Originally Posted By leemac Since Zenia Mucha's PA was arrested on insider-trading and fraud charges earlier this week there has been debate about whether Disney is shopping ABC around for a new home. THR had this story yesterday: <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3if3584cb6d538b8e13bcddffb32a858d1" target="_blank">http://www.hollywoodreporter.c...32a858d1</a> My personal view is that if the ad market is starting to strengthen that Disney should consider a sale. ABC has been my network of choice in the past decade thanks to shows like Alias, Lost, Brothers & Sisters and now Modern Family but the network business is increasingly competitive. When er was at its zenith ('98/'99 or so) it was attracting north of 25m viewers - and little more than a decade later scripted shows are lucky to pass 15m with DVR counts included. ABC doesn't seem to belong in Iger's vision - in the same way that Touchstone Pictures has been effectively shuttered. There is little synergistic benefit to ABC remaining part of the Disney family - the properties can't (and/or won't) be leveraged by Consumer Products, Parks & Resorts or any other business unit. I'm more torn about ABC Studios - the production arm. I'd like to think that there will always be a network that will want high-quality non-crime procedurals like Brothers & Sisters and Desperate Housewives but without a distribution channel will this be the case?
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer I honestly doubt that they'd do that... I've always been amused with how ABC/Disney promotes heavily on their stations. Also, I would imagine (well, not really...know) that they make a considerable part of the WDC's income.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Also there is the big question of synergy with the Cable Networks, especially the ESPN channels. Many of the contracts that ESPN with major sports require at least some games (such as the NBA Finals, World Cup Finals, NASCAR Final race must be shown on "Over the Air" Network TV, so it would be hard to sell off the Over the Air Network (ABC). Now, I can see "Disney" (aka TWDC) selling off some or all of its network owned stations, similar to what Comcast is planning to do with its purchase of NBC Universal. But I know many networks have looked into selling/merging things like the News Segment. Say, selling the News department to CNN, and then have CNN be responsible for all ABC News programming, where Disney gets either a flat fee and/or a share of the advertisement revenue. NBC does that internally with its cable network, with the NBC Network news also airing on its cable channel, MSNBC. I know that multiple networks have sold off its Saturday morning children programming, but this doesn't make sense for Disney, as they basically show repeats from the Disney Channel. Basically, the single unit (ABC Network) is worth a lot less than if you could buy the entire broadcasting package (including all the cable networks), and I doubt that Disney would sell them off in the near future.
Originally Posted By matthewdort They'll hold on to it. ABC and the other broadcast networks are dying a slow death, and within 10 to 15 years they'll all morph into some hybrid online/on-demand type of service that bears no resemblance to what we see now. At that point, owning the rights to the ABC name for distribution purposes will be crucial.
