Top of the big era

Masayoshi Son truly rose to the top by relying on the Internet. He became famous when he invested in Yahoo, and then used the time travel theory to found Yahoo Japan, becoming a god.

He also has a deep knowledge and understanding of the Internet.

Zhou Buqi despises the television industry, and Son Zhengyi also despises it.

Within a few minutes of chatting, the two hit it off.

NBCUniversal has excellent assets.

Now, the two major shareholders behind NBCUniversal - General Electric and Vivendi - are suffering under the economic crisis.

Vivendi is waiting to sell its shares to make money. If the deal fails, they will be forced to sell Universal Music.

General Electric was even worse. When Jack Welch took control of General Electric, it was the greatest company in the world. During the Internet bubble crisis, General Electric's market value was comparable to Microsoft!

With the retirement of Jack Welch, General Electric is in trouble, its performance has plummeted, and it has been forced to sell off its assets. This century-old giant founded by Edison began to decline.

Now is a good opportunity to enter the market and buy the dip.

Masayoshi Son also handed over a piece of material, which was the detailed process of the merger of NBC Television Network and Universal Pictures in 2004. This case cost a total of 14 billion U.S. dollars that year.

The main thing is that General Electric completed the acquisition of Vivendi Universal Entertainment in the form of cash and shares.

Universal Pictures is not just a movie company, it has rich assets, including a production company, a distribution company, a library of 5,000 movies, 35,000 hours of television programs, a Universal Studios and the USA television network.

NBC wants to acquire Universal, mainly focusing on the television business of Universal Pictures.

USA Television Network is the most popular cable television network in the United States focusing on the science fiction genre. It can be combined with NBC's television channels to distribute content collaboratively with each other.

It is an asset that is sold multiple times.

American TV series cannot be sold to any TV station at will like in China. There are syndication restrictions here.

The so-called syndicate restrictions are a policy in the United States to encourage innovation, and refer to the "off-grid broadcasting" requirements. Only when a TV series is good enough and reaches certain indicators can it be broadcast off-net - that is, it can leave the TV network and switch to other TV networks.

For example, Warner produced "Friends" and the first broadcast rights were sold to the NBC television network. Then the first, second, second, second... tenth and twentieth rounds of this show can only be broadcast on the NBC television network. out.

Other TV stations want to buy it, and Warner wants to sell it, which is not allowed. Only when "Friends" reaches a certain standard and is certified as an excellent American drama can Warner sell it to other TV stations for broadcast.

If it can be sold casually, it will lead to chaos. A shoddy TV series can be sold at the lowest price across the United States. Major TV stations are suspected of harming consumers by buying junk content at low prices.

This is one of the reasons why the three major television networks, NBC, CBS, and ABC, are growing in size.

After NBC acquires Universal Pictures, it can merge Universal's television assets into the NBC television network, becoming a family and overcoming syndication restrictions.

A TV series can be broadcast on many channels on its own platform. Even if there is a syndication policy and it cannot be sold to a third-party platform for broadcast, relying on the rich resources of its own TV stations, the production cost of the TV series can still be recovered.

If the TV network is small and the TV series are not good enough, it will easily lead to losses in the TV series produced.

This is why Comcast is so attracted to NBCUniversal.

Comcast also owns TV station assets worth about US$4 billion. If Comcast and NBCUniversal merge, the TV station business can be merged.

Zhou Buqi said with a smile: "You can keep the TV content, but not the TV business. This is Comcast's most important asset. Only by handing over this business can we reach cooperation with them."

Son Zhengyi always spoke loudly, "I have long said that we must keep an eye on NBC Universal."

Zhou Buqi said angrily: "What's the use of talking, you have to take action. You used to be obsessed with acquiring Sprint, but you were focused on that. Who would dare to cooperate with you on such a big project as NBCUniversal?"

Son waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter, I also mentioned MGM."

Zhou Buqi snorted in his heart and did not continue to delve deeper. He said seriously: "The difference between MGM and Universal is that Universal has a distribution company. This is the most critical. There are also differences between movies and TV series. In the field of TV dramas, there must be a shift from channels to content, and the status of TV stations is getting lower and lower. But movies are different. Movies are exclusive to movie theaters, and the look and feel of a movie on the small screen and the big screen is completely different."

For example, movies like "The Fast and the Furious" and "Transformers" are all bad movies when viewed on a small screen. Only by watching it in the cinema can you feel the shock of the movie and give it good reviews.

In the film industry, the advantage of channels will always exist, mainly referring to the ability to distribute to movie theaters around the world, which cannot be replaced by the Internet in any case. But after leaving the theater chain and entering the secondary market for distribution, that is the world of the Internet.

Son waved his hand and expressed that he did not want to talk to him in too much detail.

He doesn't know much about the entertainment industry and doesn't understand the details of arrangements. When it comes to investing, as long as the general direction is correct, the details don't matter. The direction determines life and death, winning or losing, and details determine whether you win more or lose less.

This is also the reason why big entrepreneurs can succeed across various industries, not because they know every industry clearly, mainly because they only look at the direction and don't ask about the details.

Zhou Buqi said: "There are mainly three steps. First, convince Comcast to cooperate with them; second, convince the executives of General Electric and NBC Universal; and third, split NBC Universal's assets."

“How are assets distributed?”

"Originally, Universal Pictures' assets and television assets were not wanted, and they were all left to NBC."

“Where’s Universal Studios?”

"Um?"

Zhou Buqi raised his eyebrows.

Son Zhengyi said: "Universal Studios is too far away from its main business. The tourism business is not a key development direction, so it can be handed over."

Zhou Buqi said with a smile: "Orlando, Japan, and the Universal Studios in Singapore, which are under construction, are all contracted. Universal Studios mainly charges brand rents. But this is not possible in Los Angeles. Universal Studios in Los Angeles is Universal Studios." headquarters."

"It can be moved."

"I go!"

Zhou Buqi finally understood his plan.

Yes, this little man is a pure capitalist, sufficiently indifferent and calm in the face of capital interests.

Universal Studios is the soul of Universal Studios!

Just like Old Trafford is to Manchester United, how can it be sold? From the perspective of capital interests, Manchester United should sell Old Trafford, wait for market quotations, and rent stadiums everywhere at the lowest rent. It would even be very cost-effective to sell Old Trafford and build a new stadium in the suburbs of Manchester.

But this is simply not possible.

Old Trafford represents the tradition, culture, heritage and sentiment of Manchester United.

Same goes for Universal Pictures.

But Masayoshi Son doesn’t care about these at all. He doesn’t want anything that is not traditional or sentimental, anything that affects strategy and interests!

Separate Universal Studios from Universal Studios, and then Universal Pictures will receive a fixed licensing fee for brand and intellectual property rights from Universal Studios every year. This is tax revenue, and it is the most profitable.

Masayoshi Son showed his vampire side and said calmly: "Governments around the world are trying every means to boost the economy through tourism. For example, Universal Studios in Japan and Singapore are all funded by government investment. They don't do that at all. Considering making money from Universal Studios’ tickets and operations, they want to use Universal Studios to attract tourism, drive consumption, and drive the development of surrounding industries.”

Zhou Buqi waved his hand, "You are right, the studio's profits are negligible, and licensing fees are the main income. But Universal Pictures only really owns one Universal Studios, which is the headquarters in Los Angeles."

Son Zhengyi said: "I don't think it makes sense. What we invest in is content. We use the content to authorize and do copyright business."

In fact, it is to produce content, and then use the content to "collect taxes" around the world, not only viewing tax, but also tourism tax.

MGM was once the biggest giant in Hollywood, but was later ruined by capitalists.

MGM has changed hands several times and is about to go bankrupt again.

However, the MGM Grand Hotel evolved from MGM has become a landmark building in several major casinos. Capitalists have long given up on the MGM brand and turned it into a cash cow.

The first step for Son Zhengyi to enter the scene is to destroy the feelings of Universal Pictures!

Everything is based on profit!

It's really cruel.

Um!

good!

OK!

What you dare not do at Manchester United can be done at Universal Pictures. The United States is more capitalized than the United Kingdom, and feelings cannot be used as food.

Seeing how determined he was, Zhou Buqi had to agree, "You're right, we are in the entertainment industry, and our core strategy is content. We need to build a framework around the content, and don't need anything irrelevant. TV stations don't want it, and movie theaters don't need it either. "

Son Zhengyi smiled and said: "This is right. We must be resolute and brave in the general direction."

Zhou Buqi said: "It doesn't matter. Anyway, the Universal brand has been ruined. The Universal Records brand is in the hands of Vivendi, and it seems that it will never be taken back. There is also the Miss Universe competition. The previous bosses are really No less Huo Huo."

Not only Universal Pictures, but also the six major Hollywood studios have Huohuo's own brand.

For example, Columbia Pictures, in fact, also had Columbia Television Network (CBS) and Columbia Records. As a result, they later went back and forth and the "Columbia" brand was split up.

Columbia Pictures became a subsidiary of Sony Pictures, and Columbia Television Network was acquired by Viacom and combined with Paramount. Columbia Records split into two and became what is now Sony Records and EMI Records.

Speaking of which, Disney is the best brand. Because the Disney family members are still alive, still serving as directors, and have been working hard to maintain the Disney brand. For example, this time Robert Iger proposed to acquire Marvel. The biggest internal resistance was the Disney family. They believed that Marvel would destroy the "Disney" brand.

Son nodded, "I have been to Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Universal Studios no longer needs to keep the old building with outdated facilities and move to a place with lower taxes and higher subsidies. Split NBCUniversal , getting Universal Pictures is just the first step. Since you want to invest in content, you must go forward bravely."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "At least we can't let Steve Jobs take advantage!"