AT&T Mulling Over Selling Off D.C. Comics? (1 Viewer)

[tempest21]

I had no idea where to post this topic so I thought I'd post it here. Recently, I came across a video on youtube (I know, not a verifiable source of information) and came across this video (I'll post a link/embed down below) that talked about the real possibility that AT&T may be selling off its D.C. Comics division. Some source within AT&T had informed Ethan Van Sciver (Green Lantern) that AT&T may be mulling over the ideas of either selling off or licensing off its comic book titles to other publishers while retaining the movie, television and merchandising rights to the content.

The first thing I thought of was "what publisher would lose their mind to license a comic book title for publication". Most publishers or investors, when they look at buying a comic book publisher would want all of the media rights associated with those characters, much in the same way that Disney did when they purchased Marvel Entertainment (the comic book publisher). Even if this were true, the licensing on these titles would be astronomical. Many comic book publishers who deal with licensing franchises (Dark Horse Comics, IDW, Dynamite, Boom Studios) probably would not touch those properties simply because the licensing fees would be astronomically high (and there's a good bet that the license for characters like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman would be very high), it just wouldn't make any sense.

Now, IDW has co-published cross-over comics between Star Trek and Green Lantern and Legion of Superheroes but those were joint publishing ventures between the two publishers.

But, the way I look at it, I just don't think anyone would jump at a "licensing scenario" for these comic book characters and that another major company or corporation would rather buy the entire publisher of D.C. Comics (with media rights included in that). I just don't see a scenario where someone would want to buy the comic book division without the movie, television, video games and merchandising rights being included in the purchase.

At any rate, the video goes at length over the supposed news and even talks about AT&T looking to reduce its financial risk.

Here's the video:

 

[Tino]

“I had no idea where to post this topic”

I would probably say the After Hours lounge.

Certainly not the Movies section.

 

[tempest21]

Thought that since it involved the DCEU movies to post it here. Will remember that for the next time.

 

[Thomas Newton]

How can AT&T sell off DC Comics? Isn't DC Comics owned by Warner Brothers?

 

[Malcolm R]

How can AT&T sell off DC Comics? Isn't DC Comics owned by Warner Brothers?

Warner is owned by AT&T.

AT&T Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas.[5] It is the world's largest telecommunications company, the largest provider of mobile telephone services, and the largest provider of fixed telephone services in the United States through AT&T Communications. Since June 14, 2018, it is also the parent company of mass media conglomerate WarnerMedia, making it the world's largest media and entertainment company in terms of revenue

 

[tempest21]

Well, Warner Brothers owned D.C. Comics, who was previously owned by Time Warner. Time Warner sold Warner Brothers along with D.C. Comics to AT&T in the recent merger. If this news is true, it could dramatically reshape the comic book industry. But, I don't see investors willing to purchase D.C. Comics as a whole without the multimedia rights along with it. If AT&T decided to license off the various titles, the costs associated with that would probably be prohibitively high that I doubt any independent publisher would be able to afford it.

 

[Bryan^H]

I had no idea where to post this topic so I thought I'd post it here. Recently, I came across a video on youtube (I know, not a verifiable source of information) and came across this video (I'll post a link/embed down below) that talked about the real possibility that AT&T may be selling off its D.C. Comics division. Some source within AT&T had informed Ethan Van Sciver (Green Lantern) that AT&T may be mulling over the ideas of either selling off or licensing off its comic book titles to other publishers while retaining the movie, television and merchandising rights to the content.

The first thing I thought of was "what publisher would lose their mind to license a comic book title for publication". Most publishers or investors, when they look at buying a comic book publisher would want all of the media rights associated with those characters, much in the same way that Disney did when they purchased Marvel Entertainment (the comic book publisher). Even if this were true, the licensing on these titles would be astronomical. Many comic book publishers who deal with licensing franchises (Dark Horse Comics, IDW, Dynamite, Boom Studios) probably would not touch those properties simply because the licensing fees would be astronomically high (and there's a good bet that the license for characters like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman would be very high), it just wouldn't make any sense.

Now, IDW has co-published cross-over comics between Star Trek and Green Lantern and Legion of Superheroes but those were joint publishing ventures between the two publishers.

But, the way I look at it, I just don't think anyone would jump at a "licensing scenario" for these comic book characters and that another major company or corporation would rather buy the entire publisher of D.C. Comics (with media rights included in that). I just don't see a scenario where someone would want to buy the comic book division without the movie, television, video games and merchandising rights being included in the purchase.

At any rate, the video goes at length over the supposed news and even talks about AT&T looking to reduce its financial risk.

Here's the video:

"At the end of the day, what really sells comics is good stories"

Biggest problem here--When DC is hiring YouTube/Twitter personalities to write their books, there will be a problem. I have tried for a couple years to get back into DC comics, but they force me out every time I read one of their current issues of a book.
It is pretty bad.
Marvel is a little better in the writing department.

 

[BobO'Link]

"At the end of the day, what really sells comics is good stories"

Biggest problem here--When DC is hiring YouTube/Twitter personalities to write their books, there will be a problem. I have tried for a couple years to get back into DC comics, but they force me out every time I read one of their current issues of a book.
It is pretty bad.
Marvel is a little better in the writing department.

Neither area all that good. I started dumping all superhero comics about 7 years back because of poor writing/storytelling or simply getting the same story told a bit differently every 6-12 months. That's from either DC or Marvel. I now have a very small group of mostly independent authors/creators whose work I purchase. I went from ~50 titles/month to ~5 titles/month and don't regret it a bit.