Comcast has thrown in the towel in the bidding war to snatch up assets of 21st Century Fox.
The cable giant announced on Thursday that it will instead focus on its bid for British broadcaster Sky.
The decision means Disney's $71 billion agreement to buy most of Fox can proceed unchallenged. Comcast had twice outbid the entertainment giant for those assets. It's last offer in June came in at $65 billion, and [some reports](https://www.wsj.com/articles/comcast-isnt-done-yet-1529524156) suggested bidding could go as high as $80 billion.
"Our focus now is on completing the regulatory process and ultimately moving toward integrating our businesses," said Disney CEO Bob Iger in a statement about the move.
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said, "I’d like to congratulate Bob Iger and the team at Disney and commend the Murdoch family and Fox for creating such a desirable and respected company."
The two companies were vying for Fox's film and TV studios, the networks FX and NatGeo, and its stakes in Hulu, India's Star network, andーto complicate thingsーSky.
Fox currently holds a 39 percent stake in Sky and last week offered to buy the rest in a deal that value the company at $32.5 billion. Comcast responded with an all-cash bid of $34 billion, 12 percent higher than what it first offered in February.
"Sky is clearly a crown jewel, you see all this competition for it," said Wall Street Journal reporter Keach Hagey. "It's something that would really give Comcast exposure to international markets, which they don't have. It would be massive for Comcast."
But UK regulators gave Fox the green light last week, which could mean the company would ultimately go to Disney.
A [Wall Street Journal report](https://www.wsj.com/articles/disneys-big-question-how-crucial-is-sky-to-its-fox-deal-1531915200) Wednesday suggested Disney might be willing to do without Sky if it meant avoiding a continued bidding war for Fox. Whether it's willing to sustain a battle for Sky is still a question.
Either way, the merger would further increase competition in the crowded streaming market, said Hagey, author of "The King of Content." Disney announced plans last year to create its own streaming service, which would likely include Fox's content.
"You already have to subscribe to four or five services if you want to watch the show that people are talking about at the water cooler," Hagey said. "It's going to only become more fragmented."
Disney and Fox shareholders are set to vote on their proposed combination on July 27th. The Justice Department approved the deal in late June.
For the full segment, [click here.]( https://cheddar.com/videos/comcast-drops-fox-bid-and-state-of-media-m-and-a)
On this episode of On The Job presented by ADP: Gemma Burgess, CEO of Ferguson Partners, explains what people are looking for in an employer, and how to convey positive work culture to potential employees; Amy Leschke-Kahle, Vice President of Performance Acceleration at The Marcus Buckingham Company, an ADP company, breaks down how encouraging employee engagement and empowering employee voices can benefit every workplace and busts a myth about employee engagement while working from home; Jim Huether, CEO of Hyperice, discusses Hyperice's new employee mental health initiative, known as the Workplace Alliance, with 100-plus companies to combat the ongoing mental health crisis and how they're taking a hands-on, data-driven approach to the mental health crisis.
Amy Leschke-Kahle, Vice President of Performance Acceleration at The Marcus Buckingham Company, an ADP company, joins Cheddar to discuss how encouraging employee engagement and empowering employee voices can benefit every workplace and busts a myth about employee engagement while working from home.
Jim Huether, CEO of Hyperice, joins Cheddar to discuss Hyperice's new employee mental health initiative, known as the Workplace Alliance, with 100-plus companies to combat the ongoing mental health crisis and how they're taking a hands-on, data-driven approach to the mental health crisis.
Consumer prices saw an 8.6 percent jump in May, with fuel prices showing the biggest surge, climbing 17 percent last month. As inflation continues to climb to levels not seen in 40 years, President Biden took to calling out ExxonMobil and other major oil companies, accusing them of holding back production while continuing to collect huge profits at the cost of the consumer. Mark Avallone, the president of Potomac Wealth Advisors, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss. “They have reduced long-term expenditures. But why? Because the world is going to alternative energy and as consumers, if we thought that that welcome change to alternatives was going to happen without pain, we might have been mistaken," he said. "The less investment they make in oil because they're getting ready for a new world of electric vehicles, the less we're going to be prepared for oil shocks such as the one we got when Russia invaded Ukraine."
Catching you up on the stories you need to know this morning, the U.S. could soon get its first major gun safety law in years, the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th attack on the U.S. capitol holds its second hearing, and today might just be the day the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, and decides on new gun laws.
