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Amazon is reportedly negotiating to acquire MGM for about $9B

businessinsider.com

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Re: Amazon is reportedly negotiating to acquire MGM for about $9B

#11

Post by JohnHaugeland »

spbaar wrote: post #3
mikece wrote: post #2

There were rumors early in the lockdown that Amazon was a prime candidate (no pun intended) for acquiring AMC Entertainment and vertically integrating the creation of content as well as distribution via digital and cinema consumption. This move would certainly add to the vertical integration theme and make them a heavier hitter in Hollywood.

Aren't movies and movie theaters one of the only industries where that type of vertical integration is explicitly illegal?

Under the Paramount decrees of 1948, it was decided that the theaters plus the studios were creating a monopoly. After all, it's not like anyone had screens at home.

That was vacated last year, in observation that TV and the internet now exist.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-files-moti...

Re: Amazon is reportedly negotiating to acquire MGM for about $9B

#12

Post by lotsofpulp »

snarf21 wrote: post #6

Is the SEC and FTC ever going to do their job? They have failed us in the 21st century. Shareholder value over everything else. It would be nice for some regulation to attack all this rent seeking.

Are there high barriers to creating content? The internet has lowered the barrier to distributing content to basically zero, compared to before the internet. I do not see how keeping a middleman around between distributor and creator would help consumers.

Re: Amazon is reportedly negotiating to acquire MGM for about $9B

#13

Post by JohnHaugeland »

snarf21 wrote: post #6

Is the SEC and FTC ever going to do their job? They have failed us in the 21st century. Shareholder value over everything else. It would be nice for some regulation to attack all this rent seeking.

this means that amazon will have about 4% of the industry

this isn't even slightly a monopoly by the legal definition

Re: Amazon is reportedly negotiating to acquire MGM for about $9B

#14

Post by Server6 »

ghaff wrote: post #10
snarf21 wrote: post #6

Is the SEC and FTC ever going to do their job? They have failed us in the 21st century. Shareholder value over everything else. It would be nice for some regulation to attack all this rent seeking.

Amazon already is a studio, i.e. someone who makes bets and writes checks (and owns the rights to content--personally I don't mind that not being as fragmented as it is). Acquiring another studio given the way things operate in the film/TV industry today seems fairly uninteresting from a monopoly perspective.

Its for MGM's IP and back catalog so Amazon can literally rent it for a monthly price.

Re: Amazon is reportedly negotiating to acquire MGM for about $9B

#15

Post by JohnJamesRambo »

Server6 wrote: post #14
ghaff wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon already is a studio, i.e. someone who makes bets and writes checks (and owns the rights to content--personally I don't mind that not being as fragmented as it is). Acquiring another studio given the way things operate in the film/TV industry today seems fairly uninteresting from a monopoly perspective.

Its for MGM's IP and back catalog so Amazon can literally rent it for a monthly price.

What sort of good stuff does MGM have? I use Prime Video a lot since it is basically free with my Prime and would love some new quality content.

Edit: Posting this I found because my question was dumb.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer_fi...

Re: Amazon is reportedly negotiating to acquire MGM for about $9B

#16

Post by lotsofpulp »

Server6 wrote: post #14
ghaff wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon already is a studio, i.e. someone who makes bets and writes checks (and owns the rights to content--personally I don't mind that not being as fragmented as it is). Acquiring another studio given the way things operate in the film/TV industry today seems fairly uninteresting from a monopoly perspective.

Its for MGM's IP and back catalog so Amazon can literally rent it for a monthly price.

The better way to address this would be reducing copyright lengths to 20 years or something reasonable.

Re: Amazon is reportedly negotiating to acquire MGM for about $9B

#17

Post by nojito »

snarf21 wrote: post #6

Is the SEC and FTC ever going to do their job? They have failed us in the 21st century. Shareholder value over everything else. It would be nice for some regulation to attack all this rent seeking.

The SEC and FTC has had their funding cut several times over these past 10 years.

It's hard to bring cases when you simply don't have the people anymore.

Re: Amazon is reportedly negotiating to acquire MGM for about $9B

#18

Post by afavour »

JohnHaugeland wrote: post #13
snarf21 wrote: post #6

Is the SEC and FTC ever going to do their job? They have failed us in the 21st century. Shareholder value over everything else. It would be nice for some regulation to attack all this rent seeking.

this means that amazon will have about 4% of the industry this isn't even slightly a monopoly by the legal definition

OP didn't even use the word monopoly. You don't have to view it through that narrow a lens.

I think it's fair to ask if it is in consumers interest to have to buy an Apple TV to watch Apple produced shows, an Amazon Fire stick to watch Amazon/MGM content, etc. etc.

I know that isn't the world we're in right now but the spats you see between e.g. Google and Roku (and Amazon and Google) feel indicative of a likely future to me: consolidate, then bring down the hammer.

Re: Amazon is reportedly negotiating to acquire MGM for about $9B

#19

Post by bryanrasmussen »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #15
Server6 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its for MGM's IP and back catalog so Amazon can literally rent it for a monthly price.

What sort of good stuff does MGM have? I use Prime Video a lot since it is basically free with my Prime and would love some new quality content. Edit: Posting this I found because my question was dumb. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer_fi...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer_fi...

Re: Amazon is reportedly negotiating to acquire MGM for about $9B

#20

Post by lotsofpulp »

afavour wrote: post #18
JohnHaugeland wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this means that amazon will have about 4% of the industry this isn't even slightly a monopoly by the legal definition

OP didn't even use the word monopoly. You don't have to view it through that narrow a lens. I think it's fair to ask if it is in consumers interest to have to buy an Apple TV to watch Apple produced shows, an Amazon Fire stick to watch Amazon/MGM content, etc. etc. I know that isn't the world we're in right now but the spats you see between e.g. Google and Roku (and Amazon and Google) feel indicative of a likely futu…

The world I used to live in required paying a third party to watch media, from their proprietary devices, and I did not get to watch it whenever, and however I wanted.
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