Television

Disney’s big ESPN choice, Rio Tinto Mongolia drama

15 Sep 2022

Activist Dan Loeb backed away from his demand that the $203 bln media firm sell its sports network. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists debate whether it’s the right move. And the $94 bln mining giant’s attempt to secure copper supply may need heavier machinery.

Women’s soccer kicks off virtuous financial circle

1 Aug 2022

England’s “Lionesses” won the European Championship in front of 87,000 fans with millions watching at home. That suggests public interest not far off the men’s game. If soccer follows tennis in closing the gender revenue gap, there will be big bucks for players – and for clubs.

Reliance’s digital cricket deal puts TV to a test

14 Jun 2022

Mukesh Ambani’s Indian media empire will use the premier league’s streaming rights, won for $3 bln, to aggressively ramp up his streaming service. Success will come at the expense of former owner Disney. A fiddly ownership structure limits the tycoon’s financial pain too.

AC Milan’s soccer triumph rubs off on Elliott

1 Jun 2022

The U.S. fund is selling the Serie A winner to private equity firm RedBird for $1.3 bln, nearly 5 times sales. That’s rich for a club with chronic losses. After a challenging first half and the pandemic, Elliott looks to have made a respectable return from the Italian team.

Elon Musk’s Twitter funds, Netflix with ads

28 Apr 2022

Tesla’s boss is close to clinching control of the social network, having secured financing from Wall Street. Breakingviews columnists discuss why the bet makes sense for banks in this Viewsroom podcast. Also, the streaming service’s subscriber pain may lead to bountiful change.

Capital Calls: Citi hands SEC a SPAC victory

5 Apr 2022

Concise views on global finance: The top underwriter for blank-check firms is pressing pause on its business. It shows that proposed SEC rules have real teeth.

Disney without cricket risks its streaming game

3 Mar 2022

IPL rights held by the Mouse House are up for grabs. Sony and Reliance are pumped-up contenders, and bids may hit $6 bln – well over double the 2017 price. India is the fastest-growing hub for Disney+ but minus the popular game, boss Bob Chapek can kiss subscriber gains goodbye.

Minnow TV deal highlights regulatory sharks

22 Feb 2022

A fund partnering with Apollo is offering $9 bln for broadcaster Tegna. The nature of the deal and the sector’s challenges suggest antitrust shouldn’t be a problem. But a fee that ups the deal price if approval drags on shows regulatory threats abound even for innocuous mergers.

AT&T and Discovery’s tie-up has a Netflix quandary

27 Jan 2022

The telecom firm added 4.3 mln subscribers for its HBO service, soon to be part of a media joint venture with Discovery. But Netflix’s stock crash suggests streaming valuations have slumped. That takes some of the shine off “Succession” parent WarnerMedia’s upcoming union.

Review: There is no successor to “Succession”

10 Dec 2021

The HBO series about a fictional mogul and his adult children scheming to replace him is so good because it draws on real-life dynasties like the Murdochs. But those sprawling media empires are being dismantled. It’s hard to imagine Mark Zuckerberg inspiring similar drama.

Capital Calls: Pandora, Facebook files pack punch

4 Oct 2021

Concise views on global finance: A leak with rich people’s offshore activities and a Facebook exposé reinforce perceptions with facts; GitLab’s float shows Microsoft’s wise 2018 buy; Volvo IPO aims to supercharge EV plans; BT’s bid to rule UK broadband may face U.S. competition.

Hollywood talent wars call for a new currency

12 Aug 2021

Scarlett Johansson’s fight with Disney shows the old model of paying stars based on the box office doesn’t work in an age of streaming. Netflix has its own radical alternative, but there’s another way, too: Align stars’ pay more closely with numbers shareholders care about.

Capital Calls: Olympics on TV, Abrdn

10 Aug 2021

Concise views on global finance: NBC Universal's prime-time viewers for the Tokyo games were only half as many as for London 2012, boding ill for traditional U.S. TV; the British asset manager formerly known as Standard Life Aberdeen may be turning the corner.

Reheated CVC soccer plan faces better Spanish odds

5 Aug 2021

The sporty buyout fund wants to invest 2.7 bln euros in La Liga, mirroring a proposal that flopped in Italy’s Serie A. At just over 10 times commercial revenue, the higher-flying Spanish league’s valuation is lower. Yet the latest deal’s chances of finding the net look safer.

Capital Calls: Moderna, Qualcomm, US tax, ViacomCBS

5 Aug 2021

Concise views on global finance: The Covid-19 vaccine maker is looking past the pandemic; the telecoms group is offering $4.6 bln for Veoneer; U.S. Democrats are trying to close the carried-interest loophole; ViacomCBS is betting "South Park" can boost its streaming service.

Disney has enough magic without Hulu

15 Jun 2021

The Mouse House is rocketing ahead with its video service, Disney+. So it’s odd that it still owns two-thirds of the less successful Hulu. While Disney can buy the rest of Hulu from rival Comcast from 2024, it might make more sense to sell, and spend the money closer to home.

AT&T augurs a renaissance in corporate breakups

2 Jun 2021

After going gaga for carveouts and spinoffs a few years ago, U.S. companies unleashed just $200 bln of them last year. Investors reward corporations that ditch sprawl for specialization. Ma Bell’s neatly structured Time Warner deal provides a catalyst to break more things up.

Amazon pays to take MGM chess piece off the board

25 May 2021

Jeff Bezos’s $9 bln potential movie studio deal puts a huge premium on MGM. And it could get caught in regulatory purgatory. But Amazon would take a coveted asset off the streaming market. Meanwhile, the $1.6 trln e-commerce giant has time to catch up to media rivals.

Capital Calls: “Friends” reunion, SPACs in D.C.

24 May 2021

Concise views on global finance: AT&T's HBO Max is streaming a delayed 25-year reunion of the popular sitcom cast just as the company ditches its media assets; busybody U.S. Congress is taking a hands-off approach to blank-check firms.

WarnerMedia’s leading man springs a pay trap

20 May 2021

AT&T paid Jason Kilar too handsomely to run its media division a year ago. Now that the telecom company is merging WarnerMedia with Discovery, he may want even more to stick around. Whether he walks or stays, the new company to be led by Discovery's CEO could face a pay showdown.