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☆ Sky spinoff is Comcast’s least-bad option
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The boss of U.S. media giant Comcast (CMCSA.O) may want to make an exception for Sky. Including acquired debt, Roberts paid a multiple of 15 times Sky’s EBITDA to clinch the deal, two and a half times the company’s enterprise value before the takeover battle began. The financial consequences of Roberts’ determination became apparent in October when Comcast took a non-cash impairment charge of $8.6 billion related to Sky. Goldman Sachs analysts expect Sky to generate adjusted EBITDA of $2.1 billion in 2023, nearly one-third less than in 2019. Comcast said on Oct. 27 that it took a non-cash impairment charge of $8.6 billion related to Sky assets for the third quarter of 2022.

☆ The biggest media targets and buyers in 2023, as speculation swirls around Disney's next move under CEO Bob Iger and how Warner Bros. Discovery can shed debt
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Lucia Moses | Claire Atkinson | Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Continued pressure to get bigger has big media companies in Hollywood looking to scale up. Media bankers and investors predicted to Insider that dealmaking will rebound in 2023 as companies big and small size up their options for possible tie-ups. Pressure on big media companies to get bigger hasn't gone away. Apple: Could eye a big content prizeTim Cook. Paramount's library could help a streaming company bulk up its content; Netflix for one has explored Paramount's studio business before.

☆ Bob Iger's return as Disney CEO opens new possibilities for Hulu deal with Comcast
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Disney will write "a big check" for Comcast's 33% share of Hulu, said NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell. With Bob Iger returning as Disney's CEO, Comcast is hoping for a broader conversation to seal the deal. Comcast is eyeing assets such as ESPN, FX, and NatGeo in return for surrendering its stake in Hulu. Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who was unceremoniously fired on November 20, refused to hold any talks on the topic with Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, according to a Comcast insider and a high-level Hollywood executive familiar with thinking inside Disney. Representatives for Hulu, Disney, and Comcast had no comment.

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☆ From Apple and Disney to Warner Bros. Discovery, here's the 2023 media deal outlook for Hollywood's biggest companies, according to 13 bankers and industry experts
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Lucia Moses | Claire Atkinson | Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

☆ Hulu insiders are confused and frustrated about their future as Disney and Comcast battle it out for control of the streamer
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Lucia Moses | Elaine Low | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Sparring between Disney and Comcast CEOs over Hulu has stoked uncertainty among insiders about the streamer's future. Many wonder how Hulu will stay differentiated from Disney+ if Disney becomes Hulu's sole owner. Insiders and advertisers alike are also watching to see if Hulu will lose some of its distinctiveness as Disney invests more in Disney+. "That was a clear departure from Disney being family-focused and Hulu being general entertainment," said a second former Hulu exec. And as the CEOs posture, people inside the streamer are eager for leadership to tell them, as a third former company insider put it, "what Hulu means to the Walt Disney Company."

☆ ESPN would help Disney and Comcast settle a score
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

NEW YORK, Sept 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - When it comes to modern corporate sagas, few deliver the drama between Walt Disney (DIS.N) and Comcast (CMCSA.O). Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts is in position to let his counterpart squirm, but there’s a neat solution to help settle the score: ESPN. He feared Comcast “would have paid more later.”Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterBefore long, Comcast clashed again with Disney. To settle the matter, the two parent companies agreed that in January 2024 Comcast could force Disney to buy its stake or Disney could require Comcast to sell based on a minimum valuation of $27.5 billion. Disney owns two-thirds of Hulu and Comcast owns the rest.

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav faces 3 key challenges as financial headwinds disrupt his strategy and threaten his promises to Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman crystallized the daunting task ahead for Zaslav and WBD in his August 5 report "Reality First. The honeymoon was short-lived," said one senior Hollywood insider. It turns out there are five, housing some 40,000 employees globally: Warner Bros., HBO Max, the Turner entertainment channel business, CNN, and Discovery. The WBD insider said there isn't a rush to hire a new chief and that the company will continue to meet people. Under the ownership of AT&T, WarnerMedia's financials were buried in its parent's spreadsheets — now as a pure-play entertainment company, Warner Bros.

☆ Disney CEO says he'd 'love' to merge Hulu into Disney+ — but there's one major obstacle in the way
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Disney CEO Bob Chapek hinted recently that he wants to integrate Hulu into Disney+. Disney CEO Bob Chapek told investors last week that he'd "love" to get to a point sooner than later where Disney can integrate Hulu into Disney+. "We'd have to have full ownership of Hulu to integrate it into Disney+," Chapek said last Wednesday. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts has said that the company would be "interested" if Hulu was up for sale. It had 13 million subscribers as of the most recent quarter, showing no growth compared to the previous one.

Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek said he'd love to own Comcast's 33% stake in Hulu "tomorrow" but acknowledged the chances of an early deal are "less and less" as 2024 approaches. Comcast has an existing mutual agreement with Disney to sell its minority Hulu stake as early as January 2024. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said Wednesday he would also like to own Hulu if Disney decided to put the streaming service up for sale. The best way to value Hulu is to figure out what it would sell for in a theoretical auction, Roberts said Wednesday at the conference. Chapek told Faber this year's dip in the public valuation of Netflix should factor in to the eventual sale price.

The future of Hulu continues to be an open question as Comcast and Disney still haven't agreed on terms that will settle the company's future ownership. But Comcast executives are planning on Disney buying them out — even if they'd prefer otherwise. Disney owns two-thirds of Hulu and has an option to buy the remaining 33% from Comcast as early as January 2024. Some analysts and industry watchers have speculated Comcast might try to buy Hulu from Disney rather than the other way around. Disney could have positioned Hulu as its advertising play going forward, but CEO Bob Chapek has chosen to make versions of both Disney+ and Hulu with and without commercials.

☆ It's time to get rid of managers. All of them.
▼ + stars: | 2022-05-12 | by ( Molly Lipson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

What would happen if a company completely got rid of middle managers? In 2012, the publishing company Medium restructured its organization and moved away from centralized management power. The model gets rid of managers and spreads their responsibilities across different roles, giving average workers more of a voice. The reality is that psychological safety isn't intrinsically available to everyone, and holacracy doesn't have anything in it to ensure that safety." It's true that holacracy doesn't eliminate the power structures determined by characteristics such as race, gender, age, and sexuality.

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