can put your fears to rest:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/21st-...ner-1405511112

Personally, I'm just acting immature-ish here, I like Warner to buy MGM and Disney to buy Fox (at least then Fox would be closer to Star Wars). :P

[DMRI2006]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

You are

1) a shill

2) a Fox plant

3) Rupert Murdoch himself.

Please, stop with the FUD.

lol, ignorance is apparently bliss on this board in more ways than one

I'd suggest you not watch TV or read stories all over the internet about how this is eventually going to happen then -- regardless of whatever press release Warner puts out there.

[UniSol GR77]

If Fox is gonna re-release the Mad Max Trilogy on 4k minus the telecine judder, I'm up for it !!!

[hilts]

Originally Posted by Jobla

I'd say it's a very bad idea. Judging by the Fox Studio Classics MOD line and the Fox Movie Channel, the "F" in Fox stands for Fullframe.

This.

WB has put a lot of tlc and support into the MOD line and I could see all that go into the crapper with a merger. Why doesn't someone buy Universal and clean up that shithouse?