DISNEY has bought 21st Century Fox

[The Twilight Mexican]

I'm curious as well. I'm sure the influence is there to some degree, of course, because how could it not? But beyond James Gunn's firing, I'm not sure what specifically they've interfered in. Do we know specifics?

 

[Makoeyes987]

Any consilidation of media power of such a massive scale is inherently problematic, in terms of monopoly. The sheer volume of control and ownership in a single corporation's hands is frankly quite horrifying.

There's the issue of homogenization of coverage, the incredible lobbying power of corporations this size, and the corrosive effects this has on information dissemination to the public. Already 90% of US media is owned by just 5 corporations.

This is terrible for citizens here and in China.

... I dont think it means a single fucking thing for the Marvel cinematic universe, however.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

@Makoeyes987
I lol-ed.

 

[ChipNoir]

I'm curious as well. I'm sure the influence is there to some degree, of course, because how could it not? But beyond James Gunn's firing, I'm not sure what specifically they've interfered in. Do we know specifics?

It's more suspicion about tone changes than anything concrete. It stands out to me most with Iron Man 3 and Ant Man. Just feels like the inexorable fingers of the Disney Committee trying to push things in a more "Family Friendly" direction, as opposed to the rarer 'dark' marvel film like Winter Soldier, which while it came after Iron Man 3, hasn't been emulated against since. Infinity War comes close, but not quite.

Disney as generally just not in a place of good confidence for me, so I'm always going to be on guard about it protecting "Brand Prestige" rather than allowing film makers to take risks.

Although that aside, the handling of Gunn as absolutely deplorable and certainly doesn't help my confidence further. The notion of them having the entire Fox library to force into their new streaming service also makes me incredibly uneasy.

 

[Clement Rage]

While Disney owning everything is a concern, I don't think they're likely to bother intervening in the MCU as long as the truckloads of money keep coming in. The cancellation of the Netflix shows could be related to the new streaming service, but I don't think it's meant to be a general tonal shift.

I have some reservations about the recent MCU, mostly the Russo Bros work, but I don't think that's a Disney issue.

Already 90% of US media is owned by just 5 corporations.

Holy crap, is this a real statistic?

 

[Makoeyes987]

Holy crap, is this a real statistic?

Yes, it is.

Back in 2012 it was 6 corporations.

With the merger of Disney and Fox, it's now 5.

 

[Clement Rage]

...And US media owns a lot of the rest of the world, so it's even worse than that.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

You seem to be implying that the cancellation of Gigantic was something that was purely motivated by Disney not wanting a non-existing franchise, but that doesn't sound like why it was cancelled at all. Is there something specific that makes you think that Disney is solely focused on a so-called media singularity?

Related: which changes about Marvel are you referring to specifically?

Also, a handful of gigantic companies controlling everything is pretty much how literally every type of industry in the world currently functions, and it's even less competitive in other much more important fields (and that article's 5 years old now). Not saying that makes it a good thing, but more that it's not something that would improve or even change for the better if Disney just... died.



X

 

[Makoeyes987]

Just clarifying I wasn't the one that wanted Disney to just die.

I want it to not fuse and create "Dis-Fox"

As for the current state of major corporations consolidating themselves and amassing power, the solution for that I think is right is beyond the scope of the thread.

But no, Disney just disappearing would hardly fix the issue. It's bigger than that.

 

[Lulcielid]

And its done

https://www.21cf.com/news/21st-cent...bution-in-connection-with-disney-acquisition/

 

[Interslicery]

 

[Gary Caelum]

Yes, it is.

Back in 2012 it was 6 corporations.

With the merger of Disney and Fox, it's now 5.

They've only bought 21st century Fox, the movie branch. They haven't bough News Corp, who still owns Fox News, Fox Sport, Fox Business, etc.

I'm rather skeptical of this "they own 90% of the media" claim in the internet era. What is being included in that 100%? Are they including youtube channels, podcasts, twitter accounts and facebook accounts? Those have definitely become part of the media. Youtube and podcasts especially.

 

[looneymoon]

The number I've been seeing thrown around have been 60%-70%

 

[Makoeyes987]

I mean, my post sources the statistic, if you're curious.

They're obviously not covering individual content creators because they're nowhere near as massive or influential as corporate media.

And while yes, they only bought the news portion, that's still a massive consolidation of media in entertainment. There are still massive consequences in entertainment being consolidated amongst so few companies.

 

[Gary Caelum]

They're obviously not covering individual content creators because they're nowhere near as massive or influential as corporate media.

That may have been accurate in 2012, when they gathered that data. I don't know if that holds up in 2019.
Joe Rogan's interview with Elon Musk (my avatar) got something like 50 million downloads. I guarantee that's more hits than any interview corporate media does.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Well it's not just about views. It's about lobbying power, content control, and that much marketshare and profits being controlled by those sole corporations. They dictate control on content, dissemination and are essentially unrivaled. At least on the scale they operate on. Yeah, new media is getting views and are popular but that's not what's dictating policy or able to grease the wheels of government when they want to.

 

[Gary Caelum]

There's definitely more than just views/clicks, I accept that. Brand recognition counts for a lot.
That's what the establishment media still has.

 

[Tetsujin]

And its done

https://www.21cf.com/news/21st-cent...bution-in-connection-with-disney-acquisition/

 

[Lulcielid]

 

[Gary Caelum]

The games industry has been a great counter-example to this trend of massive conglomerates owning everything. There is no real center of power in the games industry. It's very widely spread between different companies and different countries. Very healthy in general.

 

[jazzflower92]

Well, the Simpsons and Family Guy are going to dial the anti-Disney humor down.

 

[Castiel Strife]

Well, the Simpsons and Family Guy are going to dial the anti-Disney humor down.

That’s what I was thinking. I’m very concerned for Family Guy, haha. In my opinion Disney has way too much power right now. It’s kind of scary.

 

[Carlie]

The games industry has been a great counter-example to this trend of massive conglomerates owning everything. There is no real center of power in the games industry. It's very widely spread between different companies and different countries. Very healthy in general.

Right the gaming industry is very healthy. Because there aren't giant companies like EA buying smaller ones and destroying them. It isn't extremely difficult for independent studios to survive right now. CEO's aren't extremely overpaid and dwarfing the rest of their employees salaries. Employees aren't getting fired without noticed and severance pay. These companies aren't firing employees after showing record profits just so they can keep pretending to their shareholders that profits can just keep growing and growing in this unsustainable live service era.

 

[jazzflower92]

That’s what I was thinking. I’m very concerned for Family Guy, haha. In my opinion Disney has way too much power right now. It’s kind of scary.

Then again FG hasn't really been good these days.

 

[Gary Caelum]

Right the gaming industry is very healthy. Because there aren't giant companies like EA buying smaller ones and destroying them. It isn't extremely difficult for independent studios to survive right now. CEO's aren't extremely overpaid and dwarfing the rest of their employees salaries. Employees aren't getting fired without noticed and severance pay. These companies aren't firing employees after showing record profits just so they can keep pretending to their shareholders that profits can just keep growing and growing in this unsustainable live service era.

I was talking about what's good for the customer. You're talking about what's best for employees within the industry. Those 2 things are not at all commensurate, unfortunately. What's good for the customer is constant innovation and extreme competition. That's what the games industry largely does have. That's not at all good for employees. Extreme competition means constant turnover and very insecure jobs.
What's good for employees is the exact opposite. Look at the employee counts for companies like Google and Microsoft. They've never had to randomly fire 20% of their workforce in the entire history of the companies. It's because they're stable monopolies that have almost no competition in their respective fields.

And yes EA sucks, but they're noway near monopoly status. There are about 10 other publishers who compete with them for the same part of the market. It's as competitive a market as you'll find anywhere.