Hollywood insider Matthew Belloni explains how Disney’s Fox deal is still good. Recently, Disney’s acquisition of Fox, which was finalized in 2019, was reported to have been a bad deal for Disney. This previous report cited low returns thus far on the $71 billion investment, as well as Fox films’ low contribution to Disney’s overall revenue.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY Contrary to this Fox deal-slamming report, Belloni suggests in Puck that the Fox deal is still good for Disney. Belloni acknowledges that viewing the Fox deal as a failure is by and large the dominant viewpoint but goes on to dismantle multiple parts of this argument.
The first aspect of Belloni’s argument about Disney’s Fox deal is a matter of reference points. One of the key elements of the anti-Fox perspective is that Disney is still in $45 billion debt from the $71 billion Fox deal. Belloni points out, however, that Disney’s growth since acquiring Fox is major compared with other platforms such as Netflix.
Belloni also challenges the actual dollar value cost of the Fox-Disney deal. Citing Comcast’s $15 billion payout to Disney over “ownership stake in the European broadcast service Sky” and Disney’s $10.6 billion-grossing arrangement to sort out ESPN, Belloni re-estimates the $71.3 billion deal to be at just $57 billion. This changes Disney’s debt to only $25 billion, which Belloni recognizes is still a lot of money, but it is less than previous reports cited.
Belloni highlighted the positive parts of Disney buying Fox that the naysayers consistently neglect. With the Fox acquisition, Belloni argues that Disney gained a stronghold in TV that it did not previously have. Furthermore, critics who diss the Disney decision specifically undervalue the power of Avatar: The Way of Water. Belloni mentions that the Avatar sequel “isn’t just a $2.