How Fox's businesses would match up with Disney and Comcast
X-Men and other movies from Fox's studios would help beef up Disney's upcoming streaming service. Comcast, already a major cable operator, would get a larger portfolio of cable channels including FX and National Geographic.
Comcast's $65 billion cash bid Wednesday is higher than what many analysts were expecting and tops Disney's all-stock offer, valued at $52.5 billion when it was made in December.
GBH Insights analyst Dan Ives said Comcast's price "speaks to Comcast really wanting these key assets." Disney is expected to make a counter offer.
Each bid raises different regulatory concerns, though this week's approval of AT&T's takeover of Time Warner signals that regulators might have a hard time stopping mega-mergers.
Here's how the companies would match up:
MOVIES
Fox's film studios, with "Avatar," X-Men, the Fantastic Four and Deadpool, would pair well with Disney's studios. This includes reuniting the Marvel franchises X-Men and the Avengers, as some of those characters were already in Fox's hands when Disney bought Marvel in 2009. Disney also has the Muppets, Pixar and "Star Wars."
In fact, Fox and Disney might pair too well, as far as regulatory concerns go. BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield estimates the combined studios make up 45 percent of worldwide box office revenue. A larger studio could use its power to keep its movies in more theaters longer and squeeze out rival movies.
Comcast's Universal movie business has such franchises as "Jurassic Park." The Fox properties would expand Comcast's reach, though the company would have just 25 percent of the box office with Fox added, according to figures from Box Office Mojo.
TELEVISION
Fox's TV productions include "The Americans," ''This Is Us," ''Modern Family," and "The Simpsons." Its networks include FX Networks and National Geographic