The recent drama surrounding the acquisition of 21st Century Fox's media assets by The Walt Disney Company made me very interested in the topic of media mergers generally, and reading up on the history of such deals revealed some very interesting proposals that ultimately never went through, and I wonder how the things might have played out had some of them went through. How would the media and entertainment industry have developed differently had...
...Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and 20th Century Fox merged in the early 1970's? Such a deal was apparently announced in 1971, but it never went anywhere. MGM was still a major studio at the time, and had recently been acquired by Kirk Kerkorian.
...MCA bought The Walt Disney Company in the mid-1980's? This deal discussed in 1984. Note that MCA also owned Universal Pictures at the time, meaning that two studios would have existed under the same corporate umbrella.
...Carolco Pictures founders Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna had bought Orion Pictures in the mid-to-late 1980's? They tried to do so in 1986. Neither studio would last very long after this (well, Orion still technically exists, but come on), but perhaps a merged company would have had more life in it.
...Jim Shooter had bought Marvel Comics instead of Ron Perelman in 1989? Now, there was a thread on this topic a few years ago, and this was a close-run thing. It was argued that Shooter would arguably alienate many of his new employees, as he had a difficult relationship with some when he was editor-in-chief. However, he could have conceivably prevented the creation of Image Comics, and in any event, Perelman's ownership of Marvel was disastrous for the company and arguably the entire industry, as he fostered policies that likely facilitated the Comics Crash a few years down the line.
...the Michael Eisner era at The Walt Disney Company had gone differently in any number of ways? Several deals were pursued that ultimately went nowhere. The Jim Henson Company agreed to sell itself to Disney in 1989, but this arrangement was aborted upon Henson's death in 1990. If his death had been even somewhat delayed, the deal may have been completed. Just a few years later, Disney failed to secure the purchase of NBC from General Electric. Had they been successful, ABC would have remained outside of the Disney umbrella. Finally, this is not technically a merger or acquisition, but DreamWorks Pictures likely never would have been formed had Disney President Frank Wells not died in 1994, or had Eisner given the job to Jeffrey Katzenberg upon the death of Wells. Finally, Disney tried to acquire Universal Pictures in the early 2000's - another proposed deal that would have placed the two studios under the same corporate umbrella.
...Time Warner had purchased Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the mid-2000's? This was proposed in 2004, well after MGM had ceased to be a major studio. Such a pairing would be fitting, as Time Warner, by way of their merger with Turner Broadcasting System in the prior decade, owned the pre-1986 MGM film library.
...Comcast had acquired The Walt Disney Company in the mid-2000's? The telecom giant led a rebuffed takeover attempt in 2004, around the time that Eisner was losing his grip on the studio.
...someone other than Comcast had bought NBCUniversal in the late 2000's to early 2010's? The deal faced much opposition on antitrust grounds, and before negotiations heated up in 2009, News Corporation (as it existed before Rupert Murdoch separated his entertainment and publishing assets into separate companies, including 21st Century Fox) and Time Warner were open to a merger or acquisition with NBCUniversal.
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That's all for tonight. Tomorrow I will list some other modern M&A proposals, including those involving social media giants. That said, what are some other interesting mergers that never went through? I am sure that the careers of empire-builders such as Rupert Murdoch, Sumner Redstone, and Ted Turner are filled with unrealized plans, and I did not even touch the Golden Age of Hollywood.
...Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and 20th Century Fox merged in the early 1970's? Such a deal was apparently announced in 1971, but it never went anywhere. MGM was still a major studio at the time, and had recently been acquired by Kirk Kerkorian.
...MCA bought The Walt Disney Company in the mid-1980's? This deal discussed in 1984. Note that MCA also owned Universal Pictures at the time, meaning that two studios would have existed under the same corporate umbrella.
...Carolco Pictures founders Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna had bought Orion Pictures in the mid-to-late 1980's? They tried to do so in 1986. Neither studio would last very long after this (well, Orion still technically exists, but come on), but perhaps a merged company would have had more life in it.
...Jim Shooter had bought Marvel Comics instead of Ron Perelman in 1989? Now, there was a thread on this topic a few years ago, and this was a close-run thing. It was argued that Shooter would arguably alienate many of his new employees, as he had a difficult relationship with some when he was editor-in-chief. However, he could have conceivably prevented the creation of Image Comics, and in any event, Perelman's ownership of Marvel was disastrous for the company and arguably the entire industry, as he fostered policies that likely facilitated the Comics Crash a few years down the line.
...the Michael Eisner era at The Walt Disney Company had gone differently in any number of ways? Several deals were pursued that ultimately went nowhere. The Jim Henson Company agreed to sell itself to Disney in 1989, but this arrangement was aborted upon Henson's death in 1990. If his death had been even somewhat delayed, the deal may have been completed. Just a few years later, Disney failed to secure the purchase of NBC from General Electric. Had they been successful, ABC would have remained outside of the Disney umbrella. Finally, this is not technically a merger or acquisition, but DreamWorks Pictures likely never would have been formed had Disney President Frank Wells not died in 1994, or had Eisner given the job to Jeffrey Katzenberg upon the death of Wells. Finally, Disney tried to acquire Universal Pictures in the early 2000's - another proposed deal that would have placed the two studios under the same corporate umbrella.
...Time Warner had purchased Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the mid-2000's? This was proposed in 2004, well after MGM had ceased to be a major studio. Such a pairing would be fitting, as Time Warner, by way of their merger with Turner Broadcasting System in the prior decade, owned the pre-1986 MGM film library.
...Comcast had acquired The Walt Disney Company in the mid-2000's? The telecom giant led a rebuffed takeover attempt in 2004, around the time that Eisner was losing his grip on the studio.
...someone other than Comcast had bought NBCUniversal in the late 2000's to early 2010's? The deal faced much opposition on antitrust grounds, and before negotiations heated up in 2009, News Corporation (as it existed before Rupert Murdoch separated his entertainment and publishing assets into separate companies, including 21st Century Fox) and Time Warner were open to a merger or acquisition with NBCUniversal.
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That's all for tonight. Tomorrow I will list some other modern M&A proposals, including those involving social media giants. That said, what are some other interesting mergers that never went through? I am sure that the careers of empire-builders such as Rupert Murdoch, Sumner Redstone, and Ted Turner are filled with unrealized plans, and I did not even touch the Golden Age of Hollywood.
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