Comcast officially bid $65 million for the assets of 21st Century Fox on Wednesday.
The all-cash proposal, higher than the expected $60 billion, was about 20 percent above the offer Disney made in December, and it included added incentives. Comcast said it would reimburse Disney $1.5 billion of the $2.5 billion breakup fee Disney would have to pay.
Daniel Ives, the chief strategy officer and head of technology research at GBH Insights, said this offer won't be the last blow in the fight for Fox.
"Right now you have a UFC match going on between Comcast and Disney," he said in an interview Wednesday with Cheddar just after news of Comcast's offer. "I'd expect Disney to come back with another offer in the next 48 hours."
Ives said Disney can't afford to lose Fox to Comcast, and ultimately the deal might get done "in the high $60 ー $70 billion" range.
"You knew a bid was coming after the green light yesterday for AT&T, but this is a good offer," he said.
Comcast's offer comes a day after a U.S. judge ruled in favor of AT&T in its proposed acquisition of Time Warner, a decision thought to open the door for other mega-mergers in the media industry.
Internet providers and cable distributors are looking for more revenue streams to compete with streaming companies such as Netflix and Amazon, which create their own content.
But regulators have criticized consolidation of media assets. The Justice Department sued to block AT&T's $85 billion deal last November, citing concerns over the telecom company owning DirecTV and Time Warner. The judge ruled Tuesday that the government didn't sufficiently make its case that a tie-up would stifle competition or harm consumers.
Before the ruling, Comcast had said it was preparing an offer for Fox if the judge decided in AT&T's favor. Its all-cash offer was considerably more than the $52.4 billion in stock Disney bid last year.
The winning suitor will gain control of Fox's film and TV studios, including rights to the *X-Men*, *Avatar*, and *Simpsons* franchises; its stake in Hulu; and cable channels including FX.
"Now you've got a battle royale on our hands for these assets," said Ives.
Fox had rebuffed an earlier offer from Comcast, even though it was higher than Disney's. But Rich Greenfield, an analyst with BTIG, [told Cheddar last week](https://cheddar.com/videos/rich-greenfield-murdoch-no-longer-set-on-selling-to-disney-for-stock) that Rupert Murdoch, who controls Fox, was open to deals other than Disney.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/what-comcasts-bid-for-fox-means-for-media-mania),
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
