I came across an article on Deadline Hollywood noting that details during an SEC civil suit lends credence to the premise that Disney is pondering the sale of ABC. This could bode poorly or it could bode well for fans of the network… this includes all genre and sports. God knows NASCAR fans have taken a bit of a beating at the hands of “ESPN on ABC.”
The legal snafu is from the arrest of the secretary to the head of Disney’s corporate communications, who was selling insider earnings reports to investors. (That sounds rather non-profitable, considering the illegal nature of the information!)
I love when greed forces people’s hands to make incredibly stupid moves. In this case, selling information to undercover FBI. dOh!
In details from paperwork from the arrest, it’s been noted that Disney might have been in negotiations with 2 equity firms to sell ABC. It’s been estimated that the sale of ABC could Go for upwards of $7 billion.
But here’s something that worries me: With Disney having sucked up Marvel, I had started noticing Marvel characters showing up in ABC shows in the background. One quick example was on Castle, starring Nathan Fillion when I believe I saw Spider-man prominently displayed in one episode not long after the purchase of Marvel had gone through.
If Disney sells ABC, that little perk that ABC shows are presently experiencing, will more than likely go away. Won’t it? I know it’s not a huge perk, but I would think it’s nice to capture the imagination of fans of specific genre with those little teasers or Easter Eggs.
My guess, if this is indeed happening, is that ABC is struggling enough to warrant the dissolution between the “Mouse and the Alphabet.”
If that happens, there’s a great opportunity for ABC to be able to change how they do business. It could mean whatever possible restrictions have been put into play of late, be removed. For one, I understood that back in 2009 some ABC employees who reported on NASCAR and other sports fell under a heavy Twitter and personal website ‘restriction of use.’ This cut some of the personable angles that reporters could bring to their fans, but at the same time, focused the fans on the network itself. That situation is a two-sided coin! With NASCAR we didn’t lose too much from that restriction since other outlets allowed their staff to let loose in websites and on Twitter.
I don’t know a lot of the background details of how Disney ran things, but I’ve been keenly aware of how aggressive they are with their “mouse related” advertising on “the alphabet” in various mediums. with their On Demand presence, every set of ads is the same thing… their latest disney movie, their latest disney show… repeat each ad session until last ad, then show 3 different aspects of ads about the same subjects.
If ABC is cut loose, will their next buyer be ready to handle this new adopted baby? Will they be willing to toss oodles of bucks a the net that just cut loose one of its biggest franchises last weekend (lost)?
I know the entity known as ABC operated on its own, but if in fact Disney is cutting it loose or considering it, I have to suspect that there’s a leak in the boat where money is oozing out. We’ll see how it pans out. Right now, I’m waiting for the standard denials, followed by more rumors, then the actual sale sometime in 2011 or 2012, if anyone can muster up.
(Hey! Did Disney buy into Hulu, or did ABC? Where does that interest go to? References I find say ABC Inc owns 27% of Hulu. Wow, there’s even more at stake than I originally thought!)
