Media & Entertainment

EU tech rules bite ever-closer to Apple’s core

10 Apr 2024

As Brussels gains new powers and enforces a March music-streaming ruling, the European Union can finally force Apple to change how the iPhone works with outside developers. A US antitrust case adds pressure. Users may not like the results, which means investors should care too.

Vivendi gives Canal+ a South African dowry

8 Apr 2024

The French pay-TV operator has offered $1.9 bln to buy out South African broadcaster MultiChoice. Despite a significant increase on an earlier bid, the price looks reasonable. Consolidating its presence in a fast-growing market may boost Canal+’s appeal in an upcoming IPO.

Hollywood monarchs cling to a fading empire

5 Apr 2024

Paramount owner Shari Redstone and Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel are involved in complex bids designed in part to suit their needs. Disney boss Bob Iger won a bitter fight to keep a friendly board. Tinseltown is losing its luster. Moguls’ resistance to giving up crowns slows progress.

Hollywood super-agent casts himself as deal star

4 Apr 2024

Endeavor boss Ari Emanuel was unexpectedly humbled: some of his bonuses went unpaid because the company’s stock price has sputtered. A $13 bln sale to buyout shop Silver Lake fixes the problem. Between equity, royalties and other goodies, he stands to pocket more than $400 mln.

Bob Iger now under pressure to wow with an encore

3 Apr 2024

Disney’s CEO worked some magic to stop mouthy Nelson Peltz from being elected to the board. The next trick is to fix streaming and narrow a valuation gap with Netflix. Even if Iger pulls another contract extension out of his hat, shareholders want to see a financial showstopper.

GameStop saga ends. Winner: capital markets

3 Apr 2024

The game retailer cashed in on meme stock mania, revamped management, but failed to reinvent itself. Reddit-fueled investors, eager to fight shortsellers, may just lose their shirts. It would be a costly lesson that, some broken pockets aside, the market was working all along.

Ari Emanuel baits investors to swim with sharks

2 Apr 2024

The CEO of Hollywood powerhouse Endeavor agreed to a $13 bln buyout billed, via creative math, as the decade’s biggest. After separating crown jewel UFC, Endeavor is complex – and cheap. For buyer Silver Lake, expert at exploiting such aberrations, this deal is perfect chum.

Disney’s CEO still has time to be a hero

20 Mar 2024

Shareholders will soon vote on the $200 bln entertainment firm’s board line-up, the culmination of a bitter battle between long-serving chief Bob Iger and activist Nelson Peltz. Iger is likely to prevail. He should invite Peltz to join the Mouse House as a director anyway.

Disney CEO Bob Iger has a lingering legacy problem

15 Mar 2024

The $205 bln company is trolling to replace its longstanding boss. Perhaps its someone in-house or an outsider brought in by a deal. But Tinseltown is skeptical he’ll leave. Iger may bat down activists in an upcoming vote. The best way to ink his legacy is by nudging the board.

UK media muddle is fresh turn-off for foreign cash

14 Mar 2024

Hurried Westminster amendments are set to block an Abu Dhabi-backed bid to buy the Telegraph. It’s OK to stop foreign states owning domestic media, and it may not even upend UAE relations. But making policy on the hoof so flagrantly offers a new reason to swerve UK assets.

Buyout shops take risky exit to bypass deal crash

14 Mar 2024

A lack of M&A and IPOs has left private equity portfolios with $3 trln of companies, many past their sell-by dates. As a result, firms are increasingly cashing out backers while keeping assets. There are guardrails on the structures now, but they could easily spin out of control.

Reddit Google searches ‘how to make money’

12 Mar 2024

The social media firm’s rapid top-line growth suggests it’s attracting ad dollars. But Reddit’s reliance on search engines like Google to attract viewers is a risk. Roughly three-fourths of its new users come through search. Monetizing them keeps the platform on a cost treadmill.

Time continues to be on TikTok’s side

12 Mar 2024

A US bill that would force the social media app’s parent ByteDance to sell the platform is gaining ground. Demands are like those made years ago, only the app is now more powerful, the relationship with China more complicated, and politicians less willing to compromise.

This year’s Oscar winner is…Ozempic

8 Mar 2024

The weight loss drug and its peer Mounjaro will make more than one red-carpet appearance at the Academy Awards. Such free advertising has long helped luxury firms like LVMH and Hermes sustain high pricing power, margins and valuations. Now drugmakers are in on the act.

Taylor Swift is Thai economy’s antihero

6 Mar 2024

Singapore's exclusive deal to host the pop star's Southeast Asia concerts has irked its neighbours. Thailand, with the slowest post-pandemic recovery, is upset at missing out on the spoils. Those are debatable and in any event wouldn't shake off the $500 bln economy's malaise.

Nelson Peltz becomes gadfly to Disney’s flywheel

5 Mar 2024

A 130-plus page presentation makes a strong case for how and why the $210 bln company's boss Bob Iger didn't do his job. Activist Nelson Peltz’s ideas for fixing Disney are weaker. Still, CEOs run companies; board members keep tabs. In a smaller world, Peltz might win a seat.

EU’s $2 bln Apple bite is still more of a bark

4 Mar 2024

Brussels is fining the US giant more than expected for hurting streaming competition. That leaves $2.7 trln Apple open to similar cases. But as with other EU bids to rein in Big Tech, it hikes the cost of doing business more than it shakes up the sector.

European telcos’ new deal hopes face reality check

1 Mar 2024

Executives gathered in Barcelona this week to plead for lighter regulation, cheaper spectrum and some financial help. Policymakers are unlikely to agree. Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica and others will have to convince investors that future growth requires more investment today.

Disney gets second mouse role in Reliance show

29 Feb 2024

The duo are merging their Indian TV and streaming assets into a $8.5 bln joint venture. It's a welcome end to an unnecessary distraction for Disney boss Bob Iger. After forcing the US firm into missteps, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance is winning control of a powerful entity at a steal.

Capital Calls: Charter and Altice

27 Feb 2024

Concise views on global finance: Tying up Charter, the cable giant backed by the media mogul, with rival Altice USA would form the country’s largest broadband player. That isn’t worth bearing the burden of regulatory hurdles, Altice’s mountain of debt, or its over-rich valuation.