Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that MGM Holdings is prepping itself for a sale. The privately traded company was recently valued at $5.5 billion and is, according to The Guardian, trying to fetch a price of "more than $5 billion." Per the Journal, Apple has expressed interest before. In 2018, MGM then-CEO Gary Barber was fired for having preliminary sales discussions with Apple without permission from the board. MGM's assets include the name recognition of one of Hollywood's oldest and most respected studios, a library of approximately 4,000 films -- most notably, ownership interest in the James Bond franchise -- and nearly 20,000 hours of TV programming, primarily through its Epix Network subsidiary.
...Make no mistake: What's starting to happen with the movie industry is the same as what's happening with the television industry, and what the music industry went through two decades ago. Delivery methods are changing. Apple was able to take advantage of this in the music industry, essentially becoming the de facto gatekeeper for digital downloads via its iPod -- and introducing users to its sticky ecosystem in the process. Buying MGM would allow Apple to quickly scale its movie ambitions and compete against Disney and AT&T, as their movie monetization strategy will continue to depend on wide-scale theater releases...."
www.nasdaq.com/articles/...le-tv-to-the-next-level-2021-01-04