The Disney/Fox Merger

[FrauBlucher]

As Disney’s market shares continue to fall, and for various reasons, I am hoping they start unloading assets. Rumor and speculation is ESPN and maybe even ABC broadcasting will be sold off. I myself hope that the 20th Century Fox catalogue is one to go. It would be awesome if Discovery Warner would end up with it.

[flyonthewall2983]

Why

[ryannichols7]

why would we want it to go to Warner? wouldn't it be much better if it ended up with Paramount or even Amazon/MGM, if you actually want to see the catalog get licensed out? Comcast/Universal too. all of these have maintained boutique label relations and we've seen a wealth of titles come from each. Warner is still only working with Criterion, and occasionally Shout. they absolutely would not prioritize Fox titles for WAC

[MichaelB]

Yes, I echo the general bafflement. Warner Archive does great work, but so do the best boutique labels, and sublicensing the catalogue to multiple labels makes it far more likely that high-quality editions will come out in greater quantity.

And, as you rightly say, they're going to prioritise their own titles, and possibly a handful of really huge Fox moneyspinners. But the deep catalogue stuff that the likes of us are interested in will take forever if only one outfit is handling it.

[FrauBlucher]

You guys are right. I wasn't thinking about the licensing angle. I was strictly in on the quality that Warner and Warner Archive provide. For me they are the best especially amongst the major studios. The WAC discs I have are as good as any other group in my collection. But yeah, the Fox catalogue would take forever to get released if it ended up with Discovery Warner, especially the deep stuff. It probably wouldn't happen anyway as the company Warner Discovery is struggling as well. I think everything is up in the air right now with these majors. Who knows how this all plays out