Yes, the Disney-Fox deal will bring the “X-Men” into the fold with the rest of the Marvel universe, which might be good news.
But 21st Century Fox selling most of itself to Disney for $52.4 billion is full of red flags for consumers. For TV viewers, there’s a lot to worry about.
Bigger is not better for the people who create, write and produce TV. It stifles diversity and creativity. The Writers Guild quickly slammed the deal.
Bigger is not better for people who watch TV on any platform. It limits our options.
(That’s why the proposed AT&T acquisition of Time-Warner is also bad for consumers.)
In this Tuesday, May 7, 2013, file photo, an entrance to a parking garage at 20th Century-Fox studios, an entity owned by News Corporation, is seen in Los Angeles. Disney announced Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, that it is buying a large part of Fox, but the Fox studio lot in Los Angeles will remain with the Murdoch family. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
Fox is selling its movie and television production studios, the FX channels, its regional sports channels and its stake in Hulu and Sky TV to Disney, pending government approval.
This looks like a great deal for Disney, which will be bigger and more powerful than ever. We don’t know exactly what Fox chieftain Rupert Murdoch is thinking, but he’ll certainly do something with the billions he’ll be collecting.
That’s sort of crazy scary. But there are other things to worry about, too.
FX has some of the best shows on TV, but they hardly fit the Disney brand — they’re filled with what we euphemistically call “adult content.”
Will Disney-owned FX produce and air “Fargo,” “The Americans,” “Atlanta,” “Better Things,” “American Horror Story” and shows like that? Will it homogenize FX content? Will it just eliminate it?
There’s nothing wrong with Disney-type fare. I’m a fan. But there has to be room for the FX brand, too.
And what becomes of the Fox Broadcast Network? All networks own the majority of the programs they air — a financial necessity to survive.
Fox will retain ownership of the network, but it won’t own any shows or studios to produce them. What does the Fox network become — reality shows, Fox News Channel news magazine and sports? That’s not good for anyone.
(Fox will also retain the Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2.)
Maybe it will be good for Hulu when Disney takes control. No one will be surprised if it becomes the Disney steaming service, complete with ESPN programming.
But what becomes of programming from current minority shareholders NBC and Warner Bros.? What becomes of original programming like the Emmy-winning “Handmaid’s Tale”?
Obviously, we don’t have answers to a lot of this yet. But, while the future looks bright for Disney and Rupert Murdoch, it doesn’t appear like this is good for the rest of us.
With the exception, maybe, of movies in which the X-Men share screen time with the Avengers.
