Universal Orlando Resort Expansion (Part 1)

[Mad Dog]

Depends on how tight the labor market becomes. If unemployment stays low and quality workers are jumping to whoever pays more / offers better benefits, then companies will need to keep offering more bonuses and such.

But aside from that, the big reason they are doing this is for the PR. They want to be seen as doing 'right thing' in using this profit on their employees and investments. What is important is they make us believe they are spending their extra profits on 'the right thing' rather than sending the majority of the extra profit to shareholders, hence the press releases. (Business rule: what is true typically doesn't matter as much as what the population believes to be true.)

And these press releases hit three target areas:

Current and potential employees: They want to be seen as a good company to work for
Consumers: They want to be seen as a good company to buy from
Politicians: They want to make them (and voters) believe the tax cuts and deregulation "worked," to encourage them to keep these cuts/deregulations and potentially expand them further
​

But back on subject, that is a good to see press release and hopefully it means a lot of growth for UO and potentially Orlando as a whole.

Welcome to the IU Forums...Happy Holidays.

 

[zg44]

Universal's parks are hugely profitable. They're the most profitable in the entire theme park business in terms of earnings as a share of revenue, so I suppose in some sense, these tax cuts will enable them to keep a greater share of the profit.

Of course, it's more complicated than that because other parts of NBCUniversal are nowhere near as profitable or are struggling in terms of growth (Universal parks is the strongest growth division by far).

In terms of the long-term spending at Orlando (or Hollywood), I don't think this really changes anything. Comcast's willingness to spend hasn't really ever been affected by tax considerations.

The reality is that they want to build a 2nd resort and the things holding that up aren't really in Comcast's hands (i.e. getting more land, the Stan Thomas lawsuit, buying other hotels, getting rights to other IPs, etc.). Money isn't an issue, Comcast will put up the billions for it once other issues clear away.

 

[Teebin]

I believe Universal Team Members got a similar bonus back in 2010 to celebrate the success of Hogsmeade, so you never know.

And they have received stock in Comcast more recently than 2010. Who knows if that will happen again, but it has happened at least twice that I know of.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Sorry to quote myself, but I should say that my thoughts on this board are mine and not that of my employer. I am not a finance guy and I do not like talking politics (unless I am trying to understand what someone is made of).

Anyway, from what I can gather, the whole idea is that Companies will spend more, invest more, in this country. I think something changes on how assets depreciate so that Companies might be incouraged to spend more now...which in theory could mean more jobs...so maybe all this means more money invested in the parks...no clue from me, i’m not sure how I feel about any of the changes...I tend to try and walk a middle/independent ground...I do think the new tax changes lean more to one side though...but I imagine something might trickle down.

I am interested in this as well, from a non-political perspective. A lot of companies are in a rush to spend a ton of money right now, handing out bonuses, raises, etc... why exactly are they doing this? Other tax cuts didn't seem to have as large of a "trickle down" effect, especially so immediate like we're seeing now.

It makes sense to “front load” these bonuses as the corporate tax rate is higher now (35%) than it will be in the future. It is the same thing as an individual moving a charitable contribution from 2018 to 2017 to take advantage of a larger tax deduction.

So, with what has been said, there won’t be any bonuses coming in future years? This is a one and done?

The bonus has been planed for months before the "tax break".

 

[awhen]

The bonus has been planed for months before the "tax break".

And yet it's directly attributed to "actions on tax reform and broadband" in the press release. Also, $50B over the next 5 years is reportedly in line with the last 5 years of expenditures. Writing as a worker who would consider a $1k bonus personally significant, the total of those bonuses is still less than the combined compensation of Comcast's 5 key executives.

Anyway to keep the topic, I wouldn't expect significant additional expenditures on the parks beyond those already planned, as impressive as those plans may be.

 

[Nick]

The bonus has been planed for months before the "tax break".

I don't know anything about these bonuses, but just because it's months doesn't mean it isn't related to the situation. The white house has made it very clear from the start of 2017 what their main priorities were and one of those things was to rewrite the tax code.

 

[GoUCFKnights]

And yet it's directly attributed to "actions on tax reform and broadband" in the press release. Also, $50B over the next 5 years is reportedly in line with the last 5 years of expenditures. Writing as a worker who would consider a $1k bonus personally significant, the total of those bonuses is still less than the combined compensation of Comcast's 5 key executives.

It is a several billion dollar increase over the previous 5 year period. Its several percentage points higher, but not 10s of percent higher.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

From Tim Tracker, they have been testing facial recognition for Express at MIB this week.

 

[Mad Dog]

From Tim Tracker, they have been testing facial recognition for Express at MIB this week.

Interesting video ...and...a story. Tim has a 5 to 6 minute segment on Barney since he never saw the show, and it's about to close. I never saw it either...anyway...I'm watching the video and when the Barney segment starts, Alene's two granddaughters (age 3 and 5) walk into my den and when they heard Barney they jumped up on my desk to watch it on the computer. They were totally mesmerized, with big smiles on their face, and they sang along with every song. They kept saying they want to go there. When the segment ended, they asked me to play it again. Six times total they watched it. And they wanted it again but I told them it was time for them to get ready for their bath.They must have said they want to go there, ten times or more. ......So perhaps Barney is more relevant than many of us adults think he is. And...maybe... they should think about putting that show in the new park.

 

[quinnmac000]

Interesting video ...and...a story. Tim has a 5 to 6 minute segment on Barney since he never saw the show, and it's about to close. I never saw it either...anyway...I'm watching the video and when the Barney segment starts, Alene's two granddaughters (age 3 and 5) walk into my den and when they heard Barney they jumped up on my desk to watch it on the computer. They were totally mesmerized, with big smiles on their face, and they sang along with every song. They kept saying they want to go there. When the segment ended, they asked me to play it again. Six times total they watched it. And they wanted it again but I told them it was time for them to get ready for their bath.They must have sad they want to go there, ten times or more. ......So perhaps Barney is more relevant than many of us adults think he is. And...maybe... they should think about putting that show in the new park.

While the show still airs on PBS in some areas, overall, its a dying brand. Also negative against it, its not owned by Universal (almost was when Universal bought Sprout but Mattel got the rights and ownership). More likely Universal will double down on the one major international preschool IP they own: Curious George.

 

[Nick]

While the show still airs on PBS in some areas, overall, its a dying brand. Also negative against it, its not owned by Universal (almost was when Universal bought Sprout but Mattel got the rights and ownership). More likely Universal will double down on the one major international preschool IP they own: Curious George.

Or probably even more likely, they’ll just double down with DreamWorks and Illumination properties for kids areas.

 

[Paulio]

Universal's parks are hugely profitable. They're the most profitable in the entire theme park business in terms of earnings as a share of revenue, so I suppose in some sense, these tax cuts will enable them to keep a greater share of the profit.

Of course, it's more complicated than that because other parts of NBCUniversal are nowhere near as profitable or are struggling in terms of growth (Universal parks is the strongest growth division by far).

In terms of the long-term spending at Orlando (or Hollywood), I don't think this really changes anything. Comcast's willingness to spend hasn't really ever been affected by tax considerations.

The reality is that they want to build a 2nd resort and the things holding that up aren't really in Comcast's hands (i.e. getting more land, the Stan Thomas lawsuit, buying other hotels, getting rights to other IPs, etc.). Money isn't an issue, Comcast will put up the billions for it once other issues clear away.

I think WWE on USA Network is still profitable for Comcast, as millions of people all across this country still hook onto wrestling. That said, Comcast doesn't have as many adult-animated shows, as well as various of popular TV drama grittier shows and popular movie franchises as Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox have. All Comcast has is Law and Order (an old series from the late 1990s) and the popular Mr. Robot; no adult-animation shows. It does make up for Comcast being able to license some of WB and Fox's properties for Universal parks though.

 

[zg44]

I think WWE on USA Network is still profitable for Comcast, as millions of people all across this country still hook onto wrestling. That said, Comcast doesn't have as many adult-animated shows, as well as various of popular TV drama grittier shows and popular movie franchises as Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox have. All Comcast has is Law and Order (an old series from the late 1990s) and the popular Mr. Robot; no adult-animation shows. It does make up for Comcast being able to license some of WB and Fox's properties for Universal parks though.

Yeah the cable nets are still profitable for NBCU and others, the problem is growth.

The PayTV universe in the US has shrunk by around 10-15 million subscribers over the past 5-7 years, and that hasn't been anywhere near fully replaced by streaming services like Vue or Sling or DirecTV Now or alternative distribution like Amazon Channels.

 

[Mad Dog]

Yeah the cable nets are still profitable for NBCU and others, the problem is growth.

The PayTV universe in the US has shrunk by around 10-15 million subscribers over the past 5-7 years, and that hasn't been anywhere near fully replaced by streaming services like Vue or Sling or DirecTV Now or alternative distribution like Amazon Channels.

Yes, streaming hasn't yet been the big revenue producer it was expected to be at this point in time for the film studios. As an example, streaming has somewhat cannibalized the dvd sales & pay TV revenues of the film studios. But the streaming revenues haven't come close to replacing what they supplanted. People tend to use, or steal streaming, but are reluctant to pay real money for it. They want it free. And ad revenues are nowhere near the loss in sales of "real product". Streaming revenues are, at this point in time, more a dream than they are reality.

 

[Scott W.]

From Tim Tracker, they have been testing facial recognition for Express at MIB this week.

Interesting video. My big takeaway from this is how bad the live entertainment is compared to Disney when watching the Christmas Eve video directly after.

It’s bordering on cringe worthy bad at Universal and hopefully this can be addressed before the new park opens.

 

[quinnmac000]

I think WWE on USA Network is still profitable for Comcast, as millions of people all across this country still hook onto wrestling. That said, Comcast doesn't have as many adult-animated shows, as well as various of popular TV drama grittier shows and popular movie franchises as Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox have. All Comcast has is Law and Order (an old series from the late 1990s) and the popular Mr. Robot; no adult-animation shows. It does make up for Comcast being able to license some of WB and Fox's properties for Universal parks though.

Comcast owns Harmonquest. So they do have an adult animation show. Just not mainstream channel. Also last time i checked The Magicians show they produced on Syfy does pretty well in a live+7 format and internationally.

 

[Paulio]

Comcast owns Harmonquest. So they do have an adult animation show. Just not mainstream channel. Also last time i checked The Magicians show they produced on Syfy does pretty well in a live+7 format and internationally.

Yes, as you said, an adult-animated show which barely everyone knows about (even F is for Family on NetFlix is far better known), while another barely has the appeal of that of The Punisher (Netflix through Disney's ABC Studios), American Horror Story (20th Century Fox), and Gotham (Warner Bros.). So while NBCU does have a variety of shows, only Mr. Robot stands out appealing to the modern audience.

 

[Legacy]

SyFy has stuff that’s “useable.” It’s all just, still, really niche stuff. Killjoys, The Magicians, Van Helsing, even their hard horror stuff (Channel Zero and Z Nation) could adapted to shows or rides. Older stuff, specifically Battlestar: Galactica and Eureka, could lead headlining attractions. Despite the quality of those IPs, their draw would be near non-existent.

 

[quinnmac000]

Yes, as you said, an adult-animated show which barely everyone knows about (even F is for Family on NetFlix is far better known), while another barely has the appeal of that of The Punisher (Netflix through Disney's ABC Studios), American Horror Story (20th Century Fox), and Gotham (Warner Bros.). So while NBCU does have a variety of shows, only Mr. Robot stands out appealing to the modern audience.

Yea, your numbers aren't right, Magicians had more viewers overall than Mr Robot not including L+3, L+7, and International...even then Mr Robot isn't even USA's most viewed show...Also you do know NBC is the most viewed network amongst 18-49 year old and the second most viewed in total viewers? So while Gotham may be on Fox, people aren't watching it compared to other shows on NBC .
Top 75 TV shows of 2017-18 season | EW.com


USA viewerships:
USA Network TV Show Ratings (updated 12/22/17) - canceled TV shows - TV Series Finale

Mr Robot viewership
Mr Robot TV Show on USA: Ratings (Cancel or Season 4?)

Syfy:
Syfy TV Show Ratings (updated 12/22/17) - canceled TV shows - TV Series Finale

The Magicians Viewership
The Magicians TV show on Syfy: ratings (cancel or season 3?) - canceled TV shows - TV Series Finale

Television: Comcast had 4 of the most watched Television networks (NBC, MSNBC, USA, Telemundo) with 3 in the Top 10 per total viewers and then within the demo of 18-49 which are what makes studios the most money, they also had 4 channels (NBC, Telemundo, USA, Bravo) with 3 in the Top 10. The only channel that is having trouble currently is Universal Kids which say a -30% downward trend in viewership.
Source: Nielsen Via IndieWire
Highest Network Ratings of 2017: Most Watched Winners & Losers | IndieWire

At the same time is Disney building rides/attractions on the Punisher and those netflix shows, is Fox licensing out Archer for theme park attractions, isSix Flags pushing out DC based attractions that are exactly super high quality? Answer: No.

 

[Mr. EPCOT]

Older stuff, specifically Battlestar: Galactica and Eureka, could lead headlining attractions.

Don't even get my hopes up.