doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
Disney needs to be broken up.
Disney to reboot X-Files (Disney owns an insane amount of Fantasy/Sci Fi IP)
Henadic Theologian
Legend
Whose going to do that?
doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
You know that companies have been broken up by the federal government before, yes?
Mistwell
Crusty Old Meatwad (he/him)
Not for "owning too many genre franchises." Disney has a lot of competition. They're nothing close to a monopoly.
Zardnaar
Legend
In the 19th century.
USA hasn't really been working "as intended" since about the 1970s.
I'll leave it at that
doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
They literally are.
The topic is very political, but they are circumventing multiple aspects of anti-trust/monopoly laws.
Mistwell
Crusty Old Meatwad (he/him)
I don't have expertise in many fields, but I do have some in that one as I've stopped two major mergers and acquisitions and had to work with the FTC on several more. No, they're not. They're nothing close to a monopoly.
They're not even close to being the top of the market share for that industry. Disney’s market capitalization stands at around $210 billion, which is larger than Netflix’s $100 billion, but much smaller than Amazon and Apple, which each have a presence in the theatrical and streaming vertical, are vastly more valuable at $1.36 trillion and $2.69 trillion apiece. Both Amazon and Apple are in a position to be able to buy into a monopoly share while Disney is not.
And Disney is as diversified as other media companies since they have Parks, Experiences and Products business that generates about half the revenues that its Media and Entertainment Distribution does. Its share of box office also isn't anything close to a monopoly. They stand around 25%. Netflix and Amazon have around 11% each. And as free ad-based streaming is becoming a thing they're facing new competition with a smaller market share than they used to have.
Now could Disney become a monopoly? Sure. But they're definitely not there yet.
doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
Amazon and Apple are also major offenders. All three (and many others) need to be broken up, just like the biggest bank conglomerates.
None of these companies should be producing and distributing, just for a start, and 3 or 4 significant players in an industry is no better than the steel and rail barons of the 19th century.
None of the recent mergers and acquisitions of the last couple decades should have been allowed, and were only allowed due to a spineless and corrupt government.
Mistwell
Crusty Old Meatwad (he/him)
Look, if there are three "major offenders" then there are zero monopolies. That's what's called a normal industry. You grew up with NBC, CBS, and ABC as the big three. Even when UPN and Fox came around, they were miniscule. A big three for an industry is a perfectly normal industry. In the industry my company is in, there is a big two.
Your personal standard for what is acceptable is not a substitute for the actual legal requirements of a monopoly. Disney isn't a monopoly, they're not even close, and they are not even the top of their own industry and are under constant threat from not just the top of that industry but from new players in that industry like Google. Heck, if WB and Paramount and Discovery and HBO all fold under one umbrella and expand Pluto with it, Disney is likely going to take a major hit and there will suddenly be a big four instead of a big three. And then Google might jump in with their free TV and maybe combine with Peacock. None of this is "Disney too big!" type news. It's just that they own franchises you are close to, like Lucasfilm and Pixar and Marvel. Which are fine franchises but are tiny relative the full expansiveness of that industry.
