Speculation: Apple to buy MTV?
- Thread starter mi5moav
- Start date
blue&whiteman
PowerPC Fanatic
apple should just give a nice big donation to pbs 
mi5moav
Registered
Well, I don't think Apple and PBS are on speaking terms much since their quicktime deal fell through almost 2 years ago. Only a few of the PBS stations even use quicktime. I have a feeling PBS wanted to milk Apple's balls and they told them to jump off a cliff. Kind of sad when you think about it. Of course it would probably cost them a bit more to stream stuff in MP4 format regarding bandwidth issues but oh, well... life goes on and RealNetworks and WM will kiss their fannies for a few more years to come.
delsoljb32
Dark Archon
Not to mention, one of the key design features that everyone loves about apple is its focus on the music (among other things). MTV (Viacom) it seems lately would want nothing more than to be totally rid of the music industry! Hahahah, I would not be surprised if they tried to change their call letters to RW/RRCTV (Real World/Road Rules Challenge Television). I hate MTV. I hate that they never play music, and when they DO play music on that TRL crap, it is like 1 minute of the video, then they cut to scenes of screaming kids in the studio! WTF!!!
No Ordinary Gin
Registered
First time poster and investment banker here to clear up some misinformation that has been spread through this ridiculous thread.
First, several people have asserted that Apple could not buy Viacom even if it wanted to. This is not true. Viacom is not a huge company, it just has strong brand naems. Apple is valued at (has a market capitalization) of about $12.3B, Viacom is $4.5B. This makes an acqusition do-able. Apple could probably even buy Viacom for cash and wouldn't need to issue stock if it wanted to, although this would probably be unwise.
It's hard to tell how much MTV would be worth on its own, but the TV businesses of Viacom appear to be about 20% of Viacom as a whole.
And as for the notion that Viacom makes more in one quarter than Apple is valued in its entirety, check your numbers. Viacom made $700mm last quarter, Apple's market cap is $12B.
I do not believe Viacom owns Blockbuster anymore - I think they sold it recently. Maybe not all of it, but I think at least some of it.
Now why Apple would want to buy Viacom or MTV, I don't know... Teen-focused broadcasting has historically been a lousy industry because that demographic doesn't have purchasing power so advertising revenues aren't as strong. And what purchasing power they do have, they already spent on their iPod.
But my point is that it could be done. And as an AAPL shareholder, I'd rather see them do something more profitable with their cash pile than have it sit in a savings account and earn them 2%.
First, several people have asserted that Apple could not buy Viacom even if it wanted to. This is not true. Viacom is not a huge company, it just has strong brand naems. Apple is valued at (has a market capitalization) of about $12.3B, Viacom is $4.5B. This makes an acqusition do-able. Apple could probably even buy Viacom for cash and wouldn't need to issue stock if it wanted to, although this would probably be unwise.
It's hard to tell how much MTV would be worth on its own, but the TV businesses of Viacom appear to be about 20% of Viacom as a whole.
And as for the notion that Viacom makes more in one quarter than Apple is valued in its entirety, check your numbers. Viacom made $700mm last quarter, Apple's market cap is $12B.
I do not believe Viacom owns Blockbuster anymore - I think they sold it recently. Maybe not all of it, but I think at least some of it.
Now why Apple would want to buy Viacom or MTV, I don't know... Teen-focused broadcasting has historically been a lousy industry because that demographic doesn't have purchasing power so advertising revenues aren't as strong. And what purchasing power they do have, they already spent on their iPod.
But my point is that it could be done. And as an AAPL shareholder, I'd rather see them do something more profitable with their cash pile than have it sit in a savings account and earn them 2%.
delsoljb32
Dark Archon
No Ordinary Gin said:
Welcome! Good to see a mixed crowd here from different industries. I agree, they have the ability to do so. Yeah, a lot of threads around here need "cleansing", thanks.
mi5moav
Registered
If this where to happen which is still somewhat speculation... Could this help Apple solve other legal issues such as the Apple Corps problem? Could they even get into this business?? Whether they purchase a gaming company, a broadcast or music company, or some other entertainment conglomerate I have a feeling this will be done or more information will be brought into light before the end of the year.
After buying and selling of much of their ARM stocks a few years back they have been extremely conservative with there money. Are they waiting till November??
After buying and selling of much of their ARM stocks a few years back they have been extremely conservative with there money. Are they waiting till November??
kendall
Registered
No Ordinary Gin said:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. what did you do, pull those #s out of yer ARSE?!
go away, or at least back to "investment banker" school.
here, maybe this will help you.
500 Stocks by Market Capitalization
you're the best laugh ive had all day.
and just incase you cant figure out that little list at the URL above, Apples market capitalization is $7 billion, Viacoms is $101 billion.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
mi5moav
Registered
Ok, First off you are using a 2001 stock chart that is like when my shares where at an all time high... Secondly, Viacoms stock both A & B combined is only around 55 or 60 Billion. Third, I am pretty sure the individual was talking about Viacom "A" stock which owns the cable channels like: MTV, Showtime, Nickelodeon, VH1, TNN, CMT, and BET. "B" shares include the actuall network channels like CBS, UPN, Movie stuff, theme parks like kings island and all the other stuff. I think blockbuster is owned in "B" and I am also pretty sure all music rights are owned under "B" so, basically, Apple may request to purchase certain parts like mtv or vh1 and BET and possibly ownership in the music stuff under "B". Who knows, they probably wouldn't play with this until after this quarter is over.
No Ordinary Gin
Registered
As much as I hate to admit it, the guy's actually right. Well, mostly right. I didn't see the class B shares, which is where the bulk of the market cap is. Apple could probably still buy MTV, which is probably about half of the cable networks business, which is 20% of Viacom as a whole, fairly easily, but couldn't swallow the whole thing.
Near as I can tell, there isn't a difference in the Class A and B shares except that A has voting rights and B does not. I would assume there is some sort of mechanism for making sure no one spends small $$ on the smaller amount of voting shares and then controlling what happens to the company.
And although you are right, you should still know better than to use a 2001 stock chart for today's market caps. AT&T was only about 10 slots behind Viacom and they're just about Apple's size now. And to state the obvious, WorldCom and Enron made your list too.
Near as I can tell, there isn't a difference in the Class A and B shares except that A has voting rights and B does not. I would assume there is some sort of mechanism for making sure no one spends small $$ on the smaller amount of voting shares and then controlling what happens to the company.
And although you are right, you should still know better than to use a 2001 stock chart for today's market caps. AT&T was only about 10 slots behind Viacom and they're just about Apple's size now. And to state the obvious, WorldCom and Enron made your list too.