So Steve Burke did not say anything regarding the deal at the call today. This isn't a straight out denial that talks aren't going on but they are staying closed lipped.
Hmmm, I was pretty sure the contract for SeaWorld was till 2017. Although the show isn't in the parks anymore. Maybe they ended it early? Weird
So Steve Burke did not say anything regarding the deal at the call today. This isn't a straight out denial that talks aren't going on but they are staying closed lipped.
That's standard practice. In fact, him refusing to comment leads me to believe this is probably close to being done
If this deal goes through, it's primary goal is probably to acquire content. And there's plenty of content that can be used for Comcast's present & future media plans. The IP's for the theme parks are probably secondary to that. But there's certainly a lot of product that will lend itself to theme park lands & attractions. The price right now is probably a bargain since Dreamwork's financials have been weak for some time. It will be interesting to see if this goes through. Dreamworks had a couple of suitors in the past few years, but they backed off after looking at the books. But this does seem like a good match for Comcast, if the price justifies the balance sheet.This is actually a huge deal. (Though I'm pretty sure NBC is trying to get their hands on the Broadway Video Catalog as it holds all the early SNL, Tonight Show and Late show tapes)
Just a list of IPs hidden under Classic Media. I tried to find a complete listing but here is basically all of them.
- UPA catalog (Mr. Magoo, Gerald McBoing-Boing, etc.)
- Harvey Entertainment catalog (Casper the Friendly Ghost, Richie Rich, Baby Huey, etc.)
- Golden Books/Gold Key Comics catalog (Magnus, Robot Fighter, Doctor Solar, Turok, Little Lulu, etc.), including the Broadway Video catalog (Lassie, the Lone Ranger,Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, etc.)
- Big Idea Entertainment catalog (VeggieTales)
- Entertainment Rights catalog, including the Filmation (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, BraveStarr, etc.), Woodland Animations (Postman Pat, Charlie Chalk)and Tell-Tale Productions (Tweenies, Boo!, etc.)catalogs.
- Theodore Tugboat
- Voltron
- Jay Ward Productions catalog (The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, George of the Jungle, etc.)
- Tribune Media Services catalog (Dick Tracy, Brenda Starr, Reporter, Gasoline Alley, Broom-Hilda, etc.)
- Several Godzilla films, under license from Toho
Next thing you know Comcast/Uni will acquire Royal Caribbean
Jeffrey Katzenberg.
The guy ran Disney Animation and was in line for the CEO role at Disney. He's one of the most powerful people in the media world. I'd be shocked if he wasn't on the shortlist for Disney CEO now.
I believe they are bringing in some good talented execs if this deal occurs and keeping a top exec away from disney alone might be worth a huge chunk of the 3B offered.
3 Billion, wow. Makes the 4 Billion for Lucasfilm seem like a bargin.
Lucasfilms wasn't in the best bargaining position. Their two biggest properties came out with publicly disliked and critical bombs with Star Wars and Indy. If Indy and The Crystal Skull and the Prequels did extremely well, the price would be totally different I am sure.
Yeah, not a bad strategy. Dreamworks wasn't exactly getting fought over by suitors. The other deals fell apart as soon as the other companies started looking at the books. Dreamworks has been struggling for a good while."Still, some analysts urge DWA investors to sell today."
This is just negotiation. DWA jumped up from $2.3B market cap to $2.8B market cap. If Comcast wants a $3B purchase price, they need to offer full market cap + some amount of top of that. So, they'll start slowing talks, wait for the stock to go back down, and then buy the company.
Not saying it's a done deal, but wait until the deal is dead before taking stock (pun intended) in this.
Yeah, not a bad strategy. Dreamworks wasn't exactly getting fought over by suitors. The other deals fell apart as soon as the other companies started looking at the books. Dreamworks has been struggling for a good while.
You know, I'm happy for new and exciting content and particularly some new theme park possibilities but the monopolization of American media is absolutely incredible to me, and a tad frightening.