Warner/Discovery

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

Originally Posted by mredman

Thanks that is good to know. Already some people on net say it could mean reboot for DCEU and sacking snyder that would be catastrophic. And what about Blu-Ray releases for their tv shows and movies. I am freaking scared as hell of this crap But i hope you are right it does not mean anything

Most people jump to the worst. Chances are pretty much nothing changes except the people at the top.

[spectre08]

Sacking the Snyders would be the best possible outcome, and it wouldn't mean a reboot of the DCEU

but that is unfortunately VERY unlikely.

[Bandit Tajomaru]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Yes, strictly speaking this does not end competition. However a future where 5 mega-corporations run everything is still a scary one, straight out of any 80's dystopian future story. Voters are slowly starting to revolt against this so I wouldn't be surprised to see monopoly style laws expand to keep corporations smaller, which I would support.

Corporations have lobbyist to stop those laws from ever forming again. Politicians are just glorified street walkers who side with the highest bidder.

[Jumpman]

Originally Posted by spectre08

Sacking the Snyders would be the best possible outcome, and it wouldn't mean a reboot of the DCEU

but that is unfortunately VERY unlikely.

Synder's done after JUSTICE LEAGUE anyway.

[AllOuttaBubbleGum]

Originally Posted by spectre08

HBO is only profitable because of the fees it collects from all of the carriers. AT&T would be insane make it exclusive, or to make the fees to other companies prohibitively expensive. It would likely face legal challenges over either movie.

By making HBO an exclusive, the AT&T/Time Warner conglomerate could replace licensing revenue with direct fees from customers signing with its exclusive delivery platforms (DirecTV, HBOgo/now, etc.). If this merger is approved and that proved a more profitable option, what's to keep them from trying it?

[spectre08]

Originally Posted by AllOuttaBubbleGum

By making HBO an exclusive, the AT&T/Time Warner conglomerate could replace licensing revenue with direct fees from customers signing with its exclusive delivery platforms (DirecTV, HBOgo/now, etc.). If this merger is approved and that proved a more profitable option, what's to keep them from trying it?

well for one it would be pretty hard to make the math work on how that would be net profitable. HBO has millions of subscribers on dozens of services. Even if they make 10 times more by having them subscribe directly, they'd still have to be able to convert at least 10% of those customers over to their service, which is a pretty tall order.

Plus, doing so could always be brought up in court as being anti-competitive. Just because the merger goes through doesn't mean the new company has a blank check to do whatever they want. It can be challenged in court and forced to break up or change their business practices at any time.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by spectre08

this isn't really what's happening though. The cable companies are trying to cut their costs and diversify their revenue by buying a content producer, since the cable business itself is hard to make a profit in.

But they'll never gobble up all of the studios, eventually they'll just each have one major/mid-major studio in their pocket. But the number of studios and the volume of content far far far outweighs the delivery industry.

But these are still just industry silos. The major players are becoming more vertically integrated, which is something that happened in other industries decades ago.

I didn't say this deal puts us in a corporate run dystopia, I'm just saying that's where we're headed unless we do something about it. You can have 5-6 mega corporations that own something in every field without a "monopoly." I wouldn't want that, competition or not.

[NARMAK]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I didn't say this deal puts us in a corporate run dystopia, I'm just saying that's where we're headed unless we do something about it. You can have 5-6 mega corporations that own something in every field without a "monopoly." I wouldn't want that, competition or not.

We already have this in other industries so far and tbh, they've already convinced the majority of the public it's fine and dandy. Look at the food industry and see how many of the conglomerates own your food brands right at the top and how many retailers there really are for consumers to choose from. Very similar to OPEC. It's a cartel racket.

Media domination by a several large providers means they've got a lot more pricing control and no incentive to price compete and WILL squeeze consumers on all sides as much as possible whilst marketing to you the illusion they're better and 'cheaper' even whilst getting more expensive.

I read the deal was done and for $80 billion. Seems like huge money to us average joes but goes to show how large these companies have gotten in power and influence as well as earnings to rate so high.

[spectre08]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I didn't say this deal puts us in a corporate run dystopia, I'm just saying that's where we're headed unless we do something about it. You can have 5-6 mega corporations that own something in every field without a "monopoly." I wouldn't want that, competition or not.

except that we're not remotely headed toward that. Look at the largest companies in the world, and you'll find that almost without exception they're isolated to a single industry and maybe a few very closely related industries.

Because the actual reality is that trying to run businesses across industries is highly inefficient, and the economy deplores inefficiency.

[mredman]

I am so confused about this horror merger buy up. What will happpen to their shows, films, their logo ect. What about Blu-Ray releases from WAC and their normal releases. Will this be affected. Seems like whereever i go someone says something different. This is really a scary time for people fans of their franchises and tv shows and their Blu-Ray releases, they are the Best in that stuff. But this news is scary as hell. Should we be worried or is nothing happening with all those things ?

[thewerepuppygrr]

Just FYI, I think you guys are confusing monopoly with oligopoly (a state of limited competition, in which a market is shared by a small number of producers or sellers).

[spectre08]

Originally Posted by mredman

I am so confused about this horror merger buy up. What will happpen to their shows, films, their logo ect. What about Blu-Ray releases from WAC and their normal releases. Will this be affected. Seems like whereever i go someone says something different. This is really a scary time for people fans of their franchises and tv shows and their Blu-Ray releases, they are the Best in that stuff. But this news is scary as hell. Should we be worried or is nothing happening with all those things ?

why on earth would you have any reason to be worried about content coming from WB?

AT&T bought TimeWarner BECAUSE of the content they're producing.

The only thing that will change will be the highest level corporate logo.

The studios won't change their logos, they won't change their line-ups, they wont' change their tv shows. It's very unlikely that AT&T will even change executive leadership at the studio level.

AT&T will likely shuffle some things around at the TimeWarner Inc. level, changes with may eventually impact subsidiaries like the studios and channels.

Bunch of freakin' out over a whole lot of nothing.


Parent companies change all the time, it's not that scary.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by spectre08

Parent companies change all the time, it's not that scary.

I doubt the average person could name the parent company in most cases, it's only with media that we see information without actively looking for it. I'm sure if we went looking we'd be surprised that the brands we grew up with are no longer owned by that company itself and are now owned by a larger parent company.

[spectre08]

Originally Posted by chip75

I doubt the average person could name the parent company in most cases, it's only with media that we see information without actively looking for it. I'm sure if we went looking we'd be surprised that the brands we grew up with are no longer owned by that company itself and are now owned by a larger parent company.

exactly. And it's not like this is a new arrangement either.

Remember when Time Warner made HBO and WB movies available exclusively on Time Warner Cable when they owned it?

Me either.

[Truewitt]

The only thing this is assurance of are labor issues. The only thing that is ever a guarantee of these types of deals is a ton of layoffs and squeezing the employees for more work with less people in less time. The businesses themselves tend to go on as they had before.

[spectre08]

If you're a business or policy wonk you should read the writeup that the NYT did yesterday about the deal and the regulatory scrutiny it will face.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/bu...=business&_r=5

[Tony208]

WOW! Direct TV Now will only be $35 and have 100 channels.

I don't care if it is a ploy to sell the merger, that's a damn good price.

[ctujackbauer]

Never go to the mat with someone who has unlimited time and resources:

WSJ article- Justice Department Appeals Court Ruling Allowing AT&T-Time Warner Merger

[ctujackbauer]

Also, I loved this article on arstechnica about AT&T reworking HBO for the smartphone era and increasing its output/number of shows.

Some of the quotes from AT&T executives are hard to even believe.

"Think about things like Game of Thrones," AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said at a telecom conference in May 2017. "In a mobile environment, a 60-minute episode might not be the best experience. Maybe you want a 20-minute episode." Instead of showing full-length episodes on all devices, it might be best to "curate the content uniquely for a mobile environment."

Plepler said that HBO's current strategy "is not going to be sustainable going forward."

"I've said, 'More is not better, only better is better,' because that was the hand we had," Plepler said. "I've switched that, now that you're here, to: 'More isn't better, only better is better—but we need a lot more to be even better.'"

[mwynn]

His thought is shorter shows will give them more hours to show content. Seems like they want more binge able material, which would change the way they release material.