Top of the Great Era

Chapter 1399 Internet Created Content Is King
This is a very important thing.

After returning, Zhou Buqi called Zhen Yu, held a video conference with Xu Baihui and Shi Jingmei, and talked about it.

Opinions are very unified.

Regardless of whether Disney's acquisition of Marvel is successful or not, Zhou Buqi should retain the 20% stake in Marvel and hold the right to speak.

Disney is an entertainment empire with a complex, rich and huge entertainment ecosystem.If Marvel is monopolized by Disney, the end will be the same as DC, completely in the hands of the giant.

If outsiders want to participate, I am afraid it will be impossible.

Retaining 20% ​​of the shares is not for dividends or long-term investment wealth growth, but to have the right to speak for the thousands of superheroes under Marvel.It will promote the cooperation between many businesses and Marvel in the future.

Of course, the best outcome would be to block the Disney-Marvel deal.

Disney is too powerful.

Like the ESPN channel.

This sports TV station, Disney only owns 80% of the shares.However, ESPN has been completely controlled by Disney, and the 20% minority shareholders have completely lost control and can only share the dividends of wealth.

Zhou Buqi should prevent the existence of this risk.

If Marvel is not merged into Disney, it is in his best interest to maintain an independent operation.The weaker Marvel is, the more complicated its shareholding structure is, and the easier it is to profit from chaos.

In the video conference, Xu Baihui said with a smile: "Boss Zhou, you still need this little money. Since you value Marvel so much, why don't you just buy the remaining 80% of the shares? How do you arrange it?" How to arrange it."

"Okay, stop talking nonsense, it's a strange card, it's offline, and I won't disturb your sleep."

Zhou Buqi ended the video call.

If possible, buying Marvel is of course the best choice. In the next ten years, the Marvel universe will rule Hollywood, and the movie box office alone will be able to earn back this investment.

But this is impossible.

Superheroes are the painstaking efforts of cartoonists all their lives, and they are created with all their energy. Unless they are down and can't eat, it is difficult to sell them to a foreigner.

Well, Masayoshi Son can!
He is american.

Whether it works or not, always try.

Now, there is still huge controversy within Disney, and more directors and executives do not approve of this deal, believing that Marvel’s superheroes will destroy Disney’s brand and values.

So hurry up and operate.

Once Robert Iger and Jobs teamed up to resolve the opposing forces one by one, and proceeded to promote this blockbuster acquisition, with Disney's strong financial resources and brand, it was almost impossible for Marvel's board of directors to stop it.

I thought I came to the United States to fight with Senior Sister Zhenyu and try to take her down.

Unexpectedly, the storm broke out again.

Zhou Buqi couldn't just sit on the sidelines and had to work quickly, so he called Sun Zhengyi immediately: "What do you think about the entertainment industry?"

"Very good, with great potential."

"Recently there is a case that is very important and a hundred times stronger than the MGM you are looking at."

"is it?"

Sun Zhengyi seemed to be taking a nap, and his voice was a little tired. Hearing these words, he felt refreshed.

Zhou Buqi said: "I'm in Silicon Valley, where are you? This matter... is still in the confidential stage, let's meet and talk, and talk about your acquisition of the communication operator Spint by the way."

Sun Zhengyi was even more interested, "Oh? You are also interested in Sprint?"

Zhou Buqi said indifferently: "No, just the opposite."

"Um……"

"I think it should be more focused."

"That doesn't convince me."

"Let's meet and talk."

"I'll make arrangements to go to Silicon Valley in these two days. I'm in Seattle."

Zhou Buqi is already very confident in handling Sun Zhengyi, he must draw a big cake, the bigger the cake, the more he likes it.

What's more, in his previous life, he once wanted to focus on the entertainment industry, but he quit regretfully when he found that there was no chance to cut in.

This is the same as many large domestic companies.

When the domestic film industry was growing explosively, many large domestic companies initiated acquisitions of Hollywood film companies, including Wanda, Ali, LeTV and other companies.

However, after a substantial premium, they would not sell it at all.The most typical example is Wanda’s acquisition of 49% of Paramount’s shares. It was originally negotiated with Paramount’s management. 40% stake.

Management was happy and felt it was in Paramount's interest.

Submitted to the board of directors of parent company Viacom, the volcano erupted.The Redstone family was fighting for property, and after some infighting, they rejected Wanda's acquisition and even fired Paramount's executives.

The pattern of the six Hollywood giants has been fixed, and the pattern that content is king in the entertainment industry has also been established, so it is unlikely to change.

It's 2009 and it's still early.

The impact of the Internet on Hollywood is not obvious. Streaming media has not killed the Quartet, and the entertainment industry is still based on the idea that channels are king.That's why General Electric is willing to sell 51% of NBC Universal's shares to Comcast, because Comcast has the most complete and powerful channels.

Now is the lowest point in the entertainment industry, and it is the best time to enter.

In a few years, even if you want to enter, you will not be able to enter.

"It's more reliable to cooperate with Sun Zhengyi, and there will be no resistance if he goes to Hollywood to buy things." Zhou Buqi saw Senior Sister Zhenyu frowning, and explained to her with a smile.

Zhen Yu said softly: "You always told us before that we should not place our hopes on others."

Zhou Buqi got up, stretched his waist, and said helplessly: "What are you relying on? You really think that Sun Zhengyi can listen to me. He has a right idea. The most I can offer is a suggestion. They are eyeing Fox Well-known giant companies like , Universal, Paramount, and MGM don’t care about third-tier brands like Marvel.”

"Then what should we do?"

"Always try, um... first find a way to block Disney's thoughts on Marvel."

"That would have to start with Jobs and Robert Iger."

Zhen Yu was very helpless.

One is a well-known Silicon Valley business genius, and the other is the chairman of Disney's board of directors. As outsiders, how can they change their minds?
Zhou Buqi said: "I believe there must be a lot of quarrels within Disney right now. The tonality of Marvel is completely inconsistent with Disney. More importantly, the hottest brand under Marvel is "Spider-Man", and then "X-War "Police", neither of these are in Marvel's hands."

Zhen Yu blinked, "Where is "Iron Man"?"

Zhou Buqi said with a smile: ""Iron Man" was quite successful, and the subsequent "Hulk" was a loss. It was smoothed out. Whether Marvel can develop on the road of film like DC is still unknown. ...I look at things from the perspective of the Internet, so I can judge that the future of Marvel is very bright."

Zhen Yu pursed her lips and said with a slight smile: "Then I would like to ask Boss Zhou, why does Marvel have a bright future from the perspective of the Internet?"

"Because the nature of the Internet is peer-to-peer."

"Details?"

"Internet services, in fact, are intermediaries. Just like doing e-commerce, you need to remove the multi-level dealers in the middle, which can reduce costs; like doing communications, you can get rid of operators and SMS service fees."

Zhen Yu asked: "The same goes for movies? Do you want to remove the middlemen?"

Zhou Buqi said: "From a longer-term perspective, this is certain. In today's movies, channel is king. What is channel king? It means whoever owns the channel is the tycoon. Excellent Hollywood film companies then Many, why are there only six giants? The fundamental reason is that these six giants have distribution companies in their hands, and they control the distribution channels of movies."

Zhen Yu nodded, and said softly, "MGM was the biggest film studio in Hollywood back then, but now it has fallen because MGM sold the distribution company twenty years ago."

"Yes, that's what it means. Lucasfilm, DreamWorks, including Pixar and Blue Sky Animation, all rely on the six giants because they don't have access to channels."

"This is the fate of Marvel as well."

"But the Internet is different." Zhou Buqi's words gave hope again, "Channels are intermediaries, and the Internet removes intermediaries. In other words, the Internet is the only intermediary in industrial transformation. The Internet and traditional intermediaries It’s different, the Internet has established standards since its inception, and all products must be treated fairly and justly. You can’t just release your own movies like film companies, and reject all disobedient movies.”

Zhen Yu nodded lightly, "Yes, the Internet is changing all walks of life, Helo may change the communication industry, and of course it can change the film industry."

Zhou Buqi said: "Netflix's model represents the future. Streaming media is the most important platform for watching film and television content in the future. Streaming media is to go to the channel. It will change the concept of the entertainment industry, from the channel to the content. Transformed into a king."

"Content is king..." Zhen Yu suddenly realized, "According to this way of thinking, Marvel really can't be sold. The current Marvel has only content and no channels. Even if it wants to sell, it can't be sold at a high price. You can wait for future entertainment." The industry has become content is king, and Marvel has thousands of superheroes, which is a huge content material library."

Whether the movie is well shot or not depends on the details and "tactics".

This is the "strategy" of the transformation from channel being king to content being king.

Strategy determines life and death, and tactics determine how much you win and how little you win.

Just like an entertainment company ten years later, as long as the strategic direction is right and the focus is shifted from channels to content, even if all the films produced are bad movies and dramas, they can still make a lot of money in the capital market.

Zhen Yu understood immediately.

No wonder Boss Zhou attaches so much importance to Marvel.

In the words of the Internet - standing on the wind, pigs can fly.

If a movie wants to fly, it should be filmed as a "bird" in order to spread its wings and soar.However, the filming failed and became a "pig", what should I do?It doesn't matter, as long as you find the right outlet, pigs can also fly.

In other words, even if Marvel's next movie fails, it will only be a tactical failure. If it fails once, it will be fine several times. This will not affect the strategy.

This also means that it must be a blood loss to sell Marvel now!
Then, Zhen Yu thought of something again, and looked at Boss Zhou with complicated eyes, "Well...Boss Zhou, you have a deep understanding of the Internet and the entertainment industry, so you can see the potential value of Marvel." But what about Jobs? He founded Pixar back then, and like you, he was proficient in both the Internet and the entertainment industry. Do you think he thought the same way?"

"Uh……"

Zhou Buqi's face froze.

(End of this chapter)