Are you worried that Walt Disney Studios buys so much of the entertainment industry?
 

Are you worried about Walt Disney Studios buying so much of the entertainment industry? They have purchased Marvel Comics, Lucasfilm, Pixar Animation Studios, 20th Century Fox Film and 21st Century Fox and I wouldn't be surprised if they buy Nickelodeon one day, making the TMNT a Walt Disney Studios property if they're still under Nickelodeon's control that day.

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/15-...s-owned-disney

https://screenrant.com/disney-owned-...erties-trivia/

Are you worried for its affect on the entertainment industry, with one company controlling so much?

I don't care about Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar; so no, not really.

EDIT: Also, it should be "worried about". not "worried for". "Worried for" makes it sound like we're worried about Disney's well-being.

Of course it's unsettling. Buying FOX means they would go from controlling 22% of the movie industry to 35%. Keep in mind that they were already top dog. Lucasfilm and Marvel aren't that big of a deal, since it essentially just means owning character rights (though owning Marvel means they control 30-40% of the comic industry at any given time) but FOX is. Admittedly, 35% isn't exactly a monopoly but it does make them way bigger than any competitor. If Warner were to buy out Universal in order to compete, then Warner and Disney would collectively control about 70% of the movie industry, while Sony and Paramount would be in charge of 15%. Not a monopoly, but certainly not a fair market anymore...

Mega-corporations are inevitable.
Unless government will do something to stop it. But since government is in the pocket of corporations it is unlikely.
So...enjoy your new Micky overlord.

Yes, monopolies aren't a good thing.

I've always sen Disney as some sort of evil empire, tbh. I mean, every major corporation has their hands dirty, but Disney I dunno, there's something really fishy about them that really puts me off.

I enjoy Donald Duck comics still, since they were a major part of my childhood, and tbh they've always seemed like they weren't a major part of the company since they were mostly big in Europe after a while. But man, I can't say I have much sympathy for that company as a whole. For some reason companies like Warner Bros., Nintendo, Sega, etc. don't give me that "evil empire" vibe Disney does.

We should be ok, as long as Freedom Fighter Bugs Bunny is fighting the good fight against the evil Disney empire.

Monopolies are never a good thing, but I don't really see where Disney is going to do much harm.

A monopoly over entertainment isn't the same as a monopoly over internet service providers, or gas and oil, or textiles, or any number of actual necessities.

So the movie theaters get dominated by Star Wars, Marvel, and Elsa. So what? People who don't like Iron Man or Rey (does she even have a last name?) still won't see the movies, and will still go see the movies they WANT to see.

I don't think it was Rey that made the last Star Wars movie bomb at the office.

Off topic, but I agree. Rey's not the problem.

Am I worried? No, of course not. Disney movies and shows were a big part of my childhood, and I have always respected what Walt built and stood for, and even after he was long gone, his legacy of family entertainment lives, so I have no problem with them taking over Fox. For that matter, much of that deal was fueled by them reacquiring the movie rights for Marvel's characters, something that actually makes me very happy- Marvel never should have sold those rights in the first place, though I understand why they did it at the time.

That said, I also feel that this sort of "monopoly" is hardly something to worry about. What does it mean, really, for us as consumers? That our entertainment comes mainly from a few sources? Big deal, that is already the case, the only difference now is that one source has now consolidated its piece(s) of the pie to cover a broader scope of tastes.

If Disney keeps buying stuff, there will JUST be family entertainment. In America, the days of R rated or M rated movies would be a thing of the past. No more Friday the 13th movies.

No. Like already mentioned so what if a lot of entertainment (not services) comes from mostly 1 company?

R rated movies will be fine. Anyone who truly thinks Disney will turn all material into “family” stuff or will never allow R doesn’t understand how it works. Not everything is going to be Disney branded. Everything has separate departments.

What exactly can Disney do that would be so bad? Crossovers, them park attractions? Seriously what’s the “con” that people think they’re pulling?

In general, no, I don't applaud megacorps buying up the smaller parties. It is concerning. In this particular case? I have no problem. Let's review the damage:

The X-Men and Fantastic Four and Deadpool universe: a win on all sides. The horrible Singerverse and inattention to the actual source material is virtually guaranteed to be reversed in an all-out reboot that will not be that. And Deadpool 3 will be fine... they've already told us so, plus think of what that can be now.

X-Files: two horrible seasons under Chris Carter with only a couple of kind of OK episodes followed by a new "series finale" that even Gillian apologized for and no one talks about because it isn't worth talking about. X-Files still has life, yet didn't flourish under Fox for the past 3 years... maybe the new bosses can make something good happen? Can't be any worse than what we've gotten.

Simpsons: Hasn't been relevant for 15 years. People assuming it would be discontinued now are fools. If there is a change in direction it may represent the first positive one in as many years.

Family Guy: I don't see Disney rocking the boat here. Nothing to be worried about.

Alien/Predator: Fox let Ridley single-handedly bury "his" own creation over two back to back movies over four years. Clearly the right bosses aren't in place. And since we've been told not to worry about an R-rated Deadpool 3 I have no doubt there is anything to fear here. I am vastly more worried at how "The Predator" will be received than anything Disney will do subsequently.

Fantastic Four: Have you seen the last couple of Fox offerings? Then you should have no questions.

Planet of the Apes: Finished its trilogy already. If it is decided to make it a quadrilogy and go even further into the future, I don't see Disney throwing a stick into the spokes of such a thing.

Aaand... there aren't really any other properties worth noting that I can think of offhand.

Utterly absurd.

Can you imagine how much more damage to intellectual property and copyright legislation Disney could do if they had a monopoly?

monopolies are supposed to be illegal for a reason, because they do demonstratable harm to both the market and the economy.

Sadly, I don't expect much will be done about this, given the current American political landscape.

mega corps arn't good.

but the result of that is, less talent to make each thing special. and people will stop watching. I've already pretty much stopped paying attention to what hollywood puts out.

My theater attendance has dropped, my DVD/blu ray sales are non existent since I already have alot of what I wanted be put out in stores already.

things like my switch are already starting to collect dust just like the Wii U before it.

I'm just loosing interest in the entertainment industry all together. and eventually that will cause thme to sell things off, or shrink altogether because the market is too crowded with stuff that has no lasting value.

It already looks like there won't be any more Friday the 13th movies. The rights are in the middle of a World War 3 with one of the creators... that's why the latest one was cancelled, and why the F13 game has legally had to cease all updates.

Untrue. While there is only 1 guy at the top, there will be more employees. More heads. And by taking up Fox's slate, that means more release windows and more movies going on than before.

I mean, I agree in theory... but I just don't see how an entertainment monopoly is a stranglehold or a problem. Got some theoretical examples of Disney monopoly fallout?

True. The only thing that's changed is Disney can make sequels and reboots to pre-existing stuff owned by Fox. Nothing is saying that other studios can't just... y'know... make brand new stuff. Let it serve as a kick in the pants for original content from other studios.

Entertainment involves media broadcasting, doesn't it?
Would you trust all of your news come from only one source?

Bear in mind also this is a company that controls what level of facial hair their employees can have.
if you work for one of their theme parks and you want to grow a beard you have to do so off company time. You're not allowed to work with a 5 o'clock shadow.

There was also a point in time in the company's history where they're costumed employees had to wear bog-standard, provided for you, underwear. This led to an outbreak of crabs.

Don't get me wrong, Disney is a great company, but don't ever get caught crossing the mouse.

That's many companies, everywhere.

If anything I want Disney to go further.

I want them to buy the James Bond license from MGM, I wouldn't mind them getting Star Trek from Paramount at this point, and hell if it comes to that day let them buy DC/Warner Bros. as well.

Give Disney the world.

The lack of awareness of what a monopoly is and the effects it has in this thread is sad and scary.

Nope.

What’s more, Disney preserve these IPs. Just look at the Disney Princesses being revived in the upcoming movie Wreck it Ralph 2! And the many Disneylands to ensure longevity of these products.

Yet nobody is actually explaining what supposed horrible things they could do now. It’s just “Monopolies are bad. We shouldn’t trust Disney”.

I really only see positives to this. They can do more things with more franchises.

Well it is sad that Disney makes up like 70% of the boxoffice. I can see how that could be a problem if you want some more variety.

I think there will come some reaction one day, and wei'll se more entertainment produced by independend companies (both children's and family friendly as well as darker), like we already have seen for years in music with indiepop and indierock.

The entertainment / media broadcast news thing, I'll give you. Except we (royal American we) already mostly single-source our news to align with our confirmation bias. So in theory, I'll agree with this... but practically speaking, I think it's a moot point and Net Neutrality's repeal is a far greater threat to unbiased news and its availability, rather than Disney.

As for all of the dress-code stuff... that's dress-code stuff. Not atypical. There's a reason I'm sticking with my current employer... flipflops every day, geek shirts, and hella beard. Dress code? Ain't got none.

I think contracting a sexually transmitted infection from a company mandated uniform kind of goes above and beyond mere dress code stuff.
But to each their own.

The free market is kind of intrinsic to the American experiment, so I'm continually surprised by people who are more than happy to allow monopolies to exist.
The market isn't free if there's only one purveyor of goods and services.

It's hella nasty, but reparations absolutely needed to be made (and dress code changed), but I think from a legal standpoint, that's just dresscode stuff. Hooters mandates its employees wear orange booty shorts, Disney mandates weird standardized underwear, forklift operators have to have steel-toed boots.

And the free market is absolutely a core principle of the American infrastructure... but looking at it critically, I'm just not convinced Disney is a threat that I need to worry about.

Yeah, corporate guidelines for facial hair? Corporate mandated uniforms? Eh, these are pretty normal things since time immemorial. I've been at jobs where the handbook says how long your fingernails can be and either you can't wear one earring, you have to either wear one in each ear or none.

Are you sure you've worked a lot of jobs in the corporate sector, plastron? You seem a little out of touch.

I do have to laugh at the sheer number of people who come to my neck of the woods, employment-wise, in an effort to get away from the relentless politicking and backbiting of the corporate sector...only to go right back because it's worse here.

OSHA mandates my dresscode.

I'm pretty sure i posted reasons why in the Fox/Disney thread but there are numberless of examples of how monopolies stifle innovation, try to find me a monopoly that actually served consumers that isn't state owned, you can't. You can read some basic theory about monopolies though:

·Allocative inefficiency - prices will tend to be higher, and output lower, than what would exist in a market with low barriers to entry. Prices will tend to be higher than both marginal costs and average total cost.

·Weakened market forces - when consumers of a product have many alternatives, producers must serve their customers efficiently in order to stay in business. If consumers can't purchase competitive products easily, the monopolist doesn't need to worry a lot about losing customers when poor service or a poor quality good is provided.

·Rent or favor seeking - firms and/or individuals will put a great deal of effort into obtaining or maintaining high entry barriers; by doing so, they hope to achieve monopoly-type profits. Such efforts enrich some people, at the expense of many others.

Price Discrimination
Price searchers effectively price discriminate among their customers when they are able to:

a) identify sub-groups which have different elasticities of demand, and
b) ensure that the customers cannot resell the good.

A common example is airline travel. Travelers who plan in advance will have a higher elasticity of demand than travelers who must travel within a short period of time.

With price discrimination, some consumers pay higher prices than they would if there was a single price. However, many in the group paying lower prices will now be getting something they otherwise would not have purchased. Universities are increasing their use of price discrimination. Tuition rates for students without financial aid are increasing greatly while the average price charged is not going up as much because more financial aid is being offered. The colleges reap high revenues from wealthy families who can afford to pay high tuition while more students from lower-income families can now attend college.

In general, higher output will occur with price discrimination. Furthermore, there may be some businesses that could not exist without price discrimination. For example, a dentist in a small town may not have a viable business without performing price discrimination.

As price discrimination increases output and gains from trade, it reduces allocative inefficiency. Firms that successfully price discriminate will benefit by getting higher revenues.

@sdp, I understand what that’s saying. I would agree with with the weakened market forces one if it was about essential services that impact our daily lives but this is about movies and tv.

It’s purely entertainment plus I don’t see Disney dropping the quality of products or not caring as much just because they own a bunch. They have a huge reputation to keep up.

The same with the price stuff. If they highered prices beyond the norm it would definitely be noticed. It’s not like people would mindlessly watch a movie or show just because it’s there. Nobody does that now.

I don’t get the “scheme” that Disney supposedly has in mind for us. More superhero movies and long running shows? How does that hurt me? I’m still gonna watch whatever I want. If they happen to make/own it that’s fine.

It's really just about properties, again. And going over the list of them again, we're literally talking either about ones that have been greatly maligned under Fox or ones that basically aren't relevant anymore or ones that will be continuing "business as usual." And they get to add more old movies and old TV shows to their forthcoming streaming thing. So what? Nothing is stopping any other studio from doing new, cool properties cooler than the ones Disney has.

Hardly smacks of "monopoly."

I don't like it. They already have too much influence over movie theatres, and when their streaming service comes out they will be able to inflate the price of VOD.

yeah. the influence over theaters should be some kind of illegal operation as it basically boils down to threats. and cuts into their livelihood.

I still say that with SO many properties to develop, at least half will suffer because they don't have the resources, or caring, to put any kind of thought into them that will make them last longer than a year at most.

we've already seen this with star wars. we've seen this with marvel comics. what else is going to get ruined due to lack of over site and clear thinking?

eventually disney will just get too big and implode from glutteness.

When you have a monopoly, you control what the norm is.
Of course they'll keep prices lower, which will make it so other producers of content can't compete.
Thus ensuring that they are the only game in town, and that people who aren't them don't survive in the marketplace.

Dude, that's exactly what people do on their streaming services. :tlol: You've already seen all your shows, new seasons don't come out for another few months... what the hell, why don't I try THIS show? Better than nothing, right? :trazz: