DIS is moving up in value while NTFX is moving down on a recent disappointment in subscribership . PERFECT TIMING FOR BUYOUT
Walt Disney (DIS) could solve a couple of problems if it acquired streaming video leader Netflix (NFLX), maverick Wall Street analyst Richard Greenfield said recently
Disney CEO Bob Iger is facing two big concerns: succession planning and the erosion of its ABC and ESPN broadcast businesses, Greenfield said.
Meanwhile, the company’s cable and broadcast businesses are facing a loss of viewers who are shifting more to on-demand Internet video services like Netflix.
ESPN in particular is in trouble because it overpaid for NBA and other sports broadcast licenses before subscriber losses from cord-cutting became apparent,
Acquiring Netflix would give Disney a foothold in on-demand video distribution and a future leader in Netflix CEO Reed Hastings,
“Netflix is already a great friend of Disney,” Greenfield said. “In fact, Iger has repeatedly acknowledged how they are in part responsible for Netflix’s success. … Disney continues to sell more and more content to Netflix spanning movies and television series, while at the same time struggling to get their own direct-to-consumer content business off the ground in the U.K.”
If Disney acquired Netflix, it could offer subscribers a bundle of on-demand video from Netflix and live sports from ESPN.
“Combining Disney and Netflix effectively re-creates the best of the legacy video bundle, removes the distributor, packaging together great content with best-in-class technology spanning all devices consumers love to use.”
