Top of the Great Era

Chapter 3142 Sincerity in Cooperation

Robert Iger couldn't help laughing, "Have you found out everything?"

"No, I guessed."

Zhou Buqi was really just guessing.

Robert Iger was interested. "What else can you guess?"

Zhou Buqi said: "The advantage of broadcasting sports events is that it can provide a strong and stable cash flow, but the disadvantage is that it takes up too much capital. The copyright of sports events is too expensive, especially after the rise of streaming media in recent years, sports copyright has become even more expensive. The new NBA contract has reached an astonishing 9 years and 240 billion US dollars."

"Well, this contract puts a lot of operational pressure on ESPN."

Robert Iger also lamented.

The copyright price of this sports event has increased so fast.

But you have to buy it.

Without the copyright, ESPN would be eliminated from the market.

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "ESPN broadcasts dozens of sports events. The copyright expenses for so many events are astronomical, which inevitably means that ESPN needs to borrow a large amount of various working capital bonds and long-term debts."

Robert Iger nodded. "You're right. Hearst Corporation disagrees with the transition to streaming media. The main reason is that the cost of the transition is too high... Well, of course, this is based on my previous plan, the plan to acquire BAMTech."

Zhou Buqi said: "This is a major drawback of traditional enterprises. They all rely on corporate dividends to survive, which results in many enterprises having no funds available for long-term development."

ESPN is very profitable, with revenues exceeding $100 billion and operating profits reaching $10 billion.

However, ESPN is facing a certain debt crisis.

The debt is rising every year.

On the one hand, a lot of money is being made, while on the other hand, debt is constantly increasing.

  why?

Where did the money go?

Because all the dividends were distributed.

The money earned by ESPN is constantly divided by the parent company and distributed to the accounts of the two major shareholders, Disney and Hearst Group. As a result, ESPN has insufficient funds available and can only continue to borrow money to survive. Many traditional companies follow this path. In recent years, Starbucks' "recovery" from the economic crisis also follows this routine.

Robert Iger is ambitious and has aspirations.

He was willing to stop ESPN's short-term dividends to seek a better long-term value for ESPN and promote ESPN's transformation to streaming media. But Hearst Group was unwilling to do so. This traditional publishing company relied on ESPN's annual dividend income, so how could it stop? Not only could it not stop, but it also had to strive to increase the scale of dividends every year!

This is no way.

ESPN is not a listed company. For a non-listed company, small shareholders are like leeks and can only protect their own rights and interests through dividends.

"You are not..." Robert Egger suddenly had some thoughts and opened his eyes wide, "You are not eyeing the 20% shares held by Hearst Group, are you?"

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "You are worried that I will steal your skills. Actually, there is a best solution. I will invest in ESPN. We can cooperate and start live streaming of sports events. This will not only resolve your worries, but also maximize the strategic advantages of our cooperation."

"That's impossible." Robert Iger shook his head. "No one can convince Hearst. If Hearst Group was willing to sell that 20% stake, I would have bought it back long ago! In fact, Disney has made four buyback offers in the past, and they were all rejected."

"But this cannot cover up the advantages of our cooperation in ESPN+." Zhou Buqi paused, "I am talking about the cooperation in shares. In the name of Ziweixing Global, this is a cooperation within Hollywood."

Robert Iger said: "But it is almost impossible for you to get that 20% stake unless you make a super offer that is enough to shock the world."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "Purple Star Global is engaged in streaming media and also has great cash flow pressure. It is planning to issue bonds worth 100 billion US dollars in the next five years! I will not make an unfair offer to impress Hearst."

Robert Iger frowned and said, "There may be no way, but it cannot be denied that your proposal is very good. Compared to the stubborn Hearst Group, if ESPN can cooperate with Ziweixing Global, it will definitely be the best choice for ESPN." What he is most worried about is that technology giants will come out to do live streaming of sports events.

That would be very dangerous for ESPN!

Because the tech giants are all extremely wealthy, and they are often willing to invest huge sums of money to achieve their goals, regardless of the cost. The inevitable result is that the price of sports copyrights has increased dramatically. Not to mention that media companies lack money and cannot compete with tech companies, even if they do, they will have to pay unimaginable costs.

If Boss Zhou joins the game and works with Disney to create ESPN+, this risk can be greatly reduced.

At least he's a tech guy.

He has enough means to deal with the offensive of the technology industry.

Zhou Buqi also hopes to join the game, because the streaming of sports events is a missing link in his business. If he does it himself, it will be difficult and risky, and the cost of copyright backlog is too high. Most of the sports event streaming platforms have failed due to copyright issues.

In recent years, there has been a copyright fever for sports events in China, and many Internet streaming platforms have rushed in. As a result, CCTV is unable to broadcast many popular matches because it cannot afford the copyrights.

Later, most of these platforms died.

Sports events are too time-sensitive. Unlike film and television streaming media, old movies and TV series are also important assets and can be watched repeatedly by users for a long time.

This makes sports streaming too risky.

Zhou Buqi doesn't want to work alone.

At least you can't enter the market in a confused state. If Ziweixing Global can join ESPN+ and participate in the sports streaming business, it will not only make up for the shortcomings of its own business, but also provide a good learning opportunity.

  If he succeeds in learning, or if better sports streaming opportunities really arise in the future, Zhou Buqi will not be without the opportunity to work alone!

Ziweixing Digital Media is a technology company that mainly focuses on the sports industry.

It has been ready for a long time.

The Netflix model is a good template.

Zhou Buqi joined Netflix, helping Netflix grow while learning about Netflix's operating model and experience in the streaming industry. After exploring the details, Ziweixing Global can launch its own Peacock.

"ESPN" is the banner of sports broadcasting.

Leveraging ESPN's brand to do sports streaming is much less risky than doing it alone.

"The key is whether you recognize this model of cooperation."

Zhou Buqi has already made his decision.

Robert Iger said: "There are some ideological differences in Hollywood right now. If Ziweixing Universal and Disney can reach an agreement on this matter and jointly promote the transformation of ESPN to ESPN+, I believe this will be of great benefit to the unity of Hollywood."

Zhou Buqi said: "I think so too."

Robert Iger sighed, "But Hearst Group will not sell its shares. Even if you come forward in person, it will be difficult to convince them."

Zhou Buqi said: "Actually there are other ways, it all depends on your sincerity."

"Ok?"

Robert Egger was slightly startled and had a bad feeling in his heart.

Zhou Buqi said: "Disney holds 80% of ESPN's shares. Isn't that too much? If you really want to consider ESPN and build the world's No. sports streaming platform, Disney must reduce its stake in ESPN. Disney needs such a 'world's No. ', and it is even more necessary for your personal career as a professional manager!"