Comcast makes offer to merge with Disney

[MELSMICE]

Don't you think Comcast would sell off all the different aspects of Disney..................

One company owns the theme parks
One owns the cruise line
Another owns the hotels

Imagine WDW theme parks being run by the 6 Flags corporation - YIKES!!

I think customer service and the WDW "magic" (if you believe in it) is at stake here!

 

[Goofyposter]

MrD....

Clearly that was a mistake in the graphics department at CBS.....


....I'm wondering if this is what they meant to post?

 

[mitros]

How about if Comcast does close the deal, then they put Roy and Stan in charge, like Ei$ner and Wells were in the early years of the 80"s? Would that work?

 

[jcodespoti]

I don't think the parks are the cash cow they once were. They could be, just are not at this present moment. The cash cow is the movie industry...was the movie industry.

I would think the the FCC might have a problem with Comcast owning ABC, at least one would think.

Right now speculation is running wild...anything could happen. I think that a merger with Universal/NBC could happen although that could open up Pandoras box too.

Fasten your sealtbelts and keep all arms and legs inside the vehicle a new ride has opened at Disney!!!

Joe

 

[DisneyKidds]

As AV pointed out, Roy blocked Eisner off the field thereby creating a better opportunity for Comcast to make a takeover bid. Any chance that Roy and Comcast were in cahoots...........you help me neutralize Eisner and I'll give you preferential treatment in the bidding on the Parks business?

 

[MickMan]

Disney Results Out Early, Profit Up
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...=2&u=/nm/20040211/bs_nm/media_disney_earns_dc

Reaction: Comcast Proposes to Buy Disney
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=4333477

 

[mitros]

Would this make the deal easier to go through, or harder? I'm not a financial guru by any stretch of the imagination!

 

[SteveS]

I dis agree with the comments that Disney will lose its independence when this all shakes out. With the results posted today and the future looking bright, I believe that most share holders will see the true potential of the compny remaining independent.

Comcast would be a disaster!

 

[Peter Pirate]

I find it very sad that many of you can find any good feeling in this. Yes Voice will get his personal revenge (whatever that is) with Eisner leaving but Disney will be dead. It will no longer be independent or have any independent capabilities. Matt and others have speculated that the takeover had already taken place and Disney hasn't been truly independent for awhile but they are wrong. Walts legacy still has some merit in todays Disney even if Eisner doesn't care about it much, but hiring firing decisions made by folks totally outside of the Walt realm will kill any inkling of magic there is left. Perhaps (probably) spinoffs will be made. Changes, new faces, new policies, new masters will make 'Disney' a true memory. Many of you find some magic at Universal Parks and I'm happy for you because that is what Disney will quickly resemble. Remember that wonderful AOL/TWX merger...Is any of the initial AOL magic still alive anywhere? Have they done anything revolutionary since? Heck the corporate name has deleted AOL...

Landbaron bemoans his loss of 'Mickey butter' and 'Crystal Chandiliers' but any chance for those bits of magic returning will have just flown out the window.

Two good things can still happen here. Roy's bid to unseat Eisner will be successful or Eisner will once again resist raiders if only to look for a bigger payday down the road.

Disney as a minor player in someones wallstreet dreams marks the end.

Walt may be thawing himself as we speak.

 

[Figmentrocks]

So many of you are right that Disney has lost the feel of it being an independent company with the way it is being run now, but for it to become part of another entity, Comcast, Microsoft, etc., whoever might be the final owner, the results will be a heck of a lot of job slashing, culture change, etc at the Walt Disney Company.

I personally believe that Mr. Disney is throughly intelligent and he's coming away with something from this, some piece. Everything seems to be running like an assembly line of things happening all running in tadem with Disney's campaign of sorts. We'll have to see, but one thing is going to be likely for certain, the days of Eisner are numbered.

 

[MELSMICE]

Originally posted by Peter Pirate
I find it very sad that many of you can find any good feeling in this.

I couldn't agree more!

 

[tfc3rid]

This is the end. I'm selling off my stock...

 

[Fonzy13]

Originally posted by MELSMICE
I couldn't agree more!

I agree as well. Winston Churchill once said, "Change is good, as long as it is in the right direction." Simple, but true. I would need proof of the positive change before supporting anything like this. If Roy gets control of the parks, is that a good thing- sure. But it is one HELLUVA if.

 

[DVCBob]

Due to the way Roy (Shamrock) recently sold Disney shares will they participate in the upside of this deal. If I remember correctly he still retains the rights to the sold shares while freeing up the capital. Could this capital be earmarked for a potential purchase of the parks?

 

[mitros]

I'm wondering if the take over goes through, and Ei$ner gets the big boot, will he get a gigantic golden parachute at his demise?{I have a feeling he's got something worked out in his contract that gives him plenty} Or, will Comcast keep him on because of his contract through 2006? Or can they kick him out with just the shirt on his back?

 

[crusader]

Comcast is disastrous for Disney.

 

[jmminarik]

Originally posted by KNWVIKING
Which team would Comcast dump ? The Flyers or the Ducks ?

Much to my chargrin, I'd bet the Ducks...the flyers are the 'home town' team and are probably much more profitable, even in the worst years.

As much as I hate Comcast, if they keep the core Disney assets and let them run independently of all of the other stuff Eisner has bought over the years, I could live with that. Let classic Disney live or die on it's own...don't tie it's fate into the rest of the stuff.

If they sell it off, I'd certainly not mind seeing Pixar becoming part of the management. Like him or not, Steve Jobs knows how to get out of the way of his talented subordinates and as any Mac fan can tell you, the reality distortion field around him is amazing.

However, unless proven otherwise, I'd suspect Comcast would be a bad deal for the Disney faithful. They're just a bigger version of greed than Eisner's BoD.


-Joe

 

[Peter Pirate]

Bob, I believe they could be used in that manner and I will be crossing all of my digits that Roy's boys ARE involved...But man that seems like a longshot.

 

[BRERALEX]

- You wondered why Disney's shareholder meeting is in Philadelphia. It's Comcast's hometown.

whoah thats like a 'sixth sense' type bomb dropping

 

[Peter Pirate]

mitros, you can bet Eisner's parachute will open...The question is will it satisfy him and indications are that no, he wants more. So look for a fight. Who knows maybe Eisner will actually NEED Roy and Stan to be the calvery this time.