Sony-Disney-Pixar Entertainment?

Van op Jim Hill Media:


What was truly interesting about this story was how widely circulated it was and how just as quickly -- as if following a magician's slight of hand -- interest in it dropped. No one could see any reason Pixar and Sony might merge. No one, that is, but the folks who remembered how Sony Music has become one of Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store's most successful partners.

Sony -- owner of Sony Music, Sony Pictures, Sony Television, and Sony DVD -- is the only entertainment conglomerate without a broadcast, cable, or satellite outlet of its own. Sony's market capitalization ($38.8 billion, relative to the value of Comcast's stock swap offer for Disney of $50 billion) has kept Sony from being considered a serious Disney suitor. The possible merger of Sony and Pixar with Steve Jobs taking a leadership role in the new venture, however, could encourage those with capital to invest to join them in forming a consortium like the one The Times spoke of.

Even if Sony and Pixar join forces, they will still require huge amounts of capital to mount an effort to grab Disney away from Comcast. While no one is willing to go on record yet as to how such an alliance might pull this off, several highly speculative theories are emerging.

One such scenario has Jobs, ever the consummate salesman, striking a deal with Comcast CEO, Brian Roberts, to divvy up the Mouse Houses' assets. Roberts and Comcast would get ESPN and most of the cable networks, save for The Disney Channel and Toon Disney. Sony and Jobs would get the studios, publishing outlets, resorts, cruise lines, and theme parks. Both companies would operate ABC as a joint venture.