Two reporters for the LA Times predicted the outcome near perfectly by saying, "The combination brings together the No. 1 television distributor and network and the nation's premier producer of movies to create a one-of-a-kind global powerhouse with combined sales of $20.7 billion" (Hall and Hofmeister). These incredible statistics told the world everything it needed to hear, a media powerhouse was on the horizon. The acquiring/merging of the two companies cost The Walt Disney Company $19 billion dollars and numerous shares of stock in The Walt Disney Company (Fabrikant). This mixed conglomerate merger (where "mergers involve firms that are looking for product extensions or market extensions" ("5 Types of Company Mergers")) helped to shape the current media industry. Interestingly, there appeared to be more at stake, as there was a bill going through Congress at the time that would weaken Disney Television Programming and Consumer Products while making the core three broadcasting networks much stronger. Bloomberg touched on this via analysis by saying, "Recent rule changes soon will permit the networks to own more of their own programming, enhancing their value and spooking outside suppliers such as Disney, which fear they …show more content…
The Robins School of Business did an analysis of The Walt Disney Company based on fiscal year 2010 and concluded that the Media Networks sector of The Walt Disney Company made up approximately 46% of the revenue stream for that fiscal year. The media networks division is split into eight categories, six of which derived from the merger of Capital Cities/ ABC Inc (Carillo, Crumley, Harrison, and Thieringer). These networks make up a large chunk of the media mass that is The Walt Disney Company, and truly pulled it further into the media category, but the biggest gain from this deal, ESPN, continues to grow the most. ESPN is one of the nation's premier sports channels on cable and continues to be the most popular. Experts continuously claim the high values of this asset, such as Kurt Badenhausen for Forbes where he claims, "ESPN Is Worth $40 Billion As The World's Most Valuable Media Property" (Badenhausen). When experts are giving just one aspect of the $19 billion deal more than a double evaluation, there is no doubt that this purchase truly made The Walt Disney Company into a media mogul, and no doubt one of the most powerful