Layoffs have just hit ABC as rumors of Disney putting the broadcaster up for sale swirl.
Begun, the war between broadcast and streaming has.
Begun, the war between broadcast and streaming has.
Disney May Put ABC Up for Sale
- Thread starter Apparition B5
- Start date
Then you would be overpaying.
(mic drop)
I realize broadcast television is probably dying. Even so, Disney would be crazy to sell ABC at this point. ABC is quite useful for distributing its material and creating new IPs. ESPN or the former Maker Studios would be better sells. The only reason that would make halfway sense would be for Disney to sell ABC so it could buy a different broadcasting company like CBS or NBC and even that seems very foolish and extremely unlikely. Well, on second thought, Disney buying 21st Century FOX somewhat makes sense, but still seems quite unlikely. For one thing, FOX and Disney don't seem that compatible. For another, I doubt the Murdoch family would sell. Finally, Disney is very unlikely to spend the nearly hundred billion dollars it would take to buy FOX.
Last edited:
hmm, I just realized the Marvel shows are the only thing I watch on ABC. Maybe Kimmel if he has an interesting guest.
I find it less surprising considering the recent news that ABC wanted to cancel Agents of SHIELD and Disney more or less told them to renew the show for a fifth season.
I'm not totally surprised. I've heard some suggest Disney should sell ABC. I simply think it would be very unwise at this point. Ten, twenty years down the road, it may make more sense. Right now, owning ABC still has benefits and will for at least five years or more. Once the Disney streaming networks gets well-established, ABC's usefulness may wane enough to sell. For the time being, however, I think it would be downright dumb. I'm glad ABC is denying the rumors. Unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily mean they couldn't be true though.
First of all 20 employees is very very small to me. Sucks to be one of them for sure. But I was employee 856 at a grocery store I worked at. I think ABC would be much bigger than that.
But if you are Disney and doing streaming, wouldn't it make sense to keep ABC for more shows? I don''t know what ABC Studios owns but Modern Family and Blackish and The Middle would be good to add to the Disney streaming service. It has benefits right now and selling them would be silly.
Plus who would buy it? Amazon? Facebook? Google?
But if you are Disney and doing streaming, wouldn't it make sense to keep ABC for more shows? I don''t know what ABC Studios owns but Modern Family and Blackish and The Middle would be good to add to the Disney streaming service. It has benefits right now and selling them would be silly.
Plus who would buy it? Amazon? Facebook? Google?
You make some very good points. Hopefully, Disney won't sell ABC. I would hate for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or Once Upon a Time to be owned by another company.
Why? Agents of SHIELD might be better off with another company considering ABC wants to can it.
I think you misunderstood what I was saying. I was saying that if Disney sold ABC, it would no longer have full rights and full ownership over Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (or at least I think Disney would lose full rights, I might be wrong).
The talks are back on between Disney and Fox: http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/disney-fox-sale-talks-comcast-1202628942/
Source: variety
Source: variety
It would be funny if Disney sold ABC to Fox and then Fox sells 20th Century Fox to Disney. But how I read the article is more about Disney buying Fox movie section and not about Disney trying to get Fox to buy ABC.
From what I understand, SHIELD is completely owned by Marvel, just like Marvel completely owns the theatrical MCU movies, with the exceptions of Hulk & Spider-Man. I think ABC only owns the first-run broadcasting rights, which would expire once the series ended. But right now with Disney owning all 3, they could easily change the contract before selling ABC.
Actually, broadcast television is on the rise again. In Q1 2013, less then 9% of households used only a TV antenna to watch. By the beginning of this year (2017), that figure has risen to 15%. As people cut the cords, they are going back to free TV.