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Comcast, Disney, Fox: Urge to Merge is Questionable, Says Media Reporter Auletta
By
Tiernan Ray
Nov. 17, 2017 1:18 p.m. ET

Shares of 21st Century Fox (FOXA) are up $1.12, or almost 4%, as rumors continue to swirl about multiple parties being interested in buying parts of the company.

Yesterday afternoon came reports of Comcast (CMCSA) being interested in proprieties of Fox, following speculation last week about Walt Disney (DIS) being a bidder. And Verizon Communications (VZ) is also apparently in the mix.



CNBC’s David Faber a short while ago reported that talks between CNBC’s parent Comcast and Fox are ongoing, while talks with Disney are of a “low intensity.”

As for Verizon, “It’s not clear there’s anything real there, in terms of real interest,” he said.

Said Faber, without citing sources, people are saying Fox is concerned it cannot compete in a media landscape of increasing scale, meaning not just Comcast and Disney but also the Internet giants such as Amazon (AMZN).

Faber noted that “anti-trust questions are all over this,” in the sense that regulators, already scrutinizing AT&T’s (T) bid for Time-Warner (TWX), may not want to allow further media consolidation by Comcast, which already owns NBC-Universal, and Disney.

The segment featured an appearance by noted media observer Ken Auletta of The New Yorker. Auletta expressed puzzlement about the notion Fox would sell its television production unit, noting that the Fox cable network is in the enviable position of owning the TV shows it programs. Auletta also questioned the logic of scale.

Citing the acquisition of Time Warner by AOL in the previous decade, Auletta said “very often scale can work against you, making you less able to move quickly."

Note that Fox's executive chairman, Rupert Murdoch, is also executive chairman of News Corp (NWSA), parent of Dow Jones & Co., the owner of Barron's.
https://finance.yahoo.com/m/c8163446-d36c-3364-898e-047e49139963/comcast%2C-disney%2C-fox%3A-urge-to.html