Comcast Wants To Buy Mickey Mouse
from the unsolicited-bids... dept
The big surprise story of the morning is that cable giant Comcast has decided to make an unsolicited bid for Disney. Expect the AOL-Time Warner comparisons to come fast and furious, though that’s a bad comparison as these are very different companies. Still, it’s difficult to see this deal making too much sense for Comcast. Disney is clearly on the downswing right now, and while it can do things to save itself, tying up with Comcast probably hinders them more than helps. Still, should be an interesting battle to watch. Michael Eisner clearly doesn’t want the deal (he refused to negotiate, which is why this is a hostile bid), but Eisner doesn’t have the full support of his board. Also should be interesting to see if anyone else steps in with an offer as well. Should be plenty of fireworks as the struggle for Mickey begins. Update: Some are already protesting the proposed deal, saying that such media consolidation is a “threat to American democracy.” I’m not quite sure how that works out, as part of the reason Disney is in trouble is that people are paying much less attention to them these days. Either way, the FCC is promising to investigate the matter – which is barely worth stating, since that’s part of their job. I’d just like to say that it’s not as exciting to tell people “I’m going to Comcast World!”
