by Geoffrey Grinder, Now The End Begins:

Announced in December 2017, the acquisition shocked the news and entertainment industries and left insiders questioning why Murdoch was opting to dismantle a Hollywood juggernaut built over the last 34 years. Fox began trading on Wall Street on Tuesday as the new entity and the company rolled out its revamped board of directors, which now includes former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Formula One Group CEO Chase Carey.

The Walt Disney Company’s $71.3 billion purchase of key 21st Century Fox properties will close on Wednesday, expanding Disney’s Hollywood holdings while creating a new Fox Corporation featuring a streamlined media portfolio focused on television and news assets.

Over the past week, two key events took place that will tell you everything you  need to know about what type of news outlet the new Fox station will be. First, Fox ordered that Conservative opinion show ‘Judge Jeanine‘ be dropped because she told the truth about Muslim congresswoman Rep. Ilhan Omar. The second thing that happened was the announcement that ultra-Liberal and former Democratic National Committee chief Donna Brazile would be getting her own show. Welcome to the “new” Fox News. Ugh…

Regular readers of NTEB were warned of the coming transition way back in 2017, when we warned you that Rupert Murdoch’s son James had plans to reinvent Fox News as a Liberal Progressive outlet. James Murdoch’s wife Kathryn is as anti-Trump as they come, and is a former employee of the now-defunct Clinton Foundation’s Climate Change program. At the time, James Murdoch was quoted as saying ““Fox News is an important brand, but it needs to develop, and, to some extent, be reformed,”. Well, looks like ‘reformation day’ has arrived.

R.I.P Fox News, as you go the way of all flesh. You have truly and literally become a Mickey Mouse organization, I won’t be watching.

Fox, Disney prepare to close transformative $71.3 billion deal

FROM FOX BUSINESS: For Fox, the sale ushers in a new era for Rupert Murdoch, whose son Lachlan is poised to take the reins of the slimmed-down company — known as Fox Corporation — that will include Fox News, national Fox Sports channels and the Fox broadcast network. It’s also a return to the company’s roots: From a small Australian newspaper, Murdoch built a journalistic juggernaut that now includes The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, The Sun, The Australian and dozens of other newspapers.

For Disney, the purchase bolsters one of Hollywood’s most lucrative catalogs of intellectual property and caps off a pricey wave of purchases under the leadership of CEO Bob Iger, who could leave the media conglomerate in 2021 with the envious portfolio of Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm and Pixar — all combined with studio 20th Century Fox’s decades of content.

It also serves as a centerpiece of Disney’s newest offering: a streaming platform packed with what analysts call an unrivaled TV and film library poised to differentiate it from the slew of other rivals in a fiercely competitive new market. Alongside its own plans, the deal will give the Burbank-based company a majority stake in Hulu — which Iger wants to expand internationally with a stronger slate of original content.

Disney “spends more on content than anyone else globally, it has decades of experience in making excellent content, it has a huge balance sheet with low leverage and it’s a brand that’s known the world over,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Steven Cahall wrote in a December note.

ANNOUNCED IN DECEMBER 2017, THE ACQUISITION SHOCKED THE NEWS AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRIES AND LEFT INSIDERS QUESTIONING WHY MURDOCH WAS OPTING TO DISMANTLE A HOLLYWOOD JUGGERNAUT BUILT OVER THE LAST 34 YEARS.

Analysts and others rushed to figure out how the separation of the 20th Century Fox studio and other possessions would reshape the sector, while competitor Comcast scrambled to put in its own offer for the sprawling production empire – setting off a bidding war that would last well into the next year. Disney ultimately prevailed after increasing its offer from the original $52.8 billion.

While the companies sought global regulatory approval for the deal, they each acted quickly to lay the groundwork for their soon-to-be revamped operating structures. A slew of former Fox executives are poised to make the transition to the new company, but potentially thousands of layoffs are expected at Disney as it works to eliminate redundancies and integrate the new members of its portfolio.

Fox began trading on Wall Street on Tuesday as the new entity and the company rolled out its revamped board of directors, which now includes former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Formula One Group CEO Chase Carey.

The new Fox entity will focus on advertising revenue and earnings from pay TV providers to drive growth, but some analysts warn it could be slow initially.

“While we continue to believe new Fox’s TV network portfolio has pricing power and may prove to be a better positioned portfolio than the larger [21st Century Fox’s], revenue growth will be lumpy,” Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne wrote in a note.

The firm heads into its new chapter after a strong February for its FOX News Digital division, which topped CNN with 1.5 billion total multi-platform views – a 9 percent year-over-year growth. Lachlan Murdoch is expected to address employees at a town hall address on Thursday.

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