MGM has held preliminary talks with Apple, Netflix, and other larger media companies about an acquisition as the biggest streaming companies consider strengthening their content libraries, CNBC reports today. Apple, Amazon, AT&T, Comcast, Disney, and Netflix may be a new “Big 6” among global media companies.
MGM has held preliminary talks with a number of companies, including Apple and Netflix, to gauge their interest in an acquisition, two of the people said. MGM owns the James Bond catalog and its studio has made several current hit shows including “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which streams on Hulu, and “Live PD,” a reality police show that has frequently been the most watched show on cable TV and airs on A&E. It also owns premium cable network Epix.
Disney will want Disney content for its streaming services, AT&T will want WarnerMedia content, NBCUniversal will use NBCUniversal content, and so on. If that’s where the world is headed, the big streaming services will continue to look for an edge over each other. That’s good news for the little guys, which may see their values spike if they turn into juicy acquisition targets.
Apple, for example, is brand new to media production and distribution and has started Apple TV+ without an existing library of series and movies to entice consumers. Buying an existing studio with experienced media executives may make sense, especially if the company, such as MGM, is heavy on intellectual property and light on people. (Apple is historically averse to corporate integrations that may result in culture clashes.) Apple, of course, also has a balance sheet that dwarfs virtually every other media company and could make a sizable acquisition without betting the company.
MacDailyNews Take: As we reported in November: We continue to hear whispers that a “very big” Apple acquisition looms. If completed, it will be “Apple’s biggest acquisition by far” and most likely occur “sometime in 2020.”
That was a followup to what we originally reported on April 4, 2019: A little birdie tells us that “a major Apple acquisition looms,” but that “it’s not yet a done deal.”
If it goes through, however, “people will be shocked.” No further information was given.
We’re unsure if “people will be shocked” at the name of company Apple may acquire, the size of the acquisition, both, and/or something else altogether.
Stay tuned.