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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

#31

Post by afavour »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #25
afavour wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does that mean we shouldn't ever strive for better? > from their proprietary devices, and I did not get to watch it whenever, and however I wanted. That's still quite possible in the future. If providers lock down the hardware you can use to watch then maybe you won't be able to watch on your phone if they don't feel like letting you.

My point was that we did strive for better, and I can now watch whatever I want whenever I want however I want, for 90% of things. For the rest, like sports and some other live stuff that is stuck in the past, I simply ignore. I would not go after legislation to prevent mergers to prevent locked down devices or restrictions on how you can watch. We already had that without the mergers, so why would that address the s…

It doesn't sound like we disagree. Why couldn't the FEC allow the merger with a mandate that content be available on all (or a reasonable number of) platforms?

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

#32

Post by JohnWhigham »

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 Rockefellers and Vanderbilts of yester-century would be red with envy at the size and power of today's tech companies.

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

#33

Post by ignoramous »

huitzitziltzin wrote: post #27
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.

what job do you want the FTC to do here? I assume you think there is an antitrust angle on this potential acquisition? I am an economist and that is my field. I disagree with your take, if that is what you mean. This is a vertical merger. Vertical mergers are quite different in their welfare effects to consumers than horizontal mergers. Vertical mergers can frequently be welfare-improving to consumers. Indeed, this i…

> I am an economist and that is my field. I disagree with your take, if that is what you mean. This is a vertical merger. Vertical mergers are quite different in their welfare effects to consumers than horizontal mergers. Vertical mergers can frequently be welfare-improving to consumers.

Not saying you're lying (I am out of my depth here, for once), but your post reminds of this piece on noahpinion.substack.com, "Experts will lie to you": https://archive.is/ErWwa

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

#34

Post by kingsuper20 »

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.

As I understand it, the test for monopoly is detrimental effect for consumers, not control of a market. Making your company more vertically integrated (by buying a back catalog in this case I guess) probably doesn't trip any alarms.

I'm surprised that they don't buy Penguin. Maybe Bertelsmann has no interest in selling.

If you think about it, publishers of print/music/movies are essentially built on monopoly given the single sourcing of a title. It's not as simple as cornering the market on wheat or oil.

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

#35

Post by dageshi »

throwaway_kufu wrote: post #22
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.

For a little background on the movie industry and antitrust law, the Hollywood studios once upon owned everything from the way movies were produced, distributed and exhibited. The monopoly held by the studios was effectively broken up following WWII. Yes, there were multiple studios competing but individually they were engaging in antitrust behavior. This acquisition is essentially a waiving of the white flag and pas…

Distribution was physical back in the day, your choice of cinema was dictated by location. Locking specific movies to specific cinemas was a detriment to the public for that reason. Does that matter when the alternative is via distribution by internet? Honestly, you can sub to netflix for one month, watch everything you want and then unsub, same with all the other services. Has there ever been a point in history where there's more content available for cheaper than right now?

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

#36

Post by ncallaway »

huitzitziltzin wrote: post #27
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.

what job do you want the FTC to do here? I assume you think there is an antitrust angle on this potential acquisition? I am an economist and that is my field. I disagree with your take, if that is what you mean. This is a vertical merger. Vertical mergers are quite different in their welfare effects to consumers than horizontal mergers. Vertical mergers can frequently be welfare-improving to consumers. Indeed, this i…

The vertical integration of the distribution of media and the production of media is extremely problematic because of the way copyright operates in this country.

I think you have to examine vertical integration in copyright affected industries differently than you would in, say, the vertical integration of steel production with a company that consumes steel.

The interaction with copyright invariably creates issues for the end-consumer, which is why consumers in the media ecosystem are often better off when distributors and producers are separate.

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

#37

Post by oblak »

Here's hoping for a new Stargate TV show! Despite a couple of amazing BSG seasons, SG-1 is just better overall.

I don't event want the old crew. Just give us something cool. The only good thing that came out of SG Universe was the opening episode. It was awesome.

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

#38

Post by fastball »

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.

Right but so can MGM. The rent-seeking is there anyway, don't think it's anti-consumer for the rent-seeker to be Amazon rather than MGM.

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

#39

Post by woeIsPG »

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.

Not while economic power and politics are controlled by the same generation and social networks.

Those who were raised on censored television and waving “the correct flag” went too many times around the sun like that to be able to reconsider themselves as anything but completely appropriate.

Wfh offered a perfect opportunity to exert political pressure; don’t open them laptops!

But the masses identity is game-fied jobs and consumerism. We must not upset the natural order.

Don’t mind me; I quit my job, sold all my gadgets (except an old iPhone) and got into learning music last year, to ride out the pandemic. I’ve gone bonkers.

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

#40

Post by ghaff »

ignoramous wrote: post #33
huitzitziltzin wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what job do you want the FTC to do here? I assume you think there is an antitrust angle on this potential acquisition? I am an economist and that is my field. I disagree with your take, if that is what you mean. This is a vertical merger. Vertical mergers are quite different in their welfare effects to consumers than horizontal mergers. Vertical mergers can frequently be welfare-improving to consumers. Indeed, this i…

> I am an economist and that is my field. I disagree with your take, if that is what you mean. This is a vertical merger. Vertical mergers are quite different in their welfare effects to consumers than horizontal mergers. Vertical mergers can frequently be welfare-improving to consumers. Not saying you're lying (I am out of my depth here, for once), but your post reminds of this piece on noahpinion.substack.com, "Exp…

I suppose it depends on how you view Amazon. They are a (primarily streaming) content distributor although they're also a (primarily TV) studio. It's a reasonable argument that a distributor acquiring a large back catalog of film IP is a vertical merger. Although to the welfare-improving point, giving that back catalog a straightforward route to consumers is not necessarily a bad thing.
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