The NYT article has a little more background info. It restates the Broccoli’s continued control of Bond development - though I still suspect their agreement to letting Amazon do that had to be part of such a hefty price. They also remind that in the new age of multiple streamers, studios are charging a hell of a lot more for content than they very recently did (something Netflix foresaw a long time ago).
But they point out a reason MGM content would be worth more to Amazon than to other streamers: Prime. Not the monthly fee, but the fact that customers with Prime buy about $3000 more stuff every year from Amazon than those without. If Bond got Amazon ~150,000 more Prime Members, Amazon could make almost half a billion dollars more each year, making up the premium for MGM in under a decade. No other streamer has a revenue multiplier like that. The NYT also points out that one reason Amazon bought MGM is “because it can”. Amazon has “$71 billion in cash and a market capitalization of $1.64 trillion.” They can almost get the cash for the full price by making an ATM withdrawal. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/26/business/amazon-MGM.html On Wed, 26 May 2021 at 6:01 AM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > And the deal is now done - final price a bargain ay $9.45 Billion. > > This does include Fargo and Handmaid’s Tale. > > The article does explicitly quote Mike Hopkins, senior VP of Prime Video > and Amazon Studios as saying: “The real financial value behind this deal is > the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and > develop together with MGM’s talented team.” > > This does confirm for me that the streamers are seeing that Disney has > established that the way to succeed is to establish as anchors a few > popular film franchises, not primarily to rerun, but to spin off serialized > television programs. > > The price (almost double what MGM was valued at by other suitors) to me > has to mean that the Broccoli’s have either surrendered their control over > the use of Bond, or agreed to allow MGM to develop several Bond-based > series, though this is not mentioned in the article. > > > https://deadline.com/2021/05/amazon-to-buy-mgm-for-8-45-billion-merger-1234764306/ > > > On Mon, 24 May 2021 at 4:26 PM Mark Jeffries <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Nope. They were in development before he took over. More responsibility >> should be given to former NBC exec Warren Littlefield, whose production >> company makes them for MGM. >> >> And it should be pointed out that Burnett never owned his biggest hits >> outright--CBS owns big pieces of "Survivor," "The Voice" is co-produced by >> Warners and ITV (the latter owns the format after buying out John DeMol's >> Talpa Media) and Sony controls the "Shark Tank" format. And "The >> Apprentice" was co-owned by Donald J. Trump. >> >> On Sat, May 22, 2021, 2:34 PM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> But does MGM own the rights to HT and Fargo now through him? >>> >>> On Sat, 22 May 2021 at 12:10 PM Mark Jeffries <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> MGM bought Mark Burnett's production company and then put him in charge >>>> of television in the hopes that he would spawn the next big reality hit. >>>> That hasn't happened yet. His attempts at faith-based scripted programming >>>> failed, his LightTV subchannel was sold to Byron Allen who replaced it with >>>> the Black-oriented GriotTV (with Gizmodo Media) and though he claims >>>> responsibility for the prestige scripted shows "Handmaid's Tale" and >>>> "Fargo," most people say no. >>>> >>>> On Sat, May 22, 2021, 9:34 AM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> So when you first hear Amazon wants to buy MGM, you assume it is to >>>>> get James Bond. Makes sense; streaming is about content, and there is no >>>>> film content as consistently attractive as Bond. But this article hints at >>>>> something else. Amazon is valuing MGM at around $4 BILLION more than >>>>> anyone >>>>> else; that’s got to be more than just a disagreement over how many streams >>>>> Goldfinger will generate. >>>>> >>>>> I can see Amazon paying a premium for reliable franchise content >>>>> (Disney became the second biggest player in streaming overnight). But this >>>>> only makes sense if it buys unrestricted rights to exploit Bond, and even >>>>> then, perhaps some additional value not readily apparent >>>>> >>>>> It is possible Amazon has someone locked up they want to be the next >>>>> Bond. Also (as suggested in this article) they may have a plan to do to >>>>> Bond what Disney is doing to SW and MCU and spin off episodic series >>>>> (Maybe >>>>> a show about Moneypenny or Q, or other Double Os). Any extra Bond based >>>>> appeal would require the cooperation of the Broccoli family, which is >>>>> unpredictable, and does not seem like the basis for an extra $4B bet >>>>> (though maybe the extra cash is the incentive to get them to sign a blank >>>>> check up front in licensing). >>>>> >>>>> But I wonder if Amazon is also seeing content value in other parts of >>>>> MGM. The article says MGM produces The Voice and Survivor (which seems >>>>> surprising to me). These seem like the kinds of content a streamer like >>>>> Amazon would love to have some kind of special relationship with, as they >>>>> offer chances for cross promotion and exclusive bonus features. >>>>> >>>>> On Fri, 21 May 2021 at 7:43 PM Kevin M. <[email protected]> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> There could be a monkey-wrench in the Amazon deal. His name? Bond… >>>>>> James Bond >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> https://variety.com/2021/film/news/mgm-amazon-james-bond-sale-1234979005/amp/ >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On Wed, May 19, 2021 at 9:43 AM Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> On Mon, May 17, 2021 at 7:34 PM 'Bob Jersey' via TVorNotTV < >>>>>>> [email protected]> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> For about $9bil, sources told Variety... the venerable studio's >>>>>>>> been on the block since December... >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/amazon-mgm-acquisition-talks-9-billion-1234975168/ >>>>>>>> (link) >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> The venerable studio became a real estate business in the late 60s. >>>>>>> They were happy to sell their logos and trademarks as well as rights to >>>>>>> the >>>>>>> MGM film library. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>>>>> send an email to [email protected]. >>>>>>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>>>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiEm6zkxiWw%3Dw%2B7EiZeher61B9dEmq4DdEnpE69YDW%3D%3DWA%40mail.gmail.com >>>>>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiEm6zkxiWw%3Dw%2B7EiZeher61B9dEmq4DdEnpE69YDW%3D%3DWA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>>>>> . >>>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> Kevin M. 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