Press Release Warner and Universal to Merge Domestic Disc Business (1 Viewer)

[Filmfanatic10]

Why would the Justice Department need to approve this? Universal and Warner are not merging. They are going to stay separate companies. All they are doing is consolidating their disc business under one umbrella to cut costs in a shrinking physical media market. Unless I'm missing something really big here, that doesn't seem like something that would require regulatory approval.

I know, but didn't the announcement say that the venture was pending approval from the Justice Department? I think you need to double check the article.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I looked again and you're right. I must have forgotten since the thread was started over a year ago. I wouldn't worry about it. If the Justice Department let Disney buy Fox, it shouldn't be a problem for them to allow two studios to merge disc distribution.

 

[Rick Thompson]

I will not be very surprised if, at some point, physical media starts coming back. Who would have thought vinyl LPs would suddenly start turning up at the Walmarts and Best Buys of the world at premium prices while CDs are in the $5 bins?

 

[JC Riesenbeck]

I might second this statement at least as far as Disney titles are concerned. While I still have my DMC membership, I’m limiting my Disney Blu-ray purchases nowadays only to titles I really really want my own copy of.
( Or if some indie boutique House gets a hold of rights to SOTS and puts a well done Blu-ray on the market).

UHD Blu-ray titles are another matter as I may upgrade favorites ( Star Wars franchise for example, The Incredibles, etc) to UHD Blu-ray as my budget permits.

I still have mine but probably not for long. New releases have for the most part come to a halt and the Fox titles they added have always been available elsewhere. The monthly selections for the past months, have been mostly a rehash of previously released titles. Nothing is coming out of the vault that holds all the Disney Programs from the 50's and 60's except for a few previously released selections. And that's a long long list. And very few of these classics are available on Disney+. (One week of the Mickey Mouse club that was previously released on DVD. Really?) But you can watch The Simpsons and Boy Meets World to Infinity and beyond.

 

[Filmfanatic10]

Well, didn't this joint venture begin operations and releasing titles this quarter, or was it stalled by retailers (temporarily) closing down last year?

 

[Filmfanatic10]

Turns out the Universal/Warner joint venture isn't hurt by the pandemic after all and actually did finalize on Q1, under the trade name "Studio Distribution Services". https://www.mediaplaynews.com/deg-panel-transactional-business-still-hardy-and-poised-for-takeoff/