15 votes

Comcast is in talks to sell its 30% stake in Hulu to Disney

Topic removed by site admin

27 comments

  1. [6]
    teaearlgraycold
    Link
    I remember being told that monopolies were illegal when I was a kid. That might have even been a lie then, but it certainly isn't true anymore.

    I remember being told that monopolies were illegal when I was a kid. That might have even been a lie then, but it certainly isn't true anymore.

    18 votes
    1. [3]
      alyaza
      Link Parent
      genuine trust-busting hasn't been a thing for fucking eons, at this point. unless i'm missing something the last serious breakup was of the bell corporation, and one of the child companies of that...

      I remember being told that monopolies were illegal when I was a kid. That might have even been a lie then, but it certainly isn't true anymore.

      genuine trust-busting hasn't been a thing for fucking eons, at this point. unless i'm missing something the last serious breakup was of the bell corporation, and one of the child companies of that whole ordeal just ended up becoming a currently unshattered monopoly unto itself.

      15 votes
      1. [2]
        cfabbro
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        While not attempting a complete break up à la Ma Bell, Microsoft was going to be forced to break itself into two independent units; one for the Windows OS and one for the software it produces......

        While not attempting a complete break up à la Ma Bell, Microsoft was going to be forced to break itself into two independent units; one for the Windows OS and one for the software it produces... but it was overturned on appeal and then dropped/settled later. See: United States v. Microsoft Corp.

        But yeah, that's the last effort I can remember, and it's been far too long since any serious anti-trust actions have taken place, IMO.

        10 votes
        1. The_Fad
          Link Parent
          Politicians gotta get that stackable lobbying money from somewhere.

          Politicians gotta get that stackable lobbying money from somewhere.

    2. [2]
      stromm
      Link Parent
      I was a kid when Ma-Bell was broken up. We were promised lower rates, better service, faster tech advancements. Well, those politicians who forced the break up got paid MILLIONS to do it. Even...

      I was a kid when Ma-Bell was broken up. We were promised lower rates, better service, faster tech advancements.

      Well, those politicians who forced the break up got paid MILLIONS to do it. Even then it was talked about on the news that Ma-Bell was actually pushing for the government to make them break up. They wanted it.

      And I vividly remember my mom and dad bitching the month after the break up how their phone bill doubled. DOUBLED. In the 70's that was unheard of. No better service, no faster tech advancement, same stuff, double the price. Over the next ten years, total bill for a single line, no equipment, no voicemail, no call-waiting, definitely no caller-id, was 6 times the cost the month before the break up. Still the same service. Oh, wait, except you no longer paid an equipment lease because you could buy your own phone. So you saved a whole $.50 there.

      2 votes
      1. NaraVara
        Link Parent
        Some background on the billing increases. So basically seems like what changed was that it was no longer being subsidized and the additional costs were no longer being masked.

        Some background on the billing increases.

        One consequence of the breakup was that local residential service rates, which were formerly subsidized by long distance revenues, began to rise faster than the rate of inflation. Long-distance rates, meanwhile, fell both due to the end of this subsidy and increased competition.[5] The FCC established a system of access charges where long distance networks paid the more expensive local networks both to originate and terminate a call. In this way, the implicit subsidies of the Bell System became explicit post-divestiture.

        So basically seems like what changed was that it was no longer being subsidized and the additional costs were no longer being masked.

        3 votes
  2. [19]
    The_Fad
    Link
    Dear Disney, Can you not? Sincerely, A concerned citizen

    Dear Disney,

    Can you not?

    Sincerely,
    A concerned citizen

    6 votes
    1. [15]
      cfabbro
      Link Parent
      Honestly, I would rather they just consume Hulu and use it rather than make their own Disney only streaming platform, since at least I am already subscribed to Hulu. Monopolies are a problem, for...

      Honestly, I would rather they just consume Hulu and use it rather than make their own Disney only streaming platform, since at least I am already subscribed to Hulu. Monopolies are a problem, for sure, but every single production and media company launching their own independent streaming platform (and pulling their content from the consolidated platforms as a result) is also pretty bad for consumers too.

      1 vote
      1. [15]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. [13]
          cfabbro
          Link Parent
          Yeah, it's tough. I would rather see consolidation than fragmentation in terms of online streaming platforms, for convenience and cost reasons, but that is an admittedly selfish perspective. And I...

          Yeah, it's tough. I would rather see consolidation than fragmentation in terms of online streaming platforms, for convenience and cost reasons, but that is an admittedly selfish perspective. And I am also definitely biased because a fragmented market reminds me too much of cable, which I no longer have for exactly that reason.

          I don't really know what's best... but even if consolidation isn't ultimately what's best for us as consumers in the long run, I really don't like where this recent wave of fragmentation is taking us either. So it feels like a lose-lose situation, TBH. :(

          5 votes
          1. [12]
            The_Fad
            Link Parent
            Sounds like your concerns are mainly regarding our current economic structure, comrade.

            Sounds like your concerns are mainly regarding our current economic structure, comrade.

            7 votes
            1. [11]
              cfabbro
              (edited )
              Link Parent
              No... I am a Capitalist, think people should be financially rewarded commensurately for their work, and that Marxism/Socialism/Et al. is ultimately doomed to failure until we get to post-scarcity....

              No... I am a Capitalist, think people should be financially rewarded commensurately for their work, and that Marxism/Socialism/Et al. is ultimately doomed to failure until we get to post-scarcity. But I also happen to think capitalism needs to be heavily regulated (esp. financial services), social safety nets are critically important and criminally underfunded, and anti-trust is something that has fallen by the wayside that desperately needs to be pushed for again.

              3 votes
              1. [4]
                spctrvl
                Link Parent
                That seems a little contradictory to me, considering the whole basis for capitalism is that the bulk of people aren't adequately rewarded for their work, due to extraction of surplus value by the...

                No... I am a Capitalist, think people should be financially rewarded commensurately for their work

                That seems a little contradictory to me, considering the whole basis for capitalism is that the bulk of people aren't adequately rewarded for their work, due to extraction of surplus value by the capitalist class.

                8 votes
                1. [3]
                  cfabbro
                  Link Parent
                  It's only contradictory if you have an incredibly reductive view of capitalism, and think capital investment (and taking on all the risks associated with that) isn't valuable, nor should someone...

                  It's only contradictory if you have an incredibly reductive view of capitalism, and think capital investment (and taking on all the risks associated with that) isn't valuable, nor should someone be compensated for providing that.

                  2 votes
                  1. [2]
                    spctrvl
                    Link Parent
                    Provision of capital is obviously a valuable service, but don't think for a second that workers aren't being massively ripped off in the exchange and categorically underpaid. It isn't like your...

                    Provision of capital is obviously a valuable service, but don't think for a second that workers aren't being massively ripped off in the exchange and categorically underpaid. It isn't like your average employee starts getting compensated the full value of their labor once the extracted surplus pays back the investor for whatever capital used on the job, or even when it's done so many times over. If it worked that way, the system might be justifiable, but as is, the owner class gets to keep free riding off of other peoples' work forever, simply because they were fortunate enough to be in a position to make the initial capital investment.

                    5 votes
                    1. cfabbro
                      (edited )
                      Link Parent
                      You're acting like I disagree with you and need to be lectured at, when for the most part I agree with you; see my other responses elsewhere here and even the very comment you're replying to....

                      You're acting like I disagree with you and need to be lectured at, when for the most part I agree with you; see my other responses elsewhere here and even the very comment you're replying to. However what I don't agree with is claiming it's a system based on ensuring "the bulk of people aren't adequately rewarded for their work" either, or making snide dismissals of people as being "contradictory" who support it... especially when even though in theory the alternatives of Marxism, Communism and Socialism are supposed to be better at ensuring that people are compensated for their efforts, in practice it has historically lead to far more inequity and suffering than Capitalism IMO.

                      2 votes
              2. [6]
                The_Fad
                Link Parent
                Side question: Do you believe the United States has yet to become a post-scarcity society, and if so why?

                Side question: Do you believe the United States has yet to become a post-scarcity society, and if so why?

                4 votes
                1. [5]
                  cfabbro
                  Link Parent
                  No, we're not even remotely close IMO. Although I do hope to see it within my lifetime as 3D printing gets better, Universal Basic Income (or something similar) starts to get widely adopted, and...

                  No, we're not even remotely close IMO. Although I do hope to see it within my lifetime as 3D printing gets better, Universal Basic Income (or something similar) starts to get widely adopted, and the barriers to entry for production and marketing of products (both physical and purely creative) continues to get lowered via new technology, software, sites/services and crowdfunding platforms.

                  3 votes
                  1. [4]
                    The_Fad
                    Link Parent
                    But you understand that in order to achieve some of those very things that you've noted, you have to go against the most basic principles of Capitalism, yes?

                    But you understand that in order to achieve some of those very things that you've noted, you have to go against the most basic principles of Capitalism, yes?

                    4 votes
                    1. [3]
                      cfabbro
                      (edited )
                      Link Parent
                      Yes. Keep in mind that I am a capitalist only because I am also a pragmatist, and IMO it's currently the best system we have to achieve the progress required for us to advance past it; It's merely...

                      Yes. Keep in mind that I am a capitalist only because I am also a pragmatist, and IMO it's currently the best system we have to achieve the progress required for us to advance past it; It's merely a stepping stone in my eyes. However, I also realize that it's not a perfect system at all (hence my mentioning of heavy regulation, social safety nets and anti-trust) and we will eventually need to do away with it entirely... but I also think Marxists/socialists/et al. are naive if they think those alternative economic systems are currently viable or sustainable.

                      4 votes
                      1. [2]
                        The_Fad
                        Link Parent
                        Thanks for taking the time to elaborate, I appreciate it.

                        Thanks for taking the time to elaborate, I appreciate it.

                        4 votes
                        1. cfabbro
                          Link Parent
                          No problem. I appreciate the questions and you taking the time to hear my opinions out, too. :)

                          No problem. I appreciate the questions and you taking the time to hear my opinions out, too. :)

                          4 votes
        2. Weldawadyathink
          Link Parent
          I don't think that the current Netflix/ Disney/ Hulu / other services are really competition. They only currently compete on content. They don't compete on the quality and price of the service. In...

          I don't think that the current Netflix/ Disney/ Hulu / other services are really competition. They only currently compete on content. They don't compete on the quality and price of the service. In my opinion, a competitive streaming service market would have every service have every show and movie, and the services themselves would have to compete on actual features. I'm not really sure how well this would work in practice.

          3 votes
    2. [4]
      Comment removed by site admin
      Link Parent
      1. [2]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. stromm
          Link Parent
          Disney has already stated that this will not be the case.

          Disney has already stated that this will not be the case.

      2. Eylrid
        Link Parent
        Disney's new streaming service will have something important that Hulu doesn't: The Disney™ Brand. That brand is everything to them. It sucks for us consumers to have more streaming services to...

        Disney's new streaming service will have something important that Hulu doesn't: The Disney™ Brand. That brand is everything to them. It sucks for us consumers to have more streaming services to subscribe to, but for Disney it will be worth it to reinforce that Disney™ content is something magical that doesn't mix with peasant content.

        2 votes
      3. semideclared
        Link Parent
        Not sure if you meant the 60% or not, They bought out Fox for that and the major copyrights fox has iDisney is theirs and what they believe to be the future of the TV Disney market. Where as hulu...

        Not sure if you meant the 60% or not, They bought out Fox for that and the major copyrights fox has

        iDisney is theirs and what they believe to be the future of the TV Disney market. Where as hulu is a 3rd party and even if they owned 100%* they don't want to rebrand it

        • My opinion is, that they will shut HULU down upon completion of this buyout. Why? Well now There by making NBC not have any valid TV streaming platform

          • If Comcast try's to avoid this and not sellout Disney abandons HULU and no Disney/Fox shows, or movies are on Hulu. NBC gets there own streaming service with a brand but how many people will keep a NBC Hulu

        Which is more valuable to NBC, their own Hulu or cash to start G3, E4 and C4.com (the NBC chimes)

  3. moocow1452
    Link
    So the plan was according to people familiar with the matter for Hulu to be Fox and ABC content, and D+ is All Ages. So I guess if this goes through, NBC content is out on it's own streaming...

    So the plan was according to people familiar with the matter for Hulu to be Fox and ABC content, and D+ is All Ages. So I guess if this goes through, NBC content is out on it's own streaming service, and Hulu is no longer the content Camelot that we all kind of wanted it to be?

    3 votes
  4. [2]
    Comment removed by site admin
    Link
    1. NecrophiliaChocolate
      Link Parent
      Disney overlord, please dont take away my free Hulu that came with Spotify. But if you integrate it with D+ I will be happy.

      Disney overlord, please dont take away my free Hulu that came with Spotify. But if you integrate it with D+ I will be happy.

      5 votes