Fox-Disney deal may pose challenges to other media giants

The globally reputed Manhattan-based multinational mass media corporation, 21^st Century Fox has been in talks with Walt Disney Co., to sell most of its media assets excluding Fox news and sports. It is unclear though, if Fox business would be involved in an upcoming Disney-Fox deal. As per media reports, in recent weeks, both the companies held a discussion about the sale of Fox’s movie studio, its National Geographic and FX channels and other international assets to Disney.

Speaking about the current media landscape, which has changed drastically in the last few years, Fox has been reexamining its scale and size, taking into account the current scenario in global media, pertaining to the dominating emergence of Netflix, Google, and Facebook in the field of digital media content development and distribution. Reportedly, in order to compete with these tech giants, the media mammoth would need to retain its bonding with consumers, which is only possible if Fox signs an agreement with Disney.

For the record, Disney already has a wide range of family-friendly assets, from its animated movies to Star Wars and Marvel. However, this upcoming deal is likely to favor Disney with wider range of media products. With regard to the competitive potential of the media industry landscape, the collaboration of Fox and Disney is likely to emerge crucial for one of the pivotal media behemoths - Netflix. According to analysts, most of the investors of Netflix have sold their shares, which has resulted in depreciation of Netflix’s share by more than 2%. Meanwhile, the shares of Fox and Disney rose approximately 1% each.

As Disney looks forward to launching its own streaming facilities, the acquisition of a major movie studio, having had substantial exposure to the international media landscape is likely to emerge beneficial for the Disney group. Besides, even Fox is reported to have believed that focusing on news and sports would turn out to be more effective in current era of digital media.