I disagree. Now is absolutely not the time to upend your profit making gaming business by getting into the Streaming Wars, as they’re the reason that the companies are tanking. Poor performance of big streaming shows and the ongoing WGA and SAGAFTRA strikes making it a terrible idea. 
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The market isn’t going away, everyone watches Film & TV. I think @IDmancool was just suggesting to acquire while the market is down as it’s going to rebound at some point it’s just ‘when’.
When it does all of these companies are going to be substantially more expensive and difficult to acquire.
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It isn’t going away, but it’s changing in various ways (plateauing streaming/increased competition, reductions in theater attendance post-Covid, labor issues, etc.).
I would consider entering that industry pretty high risk at this point.
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It may or may not rebound. I tend to think rather than rebound something new other than streaming will emerge from this.
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If Microsoft does get into movies/tv it would probably be a smaller one, I wouldn’t mind them buying Paramount.
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I agree that it is high risk but at these low prices, it might be worth taking a risk?
Personally I’m thinking it’s a bad idea because the entertainment industry that isn’t related to software is a whole different beast. MS venturing into social media networks, entertainment software, and computing hardware makes sense to me.
I have never understood the whole MSNBC thing, for example.
I think they should consider partnerships, but not much beyond that.
If we’re going to look at enticing prices as a reason for acquisition, we should have considered Subway. 
I also think that MS needs a little bit of focus in regards to the entertainment industry that they are currently involved in. They need to concentrate on making Gamepass a success first. They need to hit numbers that are at least 1/3 of Netflix or Disney Plus.
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Free 1 week game pass trial every time you buy a footling sub. Buy a meal and get a week trial of Microsoft 365.
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In my personal opinion, a quick way to do that would be buy WBD add all of the WB games to Gamepass and combine HBO Max/discovery with Gamepass ultimate. That would instantly turn every MAX subscription into a Gamepass subscription. They could move that entire infrastruture to Azure and I am sure they would save a ton of money on server costs. I am sure a gampass subscription price bump would be needed, but honestly I wouldn’t mind paying $20 a month for Ultimate with MAX/discovery plus every other IP streaming they would own.
Sure the movie/ TV industry is rocky right now, but who knows if the entry prices will ever be this low again. If James Gunn starts knocking DC movies out of the park the return on DC value alone would be worth it, but for me it isn’t necessarily about them entering the TV market. It is about them owning a huge collection of transmedia IP in one swoop. They could sell off the tv and movie studios and retain ownership of the IP. As long as they own the IP, lease the rights to film and tv out to other companies, and retain the right to stream on Gamepass MAX that would be a huge win.
Partnerships have kind of failed them in the past with 3rd party game deals and hiring 3rd party studios to make first party games. Microsoft and Xbox want to own everything they work on going forward. You can see that strategy reflected in their buying spree. Sony wanted exclusive rights to Bethesda games Xbox owns Bethesda. Sony had the Marketing rights to COD Microoft should soon own COD. They just need some super hero, fighting, and some movie/ tv streaming to combine with gamepass to own now.
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Hmm, I’m not sure it could change into something new could it? The way we consume Film/TV (streaming) is still pretty new but It’s become pretty standard (and big) that it can’t really ‘fail’.
Even if it did change into something new it would be the same companies (e.g. Disney, Netflix & WB) which will own the majority of these IP’s, therefore it’s still worth investing in them for the IP alone when it’s so low.
I really do hope this is the case, I’m not sure what DC are going to do if this doesn’t work.
The ideal scenario would have been Christopher Nolan developing a DC universe off the back of The Dark Knight, however I understand why he didn’t want to get locked into one thing.
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Who knows but you had cable before which is still a better way and I have heard people talk about some forms of AI generation. It certainly worth investing in them or if the IPs can be outright bought. I do fear though that this IPs are reaching their breaking point on the movie screens. Barbie and Mario could be showing the audience have moved on. I think it would have been better for DC to go for CG animated superhero movies or perhaps live action manga.
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Is cable better? The closest we have in the UK is Sky or Virgin but I found them to be very expensive and lacking content unless you opt for the top package (which is way overpriced IMO). In addition you had to commit to lengthy contracts (upto 24 months) and the content wasn’t always on demand. Your also confined to their equipment (box and satellite dish/cable).
The on-demand availability that steaming offers allows consumers to watch when and where they want, they don’t have to commit to any one service for longer than a month. The monthly price is low and if you get bored of content you can simply swap to a different streaming service (or subscribe to multiple). In addition the content has much better availability, I can simply login with my credentials on a Smart TV, Laptop, Smartphone or nearly any web enabled device and pick up from where I left off.
The AI discussion is interesting but I think it’s still quite a way out until we get content that is anywhere near convincing enough to compete with human generated content.
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If Microsoft were to get into movie/tv streaming then they should look at Crunchyroll and Hulu. Animated content is a safer bet and easier to retain the concept and art style of Xbox’s IPs without having to spend a fortune on CGI.
Just looking at how much Netflix had to spend on the One Piece live action must have cost a fortune.
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fun fact Sony owns Crunchyroll
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I never suggested Microsoft acquire them. I just meant they should look at Crunchyroll or Hulu for inspiration and build their own streaming service to compete.
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They also acquired Funimation too! It’s ironic that Sony was allowed to acquire the two biggest anime services (isn’t that a monopoly?!)
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Netflix 184B
Disney/Hulu 152B
WB 29B
Paramount 9.5B
If Microsoft is going into the streaming business it’s my opinion it will be mostly be to acquire IP. I believe both Nadella and Spencer both spoke on the topic in the last 2 years but my memory is a little hazy on the subject. That being said I think a acquisition of both WB and paramount would net the most IP for the lowest cost of entry and provide a significant value add for capital spent. However I still don’t think they will enter the space. Anything is possible given the ABK purchase
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Don’t forget to add nearly $50 billion in debt to WB.
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Yeah that’s a different conversation as Netflix has 15 billion in debt and Disney has 44
Not only the debt but Microsoft would need to clean house at WB. David Zaslav is completely out of touch.
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