Disney buys Fox, gets rights to The Simpsons, Hulu, FX, Nat Geo, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Modern Family, Avatar

Walt Disney has agreed to buy 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets for a total $52.4bn, including Fox’s 39% stake in satellite broadcaster Sky, and the 20th Century Fox film studio.

Disney announced the details as Fox’s remaining assets, including Fox News and Sports, will form a new company.

ESPN, ABC News, ABC, etc. stay with Disney: “21st Century Fox will spinoff Fox Broadcasting Co., Fox Sports, Fox News, Fox Television Stations and a handful of other assets into a new company that will have revenue of $10 billion and earnings of about $2.8 billion. The 20th Century Fox lot in Century City will also remain with the spinoff Fox company.”

Disney is looking to increase their streaming footprint, and now they have 20th Century Fox movies and TV shows to provide both in terms of a back catalog and in terms of future projects. Additionally, Disney has acquired Fox’s share in Hulu, which makes Disney the majority owner of Hulu.

This could set Hulu on the path to seriously challenging Netflix’s supremacy in the streaming space.

“We’re honored and grateful that Rupert Murdoch has entrusted us with the future of businesses he spent a lifetime building,” Bob Iger said in a statement.

“I know a lot of people are wondering, ‘Why did the Murdochs come to such a momentous decision?’” Murdoch said on a conference call with investors. “Are we retreating? Absolutely not. We are pivoting at a pivotal moment.”

Murdoch’s eldest son, Lachlan, 21st Century Fox’s executive chairman, added that the move was “about returning to our roots as a lean, aggressive challenger brand” that would be “focused at the beginning on must-watch news and live sports.”

Disney is purchasing the Fox television studio, which has 36 series in production, including “The Simpsons,” “Homeland,” “This Is Us” and “Modern Family.”

Disney will also get the FX and National Geographic cable networks, and stakes in two behemoth overseas television-service providers, Sky of Britain and Star of India.

Disney’s purchase will add to its huge back catalogue, with high-grossing Marvel superhero pictures, Avatar, Deadpool, X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises. Disney would now own all the Star Wars movies. They previously lacked the rights to A New Hope, but now the studio would own all the movies and could conceivably release non-special editions or 4K versions of every movie.