Disney already was a massive presence in the entertainment industry. In 2015, Disney released the highest grossing film in North America. Along with Universal Entertainment, they received almost 90% of the box office revenue in the United States.
Now it is possible that smaller media companies, like Lionsgate and Viacom, won't be able to compete with Fox and Disney combined. Also, many are worried that the consolidation of giant companies would mean less creativity and risk-taking. Disney might want to just keep making movies that will earn them the most amount of money, instead of making more unique media. Movies or other media not consistent with Disney's brand might disappear.
Disney already was one of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, owning huge names like ABC and ESPN, along with lucrative franchises like Star Wars, Pixar and Marvel. Fox owned the Avatar franchise and the streaming service Hulu, along with much more. Disney will now own a massive part of the entertainment industry, which could change how movies and television look in the future.
Work Cited:
https://www.businessinsider.com/major-film-franchises-that-disney-will-own-after-fox-deal-2018-7
https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/11/media/disney-fox-box-office-market-share/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-empires-arise-disney-and-universal-dominate-us-box-office/2015/11/02/4fb4a982-7ce4-11e5-beba-927fd8634498_story.html?utm_term=.b03c785aadc5
Work Cited:
https://www.businessinsider.com/major-film-franchises-that-disney-will-own-after-fox-deal-2018-7
https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/11/media/disney-fox-box-office-market-share/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-empires-arise-disney-and-universal-dominate-us-box-office/2015/11/02/4fb4a982-7ce4-11e5-beba-927fd8634498_story.html?utm_term=.b03c785aadc5
ReplyDeleteThese are truly crazy, yet so true examples of everything that is going on with Disney. It's very nature initially was designed for this moment, where every single person in America has at least one memory from one of their properties. Whether it's ESPN or Marvel or LucasFilm or ABC, Disney has positioned themselves as the largest entertainment conglomerate ever. Just recently, they've moved in a more monopolistic direction as opposed to oligopoly. This is in part due to the fact that they bought Fox's film and TV assets over Comcast Universal. With this move, they could begin to assert their dominance and might one day face antitrust lawsuit.
Source: https://observer.com/2018/08/disney-fox-sale-netflix-hulu-amazon-streaming/
From this blog post, it really seems like Disney is becoming a monopoly. I like that you had lots of examples showing its dominance of the industry. I was kind of wondering how this would affect the consumer however? Will movies become standardized and boring? Will prices skyrocket? I thought it was interesting to take a look at how the movie industry got here, but I think we should look at other examples of oligopolies to make predictions about what will happen in the future.
ReplyDeleteOne perfect example of an oligopoly was the automotive industry after World War II: the market was dominated by Ford, GM, and Chrysler. However, today, the automobile industry resembles more of a monopolistically competitive market: there are many companies (Toyota, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Ford, Nissan, Renault, and more). So what happened to the oligopoly? The oligopoly of the American big 3 was largely due to World War II: while many other developed countries were destroyed, the US just kept making money, so American car companies were poised to dominate the automobile market. As other countries recuperated, foreign car-makers entered the market and created more competition.
DeleteHowever, it is conceivable that this same pattern will repeat itself with media. Some people might think it's impossible for foreign media to compete with domestic because of its specificity to American culture, but even today we see Americans embracing foreign media more than ever before. The rising popularity of soccer in the US means many more Americans are watching international soccer leagues. Anime has also become immensely popular in the US even though its Japanese content is often totally different from American culture.
Could the American media moguls be forced to contend with foreign competitors just like American car-makers did?
I think Disney is not a pure monopoly yet, but they are definitely moving in that direction. Disney will probably become a monopoly in the near future just because of the fact that they are everywhere. They bought many companies that are in many different industries. I agree that the buying of Fox could do a lot in putting them over the top of everybody else, if they weren't already. Their stock will go way up and nothing can stop them.
ReplyDeletehttps://investorplace.com/2018/07/disney-stock-entertainment-monopoly/
Great post! I really like how you took our discussion from class and expanded it. From what you've said it seems Disney is trying to become a monopoly. They are starting to take over more than just childhood movies and stories but also sports, news and more. I think that this will continue to happen Disney is trying to take over the entertainment industry. I liked how you mentioned Lionsgate to show the power that Disney has over the other companies.
ReplyDelete