Business: No "Mouse" Deal, 21st Century Fox Still Very Much in Play

-WSJ

The Wall Street Journal scooped that Comcast has approached 21st Century Fox to express interest in buying a substantial piece of the company. Verizon and Sony’s entertainment division are also potentially interested. All this comes after news broke last week that Disney held talks with Fox but couldn’t reach a deal. The assets available include the Twentieth Century Fox studio, some U.S. cable assets and the international business. What’s driving all this activity? The need for scale and flexibility to push into new digital businesses to counter stagnation in the traditional TV business. On one end, if you want subscription revenue in the digital world you’re up against Netflix. On the other, if you want ad dollars you’re up against the duopoly. A buyer of Fox gets more content that could, perhaps, accelerate direct-to-consumer streaming plans, provide more high-quality inventory for whatever ad-supported businesses you build, and offer a foot in global TV markets that aren’t saturated like the U.S. Caution: It’s unclear which deals could actually go through, given the government’s resistance to AT&T-Time Warner. (21st Century Fox and WSJ parent News Corp share common ownership.)