Top of the Great Era

Chapter 1409 The core strategy is the content

Masayoshi Son's real promotion to the top is because of the Internet. He invested in Yahoo and became famous in the first battle, and then used the time travel theory to establish Yahoo Japan and became a god.

He also has a deep knowledge and understanding of the Internet.

Zhou Buqi looked down on the TV industry, and Sun Zhengyi also looked down on it.

Within a few minutes of meeting, the two hit it off.

NBCUniversal has great assets.

Now, the two major shareholders behind NBCUniversal - General Electric and Vivendi - are suffering under the economic crisis.

Vivendi is waiting to sell their shares to recover their blood. If the deal fails, they will be forced to sell Universal Music.

General Electric was even worse. When Jack Welch took control of General Electric, it was the greatest company in the world. During the Internet bubble crisis, General Electric's market value was comparable to that of Microsoft!
With the retirement of Jack Welch, General Electric is no longer able to do so, its performance has plummeted, and it has already reached the point of selling assets.The century-old giant founded by Edison began to sink.

Right now is a good opportunity to enter the market to buy the bottom.

Sun Zhengyi also handed over a document, which is the detailed process of the merger between NBC Television Network and Universal Pictures in 04. The case cost a full 140 billion US dollars that year.

The main reason is that General Electric completed the acquisition of Vivendi Universal Entertainment in the form of cash and shares.

Universal Pictures is not just a film company, it has rich assets, including a production company, a distribution company, a library with 5000 films, 35000 hours of TV programs, a Universal Studios and the USA TV network.

NBC's acquisition of Universal is mainly because of the TV business under Universal Pictures.

The USA TV network is the most popular cable TV network in the United States that mainly focuses on science fiction. It can be combined with NBC's TV channels to distribute content synergistically with each other.

It is an asset that is sold multiple times.

American TV series cannot be sold to any TV station at will like in China, and there are syndicate restrictions here.

The so-called syndicate restriction is a policy in the United States to encourage innovation, referring to the requirement of "off-grid broadcasting".Only when a TV series is good enough and reaches a certain target can it be broadcast off-net—that is, leave the TV network and broadcast it on other TV networks.

For example, Warner produced "Friends" and sold the first broadcast rights to NBC TV network. Then the first round, second round, second round... the tenth round and the twentieth round of this show can only be broadcast on NBC TV network. out.

Other TV stations want to buy it, and Warner wants to sell it. This is not allowed.Only when "Friends" reaches a certain standard and is certified as an excellent American TV series can Warner sell it to other TV stations.

If it can be sold casually, it will lead to chaos.A shoddy TV series that can be sold at the lowest price and sold everywhere in the United States.The major TV stations are suspected of entrapping consumers by buying spam content at a low price.

This is one of the reasons why the three major television networks, NBC, CBS, and ABC, are getting bigger and bigger.

With the acquisition of Universal Pictures, NBC can merge Universal's TV assets into the NBC TV network, and become a family, which will cross the syndicate restrictions.

A TV series can be broadcast on many channels of its own platform. Even if there is a syndicate policy that cannot be sold to a third-party platform for broadcast, relying on its own rich TV station resources, it can still recover the production cost of the TV series.

If the scale of the TV network is small and the TV series are not good enough, it will easily lead to a loss of money for the TV series produced.

That's why Comcast is so drawn to NBCUniversal.

Comcast also has TV station assets worth about US$40 billion. If Comcast and NBC Universal merge, the TV station business can be merged.

Zhou Buqi said with a smile: "The TV content can be kept, and the TV business is not at all. This is Comcast's most important asset. Only by handing over this business can it be possible to reach a cooperation with them."

Masayoshi Son has always had a strong tone, "I said a long time ago that we must keep an eye on NBC Universal."

Zhou Buqi said angrily: "What's the use of talking, you have to act. You used to want to acquire Sprint with all your heart, and you put all your thoughts on that. Who would dare to cooperate with you on such a big case as NBC Universal?"

Sun Zhengyi waved his hand, "It doesn't matter, I also mentioned MGM."

Zhou Buqi snorted inwardly, did not continue to delve into it, and said seriously: "The difference between MGM and Universal is that Universal Pictures has a distribution company. This is the most important thing. Movies and TV shows are also different. In the field of TV dramas, there must be a change from channel to content, and the status of TV stations is getting lower and lower. But movies are different, movies are exclusive to movie theaters, and the perception of a movie on the small screen and the big screen is completely different."

For example, movies like "Fast and Furious" and "Transformers" are all bad movies when viewed on a small screen.Only by watching it in a movie theater can you feel the shock of the movie and give praise.

In the film industry, the advantages of channels will always exist, mainly referring to the ability to distribute to movie theaters around the world, which cannot be replaced by the Internet anyway.But after getting off the theater chain and entering the secondary market for distribution, that is the world of the Internet.

Sun Zhengyi waved his hand, expressing that he did not want to discuss too many details with him.

He didn't know much about the entertainment industry, and he didn't understand the details of the arrangement.In investing in this kind of thing, as long as the general direction is correct, the details are not important.The direction determines life and death, wins or loses, and the details determine how much you win and how little you win.

This is also the reason why big entrepreneurs can achieve success across various industries, not because they are clear about every industry, but mainly because they only look at the direction and don't ask for details.

Zhou Buqi said: "There are three main steps. First, convince Comcast to cooperate with them; second, convince the executives of General Electric and NBC Universal; third, split the assets of NBC Universal."

"How are assets distributed?"

"Originally, the assets of Universal Pictures and the TV assets are not wanted, and they are all left to NBC."

"Where's Universal Studios?"

"Ok?"

Zhou Buqi raised his eyebrows.

Sun Zhengyi said: "The distance between Universal Studios and the main business is too far. The tourism business is not the key development direction, and it can be handed over."

Zhou Buqi laughed and said: "Orlando, Japan, and the Universal Studios in Singapore, which are under construction, are all contracted. Universal Pictures mainly collects brand rents. But this one in Los Angeles is not good. The Universal Studios in Los Angeles is Universal Pictures. headquarters."

"You can move away."

"I go!"

Zhou Buqi understood his plan.

Yes, this little man is a pure capitalist, indifferent and calm enough in front of capital interests.

Universal Studios is the soul of Universal Pictures!
Just like Old Trafford is to Manchester United, how can it be sold?From the perspective of capital interests, Manchester United should sell Old Trafford, wait for market quotations, and rent stadiums everywhere at the lowest rent.Even selling Old Trafford and building a new stadium on the outskirts of Manchester would be a good deal.

But it doesn't work at all.

Old Trafford represents Manchester United's tradition, culture, heritage and feelings.

Same goes for Universal Pictures.

But Masayoshi Sun doesn't care about these at all. Anything that is not traditional or sentimental, anything that affects strategy and interests, is all rejected!

Separate Universal Studios and Universal Pictures, and then Universal Pictures receives a fixed annual brand and intellectual property licensing fee from Universal Studios. This is a tax-type income and is the most profitable.

Sun Zhengyi showed his vampire side, and said lightly: "Governments all over the world are trying to stimulate the economy through tourism. For example, the Universal Studios in Japan and Singapore are all invested by the government. They don't even Considering making money from tickets and operations of Universal Studios, what they want is to use Universal Studios to attract tourism, drive consumption, and drive the development of surrounding industries.”

Zhou Buqi waved his hand, "You're right, the studio's profit is negligible, and the licensing fee is the main income. But Universal Pictures really owns only one Universal Studios, which is the headquarters in Los Angeles."

Sun Zhengyi said: "I don't think it makes sense. What we vote for is content. Use content to authorize and do copyright business."

In fact, it is to produce content, and then use the content to "collect taxes" all over the world, not only viewing tax, but also tourism tax.

MGM used to be the number one giant in Hollywood, but was ruined by capitalists.

MGM has changed hands several times and is about to go bankrupt again.

However, the MGM Grand Hotel evolved from MGM has become a landmark building in several major casinos. The capitalists have long since abandoned the MGM brand and become a cash cow.

The first step for Sun Zhengyi to enter the stage is to smash the feelings of Universal Pictures!

Everything is based on interests!

It's tough enough.

Ah!
it is good!
OK!

What Manchester United dare not do can be done at Universal Pictures.The United States is more capitalized than the United Kingdom, and feelings can't be eaten.

Zhou Buqi saw that he was so determined, so he had to agree, "You are right, when we are in the entertainment industry, the core strategy is content. We need to build a framework around the content, and don't want anything irrelevant. No TV stations, no movie studios. "

Sun Zhengyi said with a smile: "This is right. We must be resolute and brave in the general direction."

Zhou Buqi said: "It doesn't matter, anyway, the Universal brand has been ruined. The Universal Music brand is in the hands of Vivendi, and it seems that it will never be taken back. There is also the Miss Universe contest. The previous bosses really No less Huo Huo."

Not only Universal Pictures, but also the six big Hollywood, there is no lack of Huo Huo's own brand.

For example, Columbia Pictures, in fact, also has Columbia Television Network (CBS) and Columbia Records. As a result, after messing around, the "Columbia" brand was split.

Columbia Pictures became a subsidiary of Sony Pictures, and Columbia Television Network was acquired by Viacom and combined with Paramount.Columbia Records split in two and became Sony Records and EMI Records.

Speaking of which, the best brand is Disney.Because people in the Disney family are still alive and serving as directors, they have been working hard to maintain the Disney brand.For example, this time when Robert Iger proposed to acquire Marvel, the biggest internal resistance was the Disney family, who believed that Marvel would destroy the "Disney" brand.

Sun Zhengyi nodded, "I have been to Universal Studios in Los Angeles. There is no need for Universal Studios to guard the old building with outdated facilities and move to a place with lower tax rates and higher subsidies. Split NBC Universal , Getting Universal Pictures is only the first step. Since you want to invest in content, you have to go on bravely.”

Zhou Buqi laughed and said, "At least we can't let Jobs take advantage of it!"

(End of this chapter)