Strategic Merging
The merger of Disney and Fox has been quite a big deal in the entertainment business. As Disney is trying to compete with Netflix in the streaming business, one has to wonder, why 21st Century Fox? The merger will cost Disney 52.4 billion dollars, is it really worth it for Disney? The reason Disney chose 21st Century Fox can be well explained through some concepts learned throughout the class.
Disney pretty much built a bridge by buying 21st Century Fox. Without that bridge, Disney did not have access to the knowledge and rights to any of the material 21st Century Fox had. With it, Disney just doubled the size of its strongly connected component. It just added shows like “The Simpsons”, “Modern Family”, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, movies like “X-Men”, “Ice Age”, “Planet of the Apes”, and regional sports networks to bolster the ESPN network Disney already owns. Not only are they connected with each other, there are so many ways all these nodes can be integrated with each other through the strongly connected component. Already owning Marvel, Disney will be able to produce collaborations between the Marvel heroes and the X-Men. Shows like “The Simpsons” will be available on the new Disney streaming service. The ESPN + streaming service will be more accessible through the regional sports network. Although this seems like a huge sum of money for any firm, it expands the network of nodes for Disney by two-fold, and thereby giving Disney a chance to compete against the biggest streaming monsters.