OT: Disney-FOX merger
Lots of talk in the news this week about Disney buying significant parts of 21st Century Fox. It's not clear yet what exactly they may be buying, but it has pretty big implications for sports fans.
It looks like Disney could be purchasing the Fox regional sports networks. As a Detroit fan, it would be great to consolidate the Tigers, Wings and Pistons under the ESPN umbrella, where most Michigan football and basketball games are already broadcast and streamed. However, it sounds like Fox will be keeping FS1 and the regular Fox broadcast channel.
Fox owns 51% of the BTN, and that may be moving over to Disney as well. IMO if the BTN got ESPN production value it would be an upgrade.
Part of the reason the B1G conference has so much TV money is that they have been very successful in playing potential broadcasters off each other to get max value, which is why Fox started broadcasting B1G football this year. I thought an ABC/ESPN/FOX congolomorate would reduce the B1G's leverage at first, but after further reading it looks like they will stay separate for now.
Outside the sports world, lots of big movie franchises would move, and be unified, under Disney. This includes Marvel characters and all Star Wars movie rights.
The articles below have more information. The WSJ one in particular focuses on the impact to sports fans and cable subscribers/cord-cutters, and how sports TV rights are an important piece for anti-trust regulators to consider as part of the deal.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/12/13/if-disney-buys-fox-…
https://www.wsj.com/articles/will-regulators-penalize-fox-disney-deal-o…
December 13th, 2017 at 10:03 AM ^
Disney ruined the world. What they let happen to Star Wars will be on display this weekend and should never be forgiven.
December 13th, 2017 at 10:05 AM ^
Have you seen it early? Many reviews calling it the best since Empire -- so, not exactly ruining.
December 13th, 2017 at 10:08 AM ^
I have read 3 reviews, and two called it "competing for worst ever with Attack of the Clones." That made me really sad...
December 13th, 2017 at 10:10 AM ^
I don't see why people blame Disney. Force awakens was better than the prequels, and Rogue One is arguably #2 on my list behind Empire.
December 13th, 2017 at 10:20 AM ^
In large part because it was a standalone film. It was a tangential film which explained a small subplot in the main storyline. The zealots couldnt complain about Disney ruining the sanctity of their precious universe.
Still an awesome film.
December 13th, 2017 at 11:28 AM ^
If Disney had made and released the Empire Strikes Back this year, there would still be a vocal fringe complaining about it. Many have made up their minds that they'll hate the movies and complain about them before they even see them
December 13th, 2017 at 1:28 PM ^
re: made up their minds to complain, that might be familiar to many here....
December 13th, 2017 at 1:53 PM ^
God forbid anyone actually enjoy something. We get 13 Michigan games a year, and even the worst one is going to be the 13th best thing you watch all year! There is nothing wrong with cherishing Michigan or Star Wars even if it isn't the best thing you have ever seen like many people expect.
December 13th, 2017 at 2:47 PM ^
You need a visit from the Perspective fairy
December 13th, 2017 at 10:22 AM ^
Not terrible? Basically a reboot of Star Wars but with less everything? Not really good? I wasn't impressed.
December 13th, 2017 at 10:40 AM ^
Yeah. Force Wakes Up didn't explain anything about how we got to where things were back to completely messed up again & had way too many "I saw this before & it was done better" combined with obvious marketing.
They honestly didn't even build up any reason to even care about any of the characters, save for maybe former stormtrooper.
It seemed lazy.
Rouge One was fantastic.
December 13th, 2017 at 10:55 AM ^
I think it was a Ringer article that explained it best but basically there was too much riding on the force awakens to take a chance. Now if you want to call that greedy or pandering, fine. They needed it to catch the spirit and feel of the originals after the prequels were a disaster. So yes it was formulaic but if you didnt enjoy the hell out of that movie the first time you saw it then you didnt want another star wars movie anyway.
December 13th, 2017 at 5:44 PM ^
Well said. They needed a ringer and they got one. My kids are HOOKED! Just like I was, they are also girls and from that perspective I love Rey as much as I ever loved Leia. RIP
December 13th, 2017 at 11:22 AM ^
compleyely agree, yet it was still better than the prequels. the cast was fantastic, it was the plot that was a dud. i doubt Last Jedi will play it so safe.
December 13th, 2017 at 12:13 PM ^
If they kill off Luke, Star wars head are gonna flip. To lose Han Solo, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker in the same year would probably drive folks to suicide or terrorist attacks on Disney parks.
December 13th, 2017 at 10:39 AM ^
I used to share this sentiment. But after giving it more thought, I put Rogue One ABOVE Empire. Once you eliminate nostalgia from the equation, there really is no contest.
And while Force Awakens pretty much followed the franchise formula (blow up a big space station? Who knew!), it was very well done and highly enjoyable.
Anyway, I POSed ya.
December 13th, 2017 at 10:51 AM ^
Rogue 1 is not that great. The robot is awesome, Diego Luna is not and then the random shallow characters coming together doesnt do much. I like that they explain the obvious weakness of the deathstar while using a nice story of Jyn and her dad. The rest was meh.
December 13th, 2017 at 10:56 AM ^
Let's use the mgoblog comparison tool:
Jyn Erso >> Luke Skywalker
Cassian Andor = Han Solo
K-2 = Chewbacca
Galen Erso < Imperial Probe Droid
Saw Gerrera = Yoda
Jedda = Hoth
Edu = Cloud City
Bodhi Rook > Lando Calrissian
Chirrut Imwe & Baze Malbus >>> R2D2 & C-3PO
Director Creddick >> series of force-choked Imperial officers
Yavin IV < Dagogah
Princess Leia CGI cameo <<< real Princess Leia major role
Shakespearean/Tennyson ending << carbonite/severed hand ending
Creddick's security detail << AT-AT walkers
early 80s' special effects <<<< modern special effects
Close, but probably still a slight edge to Empire
December 13th, 2017 at 11:00 AM ^
TROLLLLLLLLLLLLLL or an idiot
December 13th, 2017 at 11:37 AM ^
You forgot Darth Vader murder rampage >>>>>>> anything
December 13th, 2017 at 12:46 PM ^
OTOH, Empire did feature the first appearance of Boba Fett.
December 13th, 2017 at 1:17 PM ^
He shuts a closet, holds his dads decapitated head, (fast forward 20 years) delivers a captured-by-Darth-Vader Han Solo to Jabba, stands around, gets trapped in a Sarlacc Pit.
Darth Vader does more in a hallway in Rogue One than Fett does in 3 seperate movies, or anything else that is still considered Star Wars canon.
December 13th, 2017 at 1:50 PM ^
Darth Vader is bad ass in that scene; showed a side of him that none of the other films did.
December 13th, 2017 at 1:57 PM ^
It was probably the most exciting thing I've seen in a movie ever. Darkness, the red, then bad assery, and the budding realization that this is the literally leading straight into A New Hope. I was not expecting that and it blew me away.
December 13th, 2017 at 11:09 AM ^
Rogue One was the worst SW by a country mile. Opinions...we all have one I guess.
December 13th, 2017 at 12:15 PM ^
agree, I think I mostly didn't enjoy it because I knew how it would end. Forest Whitakar and his terrible acting also took it down a few notches for me. A few great parts but overall not a fun watch.
December 13th, 2017 at 1:55 PM ^
that everone died. Oopps, Spoiler Alert!!
December 13th, 2017 at 1:15 PM ^
The first two were groundbreaking, earth-shattering films among the greatest of all time. Ever since they brought out the little attack teddy bears it has all been a cartoon that keeps repeating its own cliches.
December 13th, 2017 at 11:28 AM ^
The Force Awakens was nothing but regurgitation of previous Star Wars movies into one long repeat episode.
December 13th, 2017 at 12:27 PM ^
1.Empire
2a. Rogue One
2b. Revenge of the Sith
2c. Star Wars
3. Force Awakens
6. Return of the Jedi
81. Phantom Menance
1,999. star wars episode 2 (I don't even remember the title)
December 13th, 2017 at 12:33 PM ^
You forgot the Christmas Special. Which would still be above Phantom Menace.
December 13th, 2017 at 1:03 PM ^
Haha! That thing was terrible too. The only things keeping Menace from being 1,998 is Liam Neeson and Darth Maul.
December 13th, 2017 at 1:52 PM ^
Awesome
December 13th, 2017 at 5:34 PM ^
Force Awakens was, to quote Ian Malcolm, "one big pile of shit." Didn't even bother to see Rogue One.
December 13th, 2017 at 9:10 PM ^
Best part of Wake the Force was when the Stormtroopers just avoided the temper tantrum.
December 22nd, 2017 at 2:26 AM ^
Hahahaha. Tru
December 13th, 2017 at 10:25 AM ^
Your mistake is in assuming any Star Wars films counts as quality.
December 13th, 2017 at 10:30 AM ^
is its own genre. Given how long the films have been being produced, you can't really compare them in "quality" to any other comparable productions. What is good acting, special effects, writing, etc. has changed from the 80s to the 90s to the 00s to now. The films have spawned for decades. I don't think it is really fair to label them "good" or "bad." They are "Star Wars films." That is really the only meaningful qualifier.
December 13th, 2017 at 12:28 PM ^
In my opinion, a quality film creates a story where characters deal with real-life, intense conflicts. Some movies that come to mind when I think of quality movies are:
Schindler’s List
The Deer Hunter
The Godfather
The Departed
Rocky
The Meyerowitz Stories (Go Watch on Netflix, it’s great)
I could never enjoy the film Star Wars because I could never picture myself dealing with variations of any of the movie’s conflicts.
December 13th, 2017 at 12:47 PM ^
So any fantasy/sci-fi/not modern (at the time) gritty urban setting movie can't have quality? That is a very limited restriction.
December 13th, 2017 at 12:52 PM ^
space opera
December 13th, 2017 at 1:04 PM ^
Hopefully you never have to experience Shindlers List.
December 13th, 2017 at 2:46 PM ^
Or anyone else. Amen.
December 15th, 2017 at 11:29 AM ^
You missed a few "spoon fed" greatest movies of all time to everyone over 50.
December 13th, 2017 at 10:30 AM ^
If you've only read three reviews and they were all bad, that's some pretty selective reading considering the fact that it's at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes at the moment. With that said, it does make me a bit uneasy that so many mega-companies are starting to own everything.
December 13th, 2017 at 4:17 PM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 1:38 PM ^
Anti-trust laws have increasingly been ignored. There will be some sort of reckoning at some point, hopefully before Amazon runs the world.
December 15th, 2017 at 11:31 AM ^
No way they could put an offer in on Disney
December 13th, 2017 at 11:02 AM ^
Bro, movie has a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.
December 13th, 2017 at 11:03 AM ^
its 94 % on R/T