Broadcast-streaming. In the wake of approval of the AT&T bid for Time Warner, Comcast have wasted no time in tabling a higher than expected $65bn all-cash deal for 21st Century Fox. This offer is nearly $13bn higher than Disney’s $52.4 bn all-shares offer. Comcast has agreed to match Disney’s offer to pay a $2.5bn termination fee if the deal is blocked, and in addition will pay the $1.5bn fee that 21st Century Fox would owe to Disney if it walked away from their deal. Just to confuse matters, Comcast has already bid to acquire Sky TV (owned 40% by Fox). Comcast and Disney both want 21st Century Fox to spin-off to existing shareholders “New Fox”, which would retain 28 US TV stations, Fox Sports and the highly-profitable Fox News.
It is all yet another battle for the content libraries, studio deals and channels that will enable traditional broadcasters to chase down Netflix whose $8bn content budget in 2018 makes this no easy task. Disney’s plan for its own streaming network in 2019 is well-advanced though it had been assumed that it might instead relaunch the US domestic Hulu (which it will control if it buys Fox). But we might be more sure that – if Disney is outgunned by Comcast – it will go for Netflix itself and develop a multi-channel global streaming network which really might then become unstoppable. But it will be a long hot summer in broadcast-streaming deals and everything will be hard-fought. Seconds out, round two.
