21st Century Fox

Posted on October 16, 2016 by gemarzol

Georgia Velkes, Jenna Levine, and Gabrielle Marzolf

Overview

In 1985, News Corporation, a newspaper company from Australia owned by Rupert Murdoch, acquired Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Murdoch subsequently
built the company into one of the biggest media companies in the world. [1]

Rupert Murdoch
Executive Chairman

In 2012, News Corporation split into two companies. News Corporation kept all the newspaper assets and media assets were put into a new company named 21st Century Fox. 21st Century Fox has holdings in multiple media businesses internationally and in the United States, including broadcast and cable television networks like FOX, FX, Fox News Channel, and National Geographic, which reach over 1.8 billion subscribers. [2] The film company, 20th Century Fox, is one of the Big Six Hollywood Studios that produce and distribute films worldwide.

Financials

The company had a strong fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2016 with total revenue increasing 7% to $6.51 billion and a net income increase of 22% to $821 million. [3] A significant portion of that boost came from the Cable Network Programming division.

Gretchen Carlson, former anchor at Fox News

The Fox News Channel experienced significant growth, despite the Roger Ailes scandal in the beginning of the quarter, in which former anchor Gretchen Carlson sued Ailes for sexual harassment. Fox settled the lawsuit, which incited controversy throughout the company, and Ailes resigned. During the lawsuit, Fox faced great controversy and criticism, which increased when Ailes left the company with a $40 million exit agreement.

Roger Ailes, former CEO/Chairman of Fox News

In spite of the controversy, cable revenues increased 10% to $3.81 billion, driven by higher ratings and advertising revenue. The US presidential election, broadcasted on Fox News, increased domestic advertising revenue by 6% and gained the network more viewers. The film business revenue increased more than 6.8% to $1.91 billion which is credited to the theatrical release of “Independence Day: Resurgence” and the home entertainment release of “Deadpool” during the quarter. [4] The positive earnings release showed a 14.6% rise in the stock price over the past 3 months, gaining $3.62. [5]

New Licensing Agreements

As the television industry and television consumption transforms, 21st Century Fox’s goal is to become a central player in the new digital age. Fox Networks Group recently made a deal with AT&T Inc. and its DirecTV subsidiary. DirectTV launched a streaming service called DirecTV Now that allows viewers to stream their programming instead of watching it via satellite transmission. Fox News, Fox Business, FX and many more Fox networks will be available on AT&T’s live streaming service in addition to the content offered to DirecTV subscribers. [6] Fox has also made a licensing deal with Hulu to carry Fox channels on the new over-the-top (OTT) live TV subscription service Hulu will soon release. [7] The deal includes the FOX broadcast network along with the Fox Sports channels, National Geographic and more.

While 21st Century Fox licenses content to companies that partner programming with new technology like OTT providers, issues have arisen with subscriptions services like Netflix. In September, 21st Century Fox filed a lawsuit against Netflix for illegally “poaching” two under-contract executives: Tara Flynn, the former VP of Creative Affairs at Fox21, and Marcos Waltenberg, the former VP of Promotions at 20th Century Fox. [8] In retaliation, Netflix sued 21st Century Fox for the alleged use of illegal contract clauses. The outcome of these lawsuits could potentially impact how businesses manage employment contracts in the future. [9]

TV Ratings

This past quarter Fox Networks Group saw a huge increase of ratings with not only the presidential election and Fox News, but also the FOX network as a result of their rights to the World Series.

Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com)

Huge interest in this year’s presidential election saw primetime coverage reach a total of 71 million viewers, and Fox News channel’s 12.2 million viewers beat out CNN’s 11.2 million views for the most viewers of any cable channel for the 7pm-3am time slot, leaning toward a generally conservative audience. [10] When the election results announced Donald Trump as president elect, Fox News Channel maintained over 10 million viewers.

This fall, Fox’s overall ratings for the season rose from fourth to first place, with nearly 40 million viewers and a 12.1 rating with the 18-49 demographic. Previously, NBC was the number one network, however the World Series ratings boosted Fox to the top with an 8% advantage over its competitors. [11] Furthermore, unlike other networks, Fox has not experienced a ratings drop related to professional football broadcasting. Analysts suggest that Fox retained viewers because the network does not show any primetime games and delivers the best overall Sunday coverage including their post-show program, The OT. [12] Over Thanksgiving, Fox Sports aired the Washington Redskins versus Dallas Cowboys game, which, with 35.1 million viewers, was the highest rated program of the holiday and the highest rated NFL game to date. [13]

20th Century Fox

20th Century Fox

Unlike the other business divisions of 21st Century Fox, the film studio exhibited a weak performance over the past year, which resulted in leadership changes. Over the summer official Fox sources announced that the Chairman/CEO of the studio, Jim Gianopulos, would leave and Stacy Snider would replace him. [14] Since Snider has taken over, she has made a number of changes senior management, resulting in the departure of the marketing president Marc Weinstock, who left for Annapurna Pictures. [15]

Deadpool (2016) official movie poster

With all the personnel changes at the studio, senior management is focusing on the upcoming slate of movies for the next two to three years. After the commercial success of “Deadpool”, the studio faces pressure to release similarly profitable films. “Avatar 2” has been rumored to be released around Christmas 2018, so the studio will face pressure to follow up the highest grossing film of all time at the global box office. Fox’s film adaption of “Assassin’s Creed” generated anticipation of how the company would transition the content from a video game format to the big screen. [16]

The film is not yet released, but the hype surrounding the film shows that Fox is not afraid to take risks, and presents the company as more forward thinking.

Fox has the production and distribution rights to Marvel characters related to the X-Men property, including X-Men, Deadpool and Wolverine. Between films utilizing these characters and sequels to popular franchises—“Alien: Covenant”, “Kingsman: Golden Circle” and a total of four Avatar sequels—the studio has a significant amount of content to exploit over the next two to five years. [17]

Conclusion

Overall, 21st Century Fox is well poised for continued growth in revenue and income going forward. Strong licensing revenue to emerging and existing OTT providers as well as traditional networks and broadcasters is expected to continue and a strong pipeline of franchise tentpole films over the next three to five years should ensure continued financial success of the film studio. The introduction of new leadership at the studio and Fox News will ensure continued growth and success at these important divisions of the company.

References:

[1] 21st Century Fox. Rupert Murdoch. Retrieved November 29, 2016. https://www.21cf.com/managment/rupert-murdoch

[2] 21st Century Fox. Investor Relations. Retrieved November 29, 2016. https://www.21cf.com/investor-relations

[3][4] Lang, Brent. November 2, 2016. Variety. 21st Century Fox Earnings Get Lift From Fox News, ‘Deadpool’ Home Entertainment Debut. Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://variety.com/2016/film/news/21st-century-fox-earnings-get-lift-from-fox-news-deadpool-home-entertainment-debut-1201907353/.

[5] Nasdaq. FOXA Earnings Data. Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://www.nasdaq.com/earnings/report/foxa

[6] Moritz, Scott. November 21, 2016. Bloomberg. AT&T Expands Fox Programming Pact to Include Online TV Service. Retrieved November 29, 2016. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-21/at-t-expands-fox-programming-pact-to-include-online-tv-service

[7] Spangler, Todd. November 1, 2016. Variety. Hulu Inks Disney, 21st Century Fox Deals for Internet TV Service. Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/hulu-disney-21st-century-fox-live-tv-1201906066/

[8] Flint, Joe. September 16, 2016. Wall Street Journal. 21st Century Fox Sues Netflix for Poaching Employees. Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://www.wsj.com/articles/21st-century-fox-sues-netflix-for-poaching-employees-1474053655

[9] Patten, Dominic. October 19, 2016. Deadline. Netflix Hits Back At Fox In Exec-Poaching Lawsuit, Claims Studio “Bullies” Employees Into Contracts. Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://deadline.com/2016/10/netflix-fox-lawsuit-cross-complaint-executive-poaching-1201839020/

[10] O’Connell, Michael. November 9, 2016. The Hollywood Reporter. TV Ratings: 71 Million Watched 2016 Election Returns Pour In; CNN and Fox News Set Records. Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-nbc-leads-early-election-night-numbers-945493

[11] [12] O’Connell, Michael. November 4, 2016. The Hollywood Reporter. World Series Catapults Fox to No. 1 Slot for the Fall Season. Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/world-series-catapults-fox-no-1-slot-fall-season-944192

[13] O’Connell, Michael. November 25, 2016. The Hollywood Reporter. TV Ratings: NBC Parade Climbs – But Fox Football Dominates Thanksgiving. Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-nbc-parade-climbs-but-fox-football-dominates-thanksgiving-950471

[14] Fleming, Mike, Jr. June 16, 2016. Deadline. Fox Makes It Official: Stacey Snider Is Chairman/CEO In June 2017; Jim Gianopulos Takes Role At 21st Century Fox. Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://deadline.com/2016/06/jim-gianopulos-stacey-snider-fox-executive-changes-1201773922/

[15] McClintock, Pamela. November 7, 2016. The Hollywood Reporter. Fox Shake-Up: Marketing President Marc Weinstock Departing Studio. Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fox-shake-up-marketing-president-marc-weinstock-departing-studio-944878

[16] Pech, Dana. November 9, 2016. Movie Pilot. Why ‘Assassin’s Creed’ Will Break The Video Game Movie Curse. Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://moviepilot.com/p/why-assassins-creed-will-break-the-video-game-movie-curse/4142547

[17] Chitwood, Adam. November 27, 2016. Collider. Fox Sets Release Dates for Two Secret Marvel Movies; Pushes ‘Kingsman 2’ to October 2017. Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://collider.com/fox-marvel-movies-release-dates-deadpool-3/

Images

(In order of appearance)

[1] Retrieved November 29, 2016. https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/194013/what-rupert-murdochs-news-corp-and-21st-century-fox-really-own

[2] Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://www.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Rupert_Murdoch_-_Flickr_-_Eva_Rinaldi_Celebrity_and_Live_Music_Photographer.jpg/220px-Rupert_Murdoch_-_Flickr_-_Eva_Rinaldi_Celebrity_and_Live_Music_Photographer.jpg

[3] Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://cdn.thedailybeast.com/content/dailybeast/articles/2015/06/26/how-a-fox-news-host-handled-sex-assault/jcr:content/image.img.2000.jpg/1435310106558.cached.jpg

[4] Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-inline/media-visionary-roger-ailes-hed-2015.jpg

[5] Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/og/og-fn-foxnews

[6] Retrieved November 29, 2016. http://www.manutd.com/sitecore/shell/~/media/D971B02AD7A246678E4092D1D2AE12C6.ashx?w=1280&h=720&rgn=0,281,2160,1501

[7] Retrieved November 29, 2016. https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjQyODg5Njc4N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMzExMjE3NzE@._V1_UY268_CR1,0,182,268_AL_.jpg

20th Century Fox (Film)

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Derrick Owens

By Derrick Owens

20th Century Fox Logo [1] Source: foxmovie.com

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

10201 W Pico Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90064

http://www.foxmovies.com/

Overview

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, commonly referred to as 20th Century Fox or Fox, is an international film production and distribution company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. 20th Century Fox is a subsidy of the 21st Century Fox Corporation, which also owns assets in television stations, television broadcast networks, and cable network programming. Fox is a part of the “Big Six” film studios, which includes Columbia, Warner Brothers, Disney, Universal, and Paramount. The “Big Six” serve as Fox’s main competition. 20th Century Fox owns the rights to a number of valuable franchises including, X-Men, Ice Age, Die Hard, and Planet of the Apes. Fox is also known for distributing the two highest grossing films of all-time, Avatar and Titanic, both of which were directed by James Cameron [2].

Key Executives

Jim Gianopulos, Chairman and CEO [3]

Stacey Snider, Co-Chairman [4]

History

The origins of 20th Century Fox began in 1915 when film distributor William Fox established his own film production company after moving out to Los Angeles called Fox Films. In 1935, Twentieth Pictures’ Joseph Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck left United Artists and merged with Fox Films to create the 20th Century Fox Film Corporation [6].

From the 1952 film Viva Zapata! [5] Source: Wikepdia.com

In 1981, the company was sold to investors Marc Rich and Marvin Davis. They subsequently sold the company to Rupert Murdoch, who merged the company into his own media conglomerate, News Corp, in 1985. News Corp was split into two companies in 2013. There is now the new News Corporation, which contained most of Murdoch’s print media assets, and 21st Century Fox, which specializes in filmed entertainment and is the current parent company of 20th Century Fox [7].

Finances

In the last fiscal year (June 30, 2014 – June 30, 2015), 20th Century Fox put out 25 films into general release domestically and they plan on releasing another 25 in fiscal 2016. Of those 25 planned films, Fox has already released six titles including Fantastic Four, The Martian, and The Peanuts Movie. Fox’s most anticipated movies yet to be released in 2016 include Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, and Independence Day Resurgence [8].

20th Century Fox produces and distributes its films through a number of internal units:

Twentieth Century Fox and Fox2000 handles films for mainstream audiences.

Logo for Fox Searchlight [9] Source: foxsearchlight.com

Fox Searchlight Pictures produces and releases smaller, independent films for specialized audiences.

Twentieth Century Fox Animation produces and distributes feature length-animated films

Fox International Productions, Inc. co-produces and acquires local-language films for distribution worldwide.

Fox generates money from its films by distributing the films theatrically (domestically and internationally), through home media formats (such as digital distribution), on premium pay and SVOD, and on television and cable networks. Last year, the domestic home entertainment division for Fox released or re-released approximately 1,268 produced and acquired titles [10].

For fiscal 2015, revenues at the Filmed Entertainment segment decreased $154 million, or 2%, as compared to fiscal 2014. Increased production and marketing costs as well as a decrease in home entertainment sales led to the change. 20th Century Fox’s parent company, 21st Century Fox Corporation, has seen their stock dip in the last year. After reaching a high of $37.49 in December of 2014, the stock has fallen to its lower point since January 2012. In September it stood at only $25.41. Even with the drop of its stock prices, 21st Century Fox Corporation saw profit increase by 54% in 2015 compared to the previous year. Profits were at $8.306 billion in 2015 versus $4.514 billion in 2014 [11].

In Theatres

The Martian

Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, and Jeff Daniels, The Martian is a science-fiction adventure film produced and distributed by Fox. It was released on October 2, 2015 and posted the second highest October opening weekend of all time with a $54.3 million haul. It has gone on to be Fox’s most successful film of the year thus far bringing in over $217 million domestically and nearly $500 million worldwide. It’s production budget of $108 million means the film will be significantly profitable for the corporation. The film’s box office revenue has the possibility of growing even further as many Oscar analyst predict it will be in the running for best picture, best director, and best actor. The Martian is unique because it is a standalone, original film which has achieved worldwide success [12].

The Maze Runner: Scorched Trials

This sci-fi action-adventure film is a sequel to the 2014 hit Maze Runner. The film opened on nearly the same weekend as its predecessor and opened slightly under expectations. Scorched Trials brought in $30.3 million in its first weekend after opening on September 18, which was down from the 32.5 million opening of Maze Runner.

The film, based off of the popular novel series, is directed by Wes Ball and stars Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, and Thomas Brodie-Sangste. Even though it has only grossed $80.9 million domestically with a $61 million production budget, Scorched Trials has been saved by its international performance. It has grossed over $230 million overseas, which motivated Fox to greenlight the film’s sequel, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, due out in 2017 [13].

The Peanuts Movie

This family animation film was released by Fox as part of their distribution deal with Blue Sky Studios. It was the first feature film in the Peanuts franchise in 35 years. It took over eight years to make, because the family of Charles Schultz, the creator of the comic, wanted the film to done with respect to his original work [14]. The film opened to $44.2 million on the weekend of November 6, playing as counter-programming to Spectre, Although there are still a few major international markets left to open, Peanuts has 92.6% of its revenue coming from domestic totals as of 11/29. The film has been a domestic hit with $116.7 million grossed so far, but international performance may need to increase before the $99 million production can be called profitable [15].

News and Developments

20th Century Fox has three films to be released before the end of 2015. The first film is Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, which is due out December 18. Fox hopes to continue the success of the franchise, which has banked over $1.1 billion at the box office [16]. The other two films, The Revenant and Joy, are being distributed in limited release on December 25 before going wide in January. These two films are both expected to be major Oscar players and they star Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence respectively [17].

Oculus Video by Oculus VR [22] Source: roadtovr.com

Fox signed an agreement with Oculus VR, making it the first major movie studio to invest in virtual reality as a way of showing their films. Over 100 films from Fox’s library will be released in the virtual reality cinema Oculus Video [18].

Fox International Productions entered into an exclusive first look deal with Paul Heth and Michael Schlicht for Russian-language films. The duo is known for their successes as they have overseen five of the ten highest grossing local language films in the modern Russian film era [19].

Planned 20th Century Fox World Theme Park in Dubai [21] Source: variety.com

Fox announced plans to open its first Fox-branded resort in Dubai featuring rides based off of its most popular films including Titanic, Aliens, Predator, and Ice Age. It will open in 2018 and is planned to cost approximately $850 million [20].

Sources

[1] 20th Century Fox Logo. Fox Movies. Retrieved November 30, 2015

[2] About. Fox Movies. Retrieved November 30, 2015

[3] James N. Gianopulos. 21st Century Fox. Retrieved November 29, 2015

[4]. Stacey Snider. Variety. Retrieved November 30, 2015

[5] From the 1952 film Viva Zapata! Wikipedia. Retrieved November 30, 2015

[[6] About. Fox UK. Retrieved November 29, 2015

[7] Welch, Chris. May 9, 2013. The Verge. 21st Century Fox logo unveiled ahead of News Corp split. Retrieved November 30, 2015

[8] 21st Century Fox Annual Report 2015. 21st Century Fox. Retrieved November 30, 2015

[9] Fox Searchlight Logo. Fox Searchlight. Retrieved November 29, 2015

[10] 21st Century Fox Annual Report 2015. 21st Century Fox. Retrieved November 30, 2015

[11] Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. Yahoo Finances. Retrieved November 30, 2015

[12] Tartaglione, Nancy. November 24, 2015. Deadline Hollywood. ‘The Martian’ Closing In On $500M Global: How Fox Marketers Brought Ridley Scott’s Cool Science To The Masses. Retrieved November 29, 2015.

[13] Maze Runner: Scorched Trials. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 28, 2015.

[14] Smith, Chris. November 1, 2014. The Press Democrat. How the Schulz family made ‘The Peanuts Movie’ a reality. Retrieved November 30, 2015

[15] The Peanuts Movie. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 28, 2015.

[16] Alvin and the Chipmunks. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 29, 2015

[17] Cunningham, Todd. September 8, 2015. The Wrap. Fox Fuels Yule Logjam With 3 Christmas Releases. Retrieved November 30, 2015.

[18] Geier, Thom. September 24, 2015. The Wrap. ‘Alien,’ ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ Among 100 Fox Movies Coming to Oculus Virtual-Reality Headsets. Retrieved November 29, 2015.

[19] Business Wire. November 18, 2015. Fox International Productions Strikes Strategic Alliance With Paul Heth and Michael Schlicht for Russian-Language Films. Retrieved November 29, 2015

[20] Lang, Brent. November 3, 2015. Variety. Fox Building Theme Park in Dubai With ‘Titanic,’ ‘Aliens’ Attractions. Retrieved November 30, 2015.

[21] Lang, Brent. November 3, 2015. Variety. Fox Building Theme Park in Dubai With ‘Titanic,’ ‘Aliens’ Attractions. Retrieved November 30, 2015.

[22] Oculus Cinema. Oculus VR. Retrieved November 30, 2015.

21st Century Fox (TV)

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Jason Mussman

Jason Mussman

21st Century Fox Corporate Logo [1] Source: 21st Century Fox

21^st Century Fox was formed on June 28, 2013 with the division of News Corp into two separate companies, 21^st Century Fox (The Entertainment Properties) and News Corp (The Publishing Properties) [2]. Founded by Rupert Murdoch, one of the most recognized names in the entertainment industry today, 21^st Century Fox was created to bring about the future of film and broadcasting industry [3]. Rupert Murdoch still remains Executive Chairman of the Board but on July 1^st 2015 Rupert Murdoch’s son, James Murdoch, took over as CEO [4]. 21^st Century Fox has a broad portfolio of global assets in the broadcast and film industry. 21^st Century Fox’s most prominent broadcast network are the FOX Networks.

Early in June 2015 21st Century Fox and News Corp. reached an agreement to move their world headquarters [5]. The new headquarters will be at the second World Trade Center site. The building being developed by Bjarke Ingels Group, will house studios, be completely state of the art and will put a new more meaningful location to 21st Century Fox [5]

21st Century Fox

Two World Trade Center

New York, NY 10006

…….

Executive Leadership

Rupert Murdoch [6]
Executive Chairman – 21st Century Fox. Source: Eva Rinaldi

Lachlan Murdoch [7] Executive Chairman – 21st Century Fox. Source: Deadline

James Murdoch [8]
CEO – 21st Century Fox. Source: Deadline

Background

21^st Century Fox reaches over 1.8 Billion customers daily through its portfolio of film, cable and broadcast networks [9]. 21^st Century Fox has assets in both the broadcast

Some assets owned by 21st Century Fox [11] Source: 21st Century Fox

and cable networks including, FOX, YES, FX, FXX, FOX News Channel, FOX Sports and the most recently acquired, National Geographic [9].

The FOX network currently has 16 shows in its fall lineup with hit show Empire, leading the ratings [10].

Financials

Fox Sports logo [13] Source: Fox Sports

21^st Century Fox continually innovates, standing behind its cable networks to drive revenue growth. The 21^st Century Fox brand is globally recognizable because of its strategy to acquire and keep viewers. Sports and News programming is the cornerstone of this strategy [12]. 21^st Century Fox continues to combat cord cutting by continuing to improve on its Sports and News content and programming [12]. These two types of content bring in a live audience and help keep 21^st Century Fox on top of the marketplace.

21st Century Fox Annual Revenue [15] Source: 21st Century Fox Investor Relations

In Fiscal 2015, 21^st Century Fox’ revenue dropped 9% from $31,867,000,000 to $28,987,000,000 [12]. The drop in revenue was due in large part to the sale of its direct broadcast networks [12]. During this same period, 21^st Century Fox held nearly 25% of the market share of all Cable Programming, second to only Disney [14]. While Television made up approximately 17% of 21^st Century Fox total revenue, it dropped 8%, or $401 Million from 2014 [12]. At the same time, advertising sales decreased by 14%. The main cause of the falling prices was due to lower ratings on the FOX networks entertainment shows [12].

Screenshot of market share for Cable Network Programming [14] Source: CSIMarket

21st Century Fox trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker FOXA. Today, December 1^st 2015, the share price for 21^st Century fox is $30.26 [16]. This is a 5.56% decline from fiscal 2014 where the stock sat at $35.79 [16]. As stated earlier, the decline in stock price was due to in large part to poor ratings from Fox’s entertainment shows [12].

FOXA Stock Price [27] Source: Google Finance

National Geographic Acquisition

National Geographic Cover – June 1985 [28] Source: National Geographic

With the goal of saving National Geographic and expanding on its efforts in science and innovation, National Geographic and 21^st Century Fox agreed on a Joint Venture. The deal took place on September 9^th creating the for-profit Joint Venture National Geographic Partners [17]. For $725 Million 21^st Century Fox will take control of 73% of National Geographic [18]. This merger will give 21^st Century Fox new assets on both the television and print front [19]. This merger will help both National Geographic and 21^st Century Fox, and will provide both companies with new assets in both content and financials. The National Geographic endowment will increase to $1 Billion, providing more finances for innovation and research throughout the world [18]. This move will help 21^st Century Fox reach a broader audience as well as give it more assets on the digital platform.

Empire

Promo for Empire [29] Source: Fox

January 7^th 2015, FOX Network, the leading cable network for 21^st Century Fox, premiered a new show that would significantly impact 21^st Century Fox as well as the world around it. Empire, a show that centers on African American artists and executives, are all seen fighting for control of a music empire [21]. Empire continually leads in ratings each week, bringing in massive revenue for 21^st Century Fox [20]. Currently, Empire is the second priciest show for advertisers, coming in just behind Sunday Night football. A typical ad spot for Empire, costs just around $500,000 [32]. While Empire brings in a diverse audience, it is one of the highest rated shows among African American viewers [22]. Empire is doing more than just helping Fox on screen. Because the show centers on the music industry, the show is also constantly creating new songs and new stars [22].

Presidential Debate

Tweet by Justin Haskins after 3rd Republican Primary Debate [30] Source: Justin Haskins, Twitter

Tweet by Mark Simone after 3rd Republican Primary Debate [31] Source: Mark Simone, Twitter

After rival network CNBC inappropriately handled the moderation of the third Republican Presidential primary debate, the RNC suspended its future debate scheduled with CNBC [23]. At this time FOX Business stepped up and requested to host the next debate.

The RNC agreed and stated that “Fox Business won’t become a character in the campaign soap opera”, something that CNBC was accused of doing in the prior debate [23]. CEO James Murdoch later stated that he was going to show America the way a real debate should be handled, giving time to the real issues of the economy and the future and not an entertainment show [23]. This move for FOX will not only help with ratings, it will also bring in significant cash. Because of its estimated 14 million viewer audience, it is estimated that each 30 second spot, will bring into Fox roughly $250,000 [23].

The Future

Assets of 21st Century Fox [26] Source: 21st Century Fox

21st Century Fox will continue to innovate and continue to bring in revenue for its shareholders. With its diverse and ever expanding portfolio, 21^st Century Fox will continue to be a a leader in the global entertainment industry. By continually investing and utilizing innovative methods to fight against cord cutting, 21^st Century Fox will continue to grow and produce strong earnings for its investors.

Breaking News!

The Primetime Emmy nominated show Bones is currently suing 20th Century Fox, a division of 21st Century Fox [24]. The lawsuit is being brought on by the actors and producers of the show. In the suit the plaintiffs claim that Fox made “sweetheart deals” that cheated them out of tens and millions of dollars [25]. Deschanel and Boreanaz, two of the stars of Bones, claim that they are contractually entitled to 3% of the shows profits. 21st Century Fox has not commented on the suit [24].

[1] “21st Century Fox.” Logopedia. Accessed December 02, 2015. http://logos.wikia.com/wiki/21st_Century_Fox.

[2] “21st Century Fox.” 21st Century Fox. Accessed December 01, 2015. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/21st-century-fox#/entity.

[3] “21st Century Fox Success Story.” 21st Century Fox Profile, History, Founder, Founded, Ceo. Accessed December 01, 2015. http://successstory.com/companies/21st-century-fox.

[4] Lieberman, David. “It’s Official: James Murdoch To Become Fox CEO Sharing Power With Lachlan.” Deadline. June 16, 2015. Accessed December 01, 2015. http://deadline.com/2015/06/fox-james-murdoch-become-ceo-1201445613/.

[5] News, Bloomberg. “News Corp. Will Move Headquarters to 2 World Trade Center.” Latest from Crains New York Business. June 02, 2015. Accessed December 02, 2015. http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20150602/REAL_ESTATE/150609962/news-corp-will-move-headquarters-to-2-world-trade-center.

[6] Rinaldi, Eva. “Rupert Murdoch.” Digital image. December 21, 2012. Accessed December 2, 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Murdoch#/media/File:Rupert_Murdoch_-_Flickr_-_Eva_Rinaldi_Celebrity_and_Live_Music_Photographer.jpg.

[7] “Lachlan Murdoch Exits Ten.” TelevisionAU. Accessed December 02, 2015. http://televisionau.com/2014/03/lachlan-murdoch-exits-ten.html.

[8] “James Murdoch Faces Shareholder Resistance Over Board Re-Election.” Deadline. November 20, 2014. Accessed December 02, 2015. http://deadline.com/2014/11/james-murdoch-faces-shareholder-resistance-over-board-re-election-1201290216/.

[9] “Investor Relations .” Investor Relations. Accessed December 02, 2015. http://www.21cf.com/Investor_Relations/.

[10] “FOX 2015-16 Season Ratings (updated 12/1/15) – Canceled TV Shows – TV Series Finale.” Canceled TV Shows TV Series Finale. December 01, 2015. Accessed December 01, 2015. http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/fox-2015-16-season-ratings-38075/.

[11] “Index of /wp-content/uploads/2014/08.” Index of /wp-content/uploads/2014/08. Accessed December 02, 2015. http://marketbusinessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/.

[12] “21st Century Fox Annual Report.” Accessed December 2, 2015. http://tcfeuspstrgektron.blob.core.windows.net/uploadedfiles/pages/investor_relations/21cf%202015ar%20web.pdf.

[13] Accessed December 2, 2015. http://a.fssta.com/content/dam/fsdigital/media/images/migration/press-releases/2014/05/06/121913-FSO-FOXSportsLogo-PI.vresize.1200.675.high.35.jpg.

[14] “FOXA’s Competition by Segment and Its Market Share.” Csimarket. Accessed December 1, 2015. http://csimarket.com/stocks/competitionSEG2.php?code=FOXA.

[15] “21st Century Fox Annual Report.” Accessed December 1, 2015. http://tcfeuspstrgektron.blob.core.windows.net/uploadedfiles/pages/investor_relations/21cf%202015ar%20web.pdf.

[16] “Twenty-First Century Fox Inc.” : NASDAQ:FOXA Quotes & News. Accessed December 02, 2015. https://www.google.com/finance?cid=25639.

[17] Laylin, Tafline. “National Geographic Contributors Embrace Fox Deal with Ample Cautio.” The Guardian. September 16, 2015. Accessed December 2, 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/sep/16/national-geographic-21st-century-fox-merger-rupert-murdoch.

[18] “National Geographic Society and 21st Century Fox Agree to Expand Partnership.” National Geographic Society Press Room. September 09, 2015. Accessed December 02, 2015. http://press.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/09/national-geographic-society-21st-century-fox-agree-to-expand-partnership/.

[19] Farhi, Paul. “National Geographic Gives Fox Control of Media Assets in $725 Million Deal.” Washington Post. September 9, 2015. Accessed December 02, 2015. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/national-geographic-magazine-shifts-to-for-profit-status-with-fox-partnership/2015/09/09/7c9f034e-56f0-11e5-8bb1-b488d231bba2_story.html.

[20] Porter, Rick. “Rock Steady: The Most Consistently Rated Shows of Fall 2015.” TV By The Numbers by Zap2itcom. November 26, 2015. Accessed December 02, 2015. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/11/26/rock-steady-the-most-consistently-rated-shows-of-fall-2015/.

[21] “Empire.” IMDb. Accessed December 02, 2015. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3228904/.

[22] “A SPRAWLING EMPIRE: HOW FOX’S HIT TV SHOW AFFECTS MUSIC.” Nielsen. September 23, 2015. Accessed December 2, 2015. http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2015/a-sprawling-empire-how-foxs-hit-tv-show-affects-music.html.

[23] Gold, Hadas. “For Debate, Fox Business Aims to Be the Anti-CNBC.” POLITICO. November 9, 2015. Accessed December 02, 2015. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/fox-business-republican-debate-cavuto-bartiromo-215634.

[24] Patten, Dominic. “Fox “Cheated” ‘Bones’ Stars Out Of More Than $100M, New Profit-Participation Suit Claims.” Deadline. November 30, 2015. Accessed December 02, 2015. http://deadline.com/2015/11/bones-lawsuit-david-boreanaz-emily-deschanel-fox-barry-josephson-1201647064/.

[25] Balloni, Matthew. “‘Bones’ Producer Sues Fox for “Accounting Chicanery,” Claims Top Execs “Threatened” Him.” The Hollywood Reporter. November 25, 2015. Accessed December 02, 2015. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/bones-producer-sues-fox-accounting-843854.

[26] Mussman, Jason Taylor. 21st Century Fox Brands. Digital image. Accessed December 1, 2015.

[27] “Twenty-First Century Fox Inc.” : NASDAQ:FOXA Quotes & News. Accessed December 02, 2015. https://www.google.com/finance?cid=25639.

[28] “Thoughts on Afghan Girl’s Third Cover Appearance as National Geographic Looks Back, Forward – Reading The Pictures.” Reading The Pictures. October 02, 2013. Accessed December 02, 2015. http://www.readingthepictures.org/2013/10/thoughts-on-afghan-girls-third-cover-as-national-geographic-looks-back-forward/.

[29] “Empire Review – Where Does Your Loyalty Lay? – Screen Sirens TV.” Screen Sirens TV. October 02, 2015. Accessed December 02, 2015. http://screensirenstv.com/empire-review-where-does-your-loyalty-lay/.

[30 ]Haskins, Justin. “CNBC Has Totally Discredited Itself Tonight with This Travesty of a Debate. The Questions Have Been Atrocious and Biased. #GOPDebate.” Twitter. October 28, 2015. Accessed December 02, 2015. https://twitter.com/TheNewRevere/status/659551198098386944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw.

[31] Simone, Mark. “The Big Winner of This Debate – FOX Business Network. CNBC Looking Too Biased, a Little Sleazy and Untrustworthy #GOPDebate #CNBCGOPDebate.” Twitter. October 28, 2015. Accessed December 02, 2015. https://twitter.com/MarkSimoneNY/status/659548475764420608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw.

[31] Poggi, Jeanine. “TV Ad Pricing Chart: ‘Sunday Night Football,’ ‘Empire’ Are Broadcast’s Most Expensive Ad Buys.” Advertising Age Media RSS. September 24, 2015. Accessed December 02, 2015. http://adage.com/article/media/ad-pricing-chart-sunday-night-football-empire-broadcasts-most-expensive-ad-buys/300516/.

NewsCorp/21st Century – Fox

Aside

by Lina Ortega

21st Century Fox

[Image courtesy of: new.pentagram.com]

www.21cf.com

Contact information

21st Century Fox 1211 Avenue of the Americas 44th floor New York, NY 10036-8701

Key Executives

Rupert Murdoch: Chairman & Chief Executive Officer [Image courtesy of: thenation.com]

Chase Carrey: President and Chief Operating Officer [Image Courtesy of: stockspinoffs.com]

James Murdoch: Co-Chief Operating Officer [Image Courtesy of: mikeangryman.com]

About 21st Century Fox

What was once News Corporation since 1953 [I], is now comprised by “News Corp” and “21st Century Fox.” News Corp consists of a publishing group that includes several newspapers like Wall Street Journal, New York Post and Times of London. 21st Century Fox is a broadcasting and film company that includes the “Fox News channel”, “20th Century movie and television studios”, “Fox sports”, “FX”, “National Geographic” and “FOX broadcast network”. [II] This separation was intended to ensure that both companies were conducted under more a centered management, which makes both companies more valuable.

21st Century Fox is a global media company and was founded in June 28, 2013 [III]. It acquires market from four principal operating segments: 1- Cable network programming, which it’s mostly production and licensing content through cable, telecommunications providers, and broadcast satellite. 2- Television, which operates the company’s 28 full-power broadcast stations. 3- Film Entertainment, the operator of the company’s numerous film and television production studios. 4- Direct Broadcast Satellite Television, which provides programming to international markets. The company also holds a 39% of BSkyB, the British entertainment and communications provider. 21st Century Fox makes its revenue principally on affiliate subscriptions, broadcast and advertising fees, content licensing and retransmission revenues to maintain the top line [IV]. Fox Broadcasting Company ended the year 2012 at number one in the key adult demographic for the eight consecutive year in America [V].

Financials

The Cable Network Programming segment surpassed $12 billion in revenue for the first time in its history, up 13% over their prior year. 2014 21st Century Fox Annual Report:

What’s Happening Now?

In cable programming, FX Networks has currently 25 successful shows on air [VI].

Image courtesy of: The Christian Post

American Horror Story is now on the 7th episode of its 4th season “Freak Show” and it is one of the most watched TV series of the FX Networks. The show presents an anthology of different narratives for each new season [VII]. With an 8.4 out of 10 by IMDB, the show went from 2.82 million viewers on its first season to 4.00 million viewers now [VIII].

In television, FOX has a great variety of very recognized shows that can range mostly in animation, comedy, and thriller.

Image courtesy of: forbes.com

One of the FOX newest TV shows premiered recently on September 22, 2014 with 8.21 million viewers [IX]. Gotham explores the beginning tales of Commissioner Gordon. While in the show he is still a detective, he has yet to meet Batman and the villains who made Gotham City so popular [X]. Gotham received two nominations in the TV divisions for the “American Society of Cinematographers 29th annual Outstanding Achievement Awards” . Additionally, the pilot was recognized in the category for a TV movie, miniseries or pilot [XI].

20th Century Fox is one of the most recognized film industries in the world. This year 2014, Fox released 13 feature films with a result of $1,539,266,539 in total gross [XII]. This includes: X-Men: Days of Future Past, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, How to Train your Dragon 2, Gone Girl and Rio 2, as in order of total ranking.

Image courtesy of: msmagazine.com

Gone Girl was released in October 3, 2014 and it has a domestic total of $160,757,000 as of today November 30th, plus a $173,400,000 of foreign totals while the production budget was only 61 million. Currently in its 5th week, it is ranked number 8 [XIII]. Gone Girl has received many awards including the “Hollywood Film Award” at the 2014 Hollywood Film Festival [XIV].

Penguins of Madagascar is an animated comedy distributed by 20th Century Fox and is its newest film on the market, released on November 26, 2014. This film takes the peculiar penguin characters of the previous Madagascar movies, whom must stop a villain doctor from destroying the world [XV]. As of its first weekend it is currently number two with a total gross of $36 million [XVI].

This has been one of the best years for Fox and they are not planning on backing down. On December 5, 2014 The Pyramid will be released. The Pyramid is about an archaeological team ventures to unlock the mysteries of a lost pyramid and instead find themselves hunted by an insidious creature [XVII].

As Europe’s leading entertainment company, Sky has 20 million consumers across five countries: Italy, Germany, Austria, the UK, and Ireland [XVIII].

Image courtesy of: denofgeek.com

Penny Dreadful is a psychological thriller that brings together literature’s most terrifying classical characters, like Dr. Frankenstein and Dorian Gray [XIX]. It aired on May 11, 2014, and it won “Most Exciting New Series” at the Critics Choice Television Awards [XX]. Penny Dreadful is coming back with its new season for a 2015 debut on the channel [XXI].

In Other News

Image courtesy of: The Independent

Exodus: Gods and Kings has received criticism due to its lack of ethnic diversity, to which Rupert Murdoch decided to respond by tweeting the following: “Moses film attacked on Twitter for all white cast. Since when are Egyptians not white? All I know are.” [XXII]. Murdoch has not received too many good responses about this issue.

Image courtesy of: realscreen.com

On October 10, 2014, 21st Century Fox and Apollo made an agreement to create a leading company multi-platform content provider each of them owning 50 percent. Now Endemol, Shine Group, and Core Media will be a sole group in over 30 markets including digital, gaming and distribution operations [XXIII].

Up until 2018, Fox has 48 movies, including many sequels as well as prequels that are yet to come [XXIV].

[I] News Corporation Limited History From 2002. Retrieved November 27, 2014 [II] NewsCorp Divides Into Two Companies From June 28, 2013. Retrieved November 17, 2014 [III] 21st Century Fox Company Details Retrieved November 27, 2014 [IV] 21st Century Fox Analysis From November 24, 2014. Retrieved November 27, 2014. [V] Fox Broadcasting Company Retrieved November 29, 2014. [VI] 21st Century Fox Retrieved November 27, 2014. [VII] American Horror Story Retrieved November 29, 2014 [VIII] American Horror Story Numbers From October 13, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014 [IX] Monday Final Ratings From September 23, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014 [X] Gotham TV Show From September 22, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2014 [XI] ASC Nominations for TV Cinematography From November 19, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2014. [XII] 20th Century Fox Box Office Mojo From November 23, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2014. [XIII] Box Office Mojo Retrieved November 30, 2014. [XIV] Gone Girl Tops Hollywood Film Awards From November 14, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2014. [XV] The Penguins of Madagascar Retrieved December 1, 2014 [XVI] Penguins of Madagascar Box Office Mojo Retrieved December 1, 2014. [XVII] The Pyramid Retrieved November 30, 2014. [XVIII] Sky Retrieved November 29, 2014. [XIX] Penny Dreadful TV Series Retrieved November 30, 2014. [XX] Penny Dreadful Awards Retrieved November 30, 2014. [XXI] Penny Dreadful First Look From November 21, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2014. [XXII] Rupert Murdoch’s Response From November 30, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2014. [XXIII] 21st Century Fox and Apollo From October 10, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014. [XXIV] New Movie Releases Retrieved November 30, 2014.

20th Century Fox

Posted on November 30, 2014 by jsnimmer

By: Yonah Nimmer

– Photo Courtesy of filmbaza.net [I]

Contact Information: [II]

Phone: (310) 369-4636

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.

10201 West Pico Boulevard,

Los Angeles, California 90035

Website: http://www.foxmovies.com/

Key Executives:

Rupert Murdoch Chase Carey

(Chairman and Chief Executive Officer) (President and Chief Operating Officer)

– Photo Courtesy of Luxedb.com [III] – Photo Courtesy of theaustralian.com [IV]

James Murdoch John Nallen David Hill

(Co-Chief Operating Officer) (Senior Executive Vice Presidents)

– Photos are Courtesy of 21cf.com [V]

James N. Gianopulos

(Chairman and CEO of Film)

– Photo Courtesy of Hollywoodgreekreporter.com [VI]

———————————————————————————————————

Company Overview

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, commonly referred to as 20th Century Fox, is one of the six major American film studios. The company was founded nearly eighty years ago on May 31st, 1935, as a result of the merge between Twentieth Century Pictures and Fox Film Corporation [VII]. Fifty years later, in 1985, this studio continued to blossom, becoming a subsidiary of News Corporation [VIII]. In 2013 however, News Corporation separated into News Corp and 21st Century Fox, with the latter preserving Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Based in Los Angeles California, this studio is currently the second largest film studio, following Warner Brothers [IX]. While involved in all aspects of the film industry, this company mainly focuses on film production and distribution. 20th Century Fox is infamous for creating everything from their thriving Star Wars series to the highest grossing film worldwide, Avatar [X].

Financials

In 2013, 20th Century Fox had a total domestic gross of $1.06 billion dollars, a 4% growth from profits in 2012. Having 18 films released that year, each film made an average of $87.5 million in profit [XI]. So far in 2014, (through December 1st), 20th Century Fox has seen their best results of the past decade, grossing a total of $1.5 billion domestically [XII].

In the 3rd quarter of 2014, including the months of July, August, and September, the studio grossed $427 million through 9 films that played in theaters around the globe. Only 3 of these, Dawn of the Planet Apes, Let’s Be Cops, and The Maze Runner, were actually released during this time period though. With budgets of $34 and $17 million, both Let’s Be Cops and The Maze Runner were successful in breaking even during opening weekend. Nonetheless, neither of them can compare their profits to Dawn of the Planet Apes. While the budget for this sequel was $170 million, the film gathered a total gross of $708 million. From just this one movie, 20th Century Fox profited over $530 million [XIII].

In the 4th quarter on the other hand, a mere 2 films were produced and distributed, Gone Girl and The Book of Life. Both of these movies were a huge success, grossing $416 million for the studio [XIV].

GONE GIRL

[a]

Gillian Flynn adapted her best selling novel, Gone Girl, into an American mystery thriller film directed by the infamous David Fincher. This movie tells the story about NickDunne, a husband who discovers his wife is missing. Unfazed by the matter, neighbors question his strange behavior, eventually discovering his web of lies. Family, friends, and acquaintances are all forced to contemplate the same question: Did he kill his wife? [XV]

With lead actors such as Neil Pattrick Harris, Rosamund Pike, and Ben Affleck, crowds flocked to watch this film on opening night, October 3rd, 2014 [XVI]. Available in 3,014 theaters, this film grossed $37.5 million opening weekend. It topped the box office charts, making more than the new release, Annabelle. While that sounds like a large sum of money, it is merely 62% of the $61 million budget. Expanding to 3,249 theaters, the film eventually came up on top benefiting $159 million domestically and $171 million in the foreign market. Currently its in 8th week in theaters, the film has grossed $330 million worldwide [XVII].

The Book of Life

[b]

The Book of Life, an animated film directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez, tells the legend of Manolo, a troubled dreamer, who embarks on an epic journey through mythical, magical, and mysterious worlds in order to protect his village and rescue his true love [XVIII].

20th Century Fox continues to castA-list actors in the film such as Christina Applegate, Channing Tatum, and Ice Cube. This PG rated movie had a budget of $50 million. Released in 3,071 theaters, The Book of Life racked in $17 million on opening weekend, October 17th-19th. It was third on the box office charts, $500,000 behind Gone Girl, (which was on it’s 3rd week at the time). Domestically, this film grossed $48 million, which makes up 55.6% of their earnings. The foreign market on the other hand made $38 million, totaling $86 million internationally [XIX].

What’s in Store for the Future?

20th Century Fox has already scheduled the distribution dates for their next 46 films, all the way up to the release of Puss in Boots 2 on December 21st, 2018 [XX]. Throughout 2014, the studio has produced 13 films thus far, with the plan of 3 more to come [XXI].

This December 5th, Fox is releasing The Pyramid, a horror movie about a group of

archaeologists that become trapped in an ancient Egyptian pyramid [XXII]. Gregory Levasseur, the director, is a successful screenwriter in the industry with no previous directing experience [XXIII].

On December 12th, Fox will release Exodus: Gods and Kings, a modern depiction on

the defiant leader, Moses, as he revolts against the Egyptian Pharaoh, Ramses. With a great use of visual effects and 3D immersion, the budget of this film is much greater than The Pyramid [XXIV]. The director, Ridley Scott, who also directed Gladiator, exclaims that “this is his biggest epic yet” [XXV]. This movie includes well known actors such as Joel Edgerton and Christian Bale. With all that said, this film has received negative reviews, a 63% rating from Rotten Tomatoes. Nevertheless, 98% of audience members on the website still want to see it [XXVI].

Lastly, Fox is releasing their last film of the year, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, on December 19th [XXVII]. Seeing that the original Night at the Museum profited $575 million, the company has high hopes for this sequel [XXVIII]. It is once again directed by Shawn Levy, starring Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, and Robin Williams. The biggest difference this time is that the iconic Robin Williams passed away recently. Without a doubt, many viewers will go see the film for the sole sake of seeing one of the last roles played by Williams [XXVII].

Overall, 20th Century Fox has had an extremely successful year. With hit films such as

Dawn of the Planet Apes, Gone Girl, and The Book of Life, they have accumulated 1.5 billion domestically this year. Nonetheless, the studio hopes to end off 2014 with a big bang through there next three upcoming movies. While this year was a success, that simply means they must do even better in 2015.

Sources:

[I] 20th Century Fox Logo Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[II] Fox Contact From October 6, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[III] Rupert Murdoch Photo From July 21, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[IV] Chase Carey Photo From May 10, 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[V] Murdoch, Nallen, & Hill Photos Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[VI] Jim Gianopulos Photo From April 20, 2009. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[VII] Founded Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[VIII] Subsidiary Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[IX] Studio Size Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[X] Previous Projects Updated November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XI] 2013 Statistics Updated November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XII] 2014 Statistics Updated November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XIII] 3rd Quarter Statistics Updated November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XIV] 4th Quarter Statistics Updated November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XV] Gone Girl Synopsis Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XVI] Gone Girl Cast Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XVII] Gone Girl Statistics Updated November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XVIII] Book of Life Synopsis Updated November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XIX] Book of Life Statistics Updated November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XX] Upcoming Films Updated November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XXI] 2014 Statistics Updated November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XXII] The Pyramid Synopsis Updated November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XXIII] Levasseur’s Past Work Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XXIV] Exodus Synopsis Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XXV] Ridley Scott Quote From August 17, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XXVI] Exodus Ratings Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XXVII] Night at the Museum 3 Release Date Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XXVIII] Original Night at the Museum Statistics Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[XXIX] Night at the Museum Cast Retrieved November 29, 2014.

Trailers

[a] Gone Girl Trailer From July 7, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

[b] Book of Life Trailer From May 29, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.

Time Warner (TV/cable channels only)

Image

by Cameron MacPherson

[1] Time Warner Logo

Time Warner Inc.
One Time Warner Center
New York, NY 10019-8016
212-484-8000
www.timewarner.com

About

Time Warner, Inc. is an American media company with properties in the television and film industries, including cable properties under the Turner Broadcasting System, its premium cable property Home Box Office (HBO), and its production unit Warner Brothers Studios. [2]

[3] Time Warner has three major divisions: HBO, Turner, and Warner Brothers

Executives

[4] Jeff Bewkes, Chairman and CEO

[6] Gary L. Ginsberg, Executive VP, Corporate Marketing and Communications

[5] Howard M. Averill, Executive Vice President and CFO

Financials and Strategies

Time Warner Inc., a publicly traded company, posted a $29.8 billion revenue for 2013, a 4% increase from 2012. [7] On July 16, 2014, news broke that Time Warner had rejected an $80 billion buyout offer from 21^st Century Fox. The proposal offered $85 a share for a stock that, just before the announced rejection, sat just above $70 a share. [8] CEO Jeff Bewkes has made a commitment to reach the $85 per share target to encourage stockholders that the company has growth potential. Under Bewkes, the financial strategy of the company has been to minimize expenses to maximize profits. Time Warner Inc. has recently spun off Time Warner Cable and Time Inc. properties, retaining only its Turner cable properties, HBO, and the Warner Brothers Studios. [9]

Time Warner rejected a buyout bid from 21st Century Fox

[12 ] Time Warner rejected an $80 billion buyout bid from 21st Century Fox

Even with a smaller portfolio of properties, the emphasis on streamlined efficiency still dominates Time Warner’s financial strategy. In recent months, there have been layoffs in all three of Time Warner’s divisions. Turner Broadcasting offered a buyout option to 6% of its staffers in August, two months before announcing that the company would cut 1,475 jobs.[10][11] Time Warner cut seven percent, or 150, of its domestic employees for HBO in late October, one week before cutting 1,000 jobs at Warner Brothers Studios. [13][14]

The strategy, to this point, has been successful. The newly enacted efficiencies and bold strategies for expansion of Time Warner’s HBO property have led to a surge in market valuation. On November 30, the price of Time Warner’s stock reached $85.12 per share, 12 cents above the buyout offer from 21^st Century Fox in July (before falling slightly below the line the next day). [15]

[13] A graph showing the price of Time Warner's stock prices over the last three months (TWX)

[16 ] A graph showing the price of Time Warner’s stock prices over the last three months (TWX)

HBO Developments

[17 ] HBO, a division of Time Warner

According to Time Warner, a major reason for rejecting the buyout offer was the growth potential of HBO. On September 16, ten days after 21^st Century Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch withdrew his buyout offer, Time Warner announced plans for a fourth quarter marketing push for HBO across broadcast, cable, and digital platforms. [18] A week later, HBO partnered with AT&T to offer customers broadband service, HBO GO, and Amazon’s Prime membership for a limited time offer. [19] The move, similar to Comcast’s “Internet Plus” package, signaled another step towards unbundling HBO from pricey cable subscriptions. Just a month after that, Time Warner made a major announcement that expanded on this departure from cable bundles. Time Warner stated that it planned to offer a standalone streaming platform through its online HBO GO service starting in 2015. The service will be available without a cable subscription to HBO, using broadband as its distribution channel. [20] While the details about available programming and distribution channels are yet to be released, many analysts predict the over-the-top service will be marketed towards cord-cutters and millenials rather than those with existing HBO subscriptions. [21]

With the new online streaming service, Time Warner hopes to attract customers to HBO who might otherwise be deterred by cable’s lofty price tag. Additionally, it has positioned itself as a viable competitor to Netflix in the digital arena. HBO has fewer domestic subscribers than Netflix, but far more international subscribers; HBO boasts 130 million global subscribers to Netflix’s 50 million. [22] In recent months, Time Warner has sought to expand this international presence. HBO struck a deal with Chinese content distributor Tencent Holdings Ltd., granting the Chinese media giant the exclusive rights to distribute HBO’s original programming. Tencent Video, the company’s online streaming site, will air episodes of HBO shows that have become wildly popular in China through piracy sites. [23] Executives at HBO hope that this move will cut down on piracy, and create a loyal fan base in the world’s most populous country.

Programming

HBO

[24] In 2014, HBO aired the final season of its hit crime show, “Boardwalk Empire”

HBO is known for its award winning original programming and loyal fan bases, particularly with hits like “Game of Thrones,” and “True Detective.” One such program, the smash crime hit “Boardwalk Empire,” finished its television run after five seasons. The series, which has won 18 Emmys, had a strong showing with 2.3 million viewers tuning in live for the series finale. When coupled with a same-night rerun and HBO GO statistics, total same-day viewers exceeded 6.6 million. [25]

HBO launched the final season of its news drama "The Newsroom" [26]

[27 ] HBO launched the final season of its news drama “The Newsroom”

HBO launched three new shows in its Sunday lineup, including the third and final season of Aaron Sorkin’s “The Newsroom.” The premiere of the truncated season reached a disappointing 1.2 million viewers live, a 40% decrease from the season two premiere. This year, the series does not benefit from the strong lead-ins of “True Blood” and “Boardwalk Empire,” leading to decreases in live ratings. [26]

It should be noted that live viewership is not as important for HBO due to its lack of advertising. Only about 25 to 30 percent of viewers watch programs live on HBO, as many viewers use the on-demand services or the web-based HBO GO. [28]

Turner

[31 ] Turner CEO John Martin

Turner Broadcasting and its CEO John Martin have expressed a commitment to take more “creative risks,” and announced that the company would double its funding for original programming by the end of 2018. [29] Turner’s TBS and TNT channels have greatly benefited from airing live sporting events. Alongside Disney, Time Warner renewed its rights to air live NBA games through the 2024-2025 season. TNT is granted the rights to broadcast 64 games a year. [30]

The 2014 American League Championship Series on TBS was the most viewed MLB playoffs on the network since 2010. The 2014 ALCS averaged 4.3 million viewers, despite featuring teams from mid-sized markets. [32] Because sporting events can draw large numbers of live viewers, Turner is able to charge higher prices for advertising and licensing fees. Thus, investing in live sporting rights will continue to be a major component of Turner’s business strategy.

The mass viewership of sporting events gives Turner additional leverage in negotiations with television distributors. When contract negotiations were stalling between Dish Network and Time Warner in October, Dish Network suddenly blacked out many of Turner’s cable channels, including CNN, TruTV, and Cartoon Network. Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen stated that while blacking out these channels was a “non-issue,” it would be “more painful” to take down the popular Turner channels Dish had left running: TBS and TNT, which both carry major sporting events. [33]

Future

The future of Time Warner will be heavily scrutinized by corporate analysts. The question remains: can Time Warner create sustained growth, or was it foolish to pass

[34] The Time Warner Center, headquarters of Time Warner, Inc.

on the 21^st Century Fox buyout offer? Time Warner has made decisions to bring its stock prices up in both the short-term, through corporate restructuring and job layoffs, and the long-term, through strategic HBO expansions and property spinoffs. Only sustained growth, most likely fostered by HBO’s continued expansion and Turner’s programming decisions, will determine the success of Time Warner.

[1] Time Warner Inc. logo. Timewarner.com, retrieved 1 December 2014

[2] Time Warner Inc. Timewarner.com, retrieved 1 December 2014

[3] Time Warner Operating Divisions. Timewarner.com, retrieved 1 December 2014.

[4] Jeff Bewkes bio page. Timewarner.com, retrieved 1 December 2014.

[5] Howard Averill bio page. Timewarner.com, retrieved 1 December 2014.

[6] Gary Ginsberg bio page. Timewarner.com, retrieved 1 December 2014.

[7] Time Warner’s quarterly reports. Ir.timewarner.com, retrieved 1 December 2014.

[8] “Time Warner rejected $80B offer from 21st Century Fox: Sources”. CNBC, 16 July 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[9] “Time Warner Profit Tops Estimates as CEO Pursues Growth”. Bloomberg.com, 5 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[10] “Turner Broadcasting offers voluntary buyouts”. CNN Money, 26 August 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[11] “Turner Broadcasting, Home of CNN, TBS and TNT, Will Cut 1,475 jobs”. The New York Times, 6 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[12] “Time Warner’s HBO to cut 7 percent of staff”. Reuters, 28 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[13] “Warner Bros. Layoffs Beginning Tuesday to Eliminate Roughly 1,000 Jobs”. The Hollywood Reporter, 3 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[14] Twenty First Century Fox logo. Logopedia, retrieved 1 December 2014.

[15] Time Warner (TWX) stock. MarketWatch, retrieved 1 December 2014.

[16] Graph of TWX stock. Google Finance, retrieved 1 December 2014.

[17] HBO logo. Homeboxoffice.com, retrieved 1 December 2014.

[18] “Time Warner Plans HBO Marketing Push to Speed Growth”. Bloomberg.com, 18 September 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[19] “AT&T Lures Cord Cutters With $39-a-Month Deal for Broadband, Amazon Prime and HBO”. The Wall Street Journal, 23 September 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[20] “HBO Plans New Streaming Service, With Eye on Cord Cutters”. The New York Times, 15 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[21] “Before HBO Starts Streaming, Time Warner Wants to Make Big Cable Happy”. Businessweek, 5 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[22] “The battle between Netflix and HBO is just beginning. And this man holds the key”. The Washington Post, 28 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[23] “Tencent to Distribute HBO Dramas, Movies Online in China”. Nadsaq, 28 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[24] Boardwalk Empire poster. IMDB, retrieved 1 December 2014.

[25] “‘Boardwalk Empire’ Ratings: Series Ends With 2.3M Watching HBO Finale”. Deadline, 27 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[26] “HBO Has a Quiet Sunday With ‘Newsroom’ and ‘Comeback’ Returns”. The Hollywood Reporter, 11 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[27] Businessweek, ibid.

[28] The Newsroom poster. IMDB, retrieved 1 December 2014.

[29] “Turner Broadcasting CEO Pledges to Double Original Programming Investment”. The Hollywood Reporter, 12 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[30] “Walt Disney, Time Warner Said to Renew NBA TV Contracts”. Bloomberg.com, 6 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[31] John Martin bio page. Turner.com, retrieved 1 December 2014.

[32] “TBS Finishes Its Most-Viewed MLB Postseason Since 2010”. Multichannel.com, 16 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[33] “Turner Warns Dish Users That TNT & TBS Might Follow CNN, Toons Going Dark”. Deadline, 18 November 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

[34] Associated Press file image of the Time Warner Center. Syracuse.com, 08 August 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2014.

20th Century Fox

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Evette Yedid

CONTACT

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp
10201 West Pico Boulevard,
Los Angeles, California 90035

www.foxmovies.com
www.foxstudios.com
Phone: (310) 369-1000

KEY EXECUTIVES:

(http://www.theempressofdress.com/2012/12/02/20th-century-fox/)

[10] via The Empress of Dress Blog

Mr. Keith Rupert Murdoch, 82 years old
Chairman of the Board and CEO

HIS TEAM [3]
Mr. Eduardo Echeverria – Senior VP of Latin America
Mr. Michael Peikoff – Senior VP of
Licensing and Merchandising
Mr. Robert Marick – Executive VP

BIO

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, better known as 20th Century Fox, is one of the top six world-renowned American film studios. It is a fully-equipped studio with over 17 stages, based out of the Century City area of Los Angeles, California. It is a subsidiary of the major media conglomerate 21st Century Fox as of recent divisional affairs. Major motion pictures from the studio include Avatar, Star Wars, X-Men, and Independence Day. [5]

[10] via Empress The Dress Blog

HISTORY

  20^th Century Fox began as Fox Film Corporation, which was started by movie theater chain entrepreneur William G. Fox. He began Fox Film Corporation when he merged his two companies Greater New York Film Rental and Fox Office Attractions Company in 1915, unknowingly creating the foundations of one of the biggest film production companies in American history. Fox Film Corporation eventually merged with Twentieth Century Pictures on May 31, 1935 to become what we know today as The Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, or simply, 20^th Century Fox. [1]

20^th Century Fox is a subsidiary of the newly established 21^st Century Fox. This past June 2013, mega-media distributor News Corporation (founded by Rupert Murdoch in 1979) was split into two separately traded companies; 21st Century Fox and News Corp. The film/media assets (20^th Century Fox Studios) went to 21^st Century Fox, and the publishing assets went strictly to News Corp. This highly anticipated split was achieved to appease long-term shareholders who were tired of the lesser of the successes, the publishing assets, from weighing down the stock. [4 ]

FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT

21^st Century Fox (the owner of the subsidiary 20^th Century Fox) is publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol FOXA. As of last week (Tuesday, November 5^th) it has been an official quarter since the June 2013 split of News Corporation into News Corp and 21^st Century Fox. Since the split, the quarter report reveals that 21^st Century Fox profit has experienced a 44% profit loss. Net income for the past quarter was 1.26 billion or 54 cents a share [8] whereas a year ago, it was 2.23 billion or 94 cents a share. This drop may be due the launch of two new cable channels, FXX and Fox Sports 1, however Fox executives recognize their success take time. “We knew going in that building these networks would take a few years, not months, and many of our signature events and programs are yet to be launched” Chase Carey, Chief Operating Officer of 21^st Century Fox, said. However in terms of studio revenue, there was a 9% increase to $2.12 billion in the past quarter, partially attributed to the sale of popular TV series New Girl to Netflix and strong movie releases such as The Wolverine and The Heat, although neither compared to last year’s blockbuster Ice Age: Continental Drift. [7]

CURRENT NEWS 

Via IMP Awards [16]

In Theaters now: 20th Century Fox recently released the young adult film The Book Thief on November 8, 2013, based on the best-selling novel. It tells of the journey of a young adopted girl, Liesel, and her life-changing experiences during World War II in Nazi-occupied Germany. Because of the film’s heavy theme and need to find its niche audience, it is being released gradually. Over opening weekend it was only released in four theaters (two in New York and two in LA), the second weekend it opened in 29 theatres, and its major release will be November 27, over Thanksgiving weekend. [12] The film ranked #30 in terms of gross total and has made a total of $569,000 thus far, although greater success after its main release is highly anticipated. [11] On the same day The Book Thief was released, another 20^th Century Fox motion picture, 12 Years A Slave, took box offices by storm. It is the story of Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, who is sold into slavery in the antebellum south. The movie is in its 5^th week and ranks #8 on top grossing movies on the past weekend. It has made nearly 25 million dollars and is showing in 1,411 theatres. [11]

Past successes of the quarter include the drug trafficking thriller The Counselor (which currently ranks #18 in its 4^th week) which has made $16,582,000. Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake’s Runner Runner came in third in its opening weekend, after Gravity and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. Although it did not receive much praise from the critics, Runner Runner’s international release helped its numbers greatly. It grossed a domestic total of over 19 million dollars and adding this to its foreign box office totals, the film has earned over 60 million dollars. [14]

[17] via Chicago Now

Other films released this year include the indie teen romance The Spectacular Now, comedy The Internship, and 3-D animated kids movie Epic. In 2012, 20^th Century Fox hits included Life Of Pi, Lincoln, and Diary Of Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. [13]

WHAT’S TO COME?

Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty will finish out 20^th Century Fox’s releases of 2013. For 2014, Devil’s Due, Son of God, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, The Maze Runner, the extremely expensive sequels X-Men: Days of Future Past, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, are all in store. [13]

20^th Century Fox recently began discussing plans for the creation of a theme park near Miami Florida’s Zoo, after its recent agreement to create one in Malaysia. The plan would consist of 70 acres of a traditional “Orlando-style” amusement park with rides and attractions themed around the studio’s recent hit movies, such as Rio, Ice Age, Life of Pi, and Night at the Museum. There would be a separate 16-acre water park, an expansive hotel, a movie theater (used for Fox film premiers), a concert hall, a shopping strip, and a sports park. The cost of the park is 1 billion dollars, although Fox is only looking to pay $800 million of it, and hopes Miami-Dade County can fund the rest. Although nothing is finalized yet, Fox projects a dual-phased opening, one in 2018 and one in 2020. [15]

SOURCES:

[1] The Studio Tour – Fox Timeline

[2] 20th Century Fox – Directory of Services

[3] BusinessWeek FOXA – Private Company Information

[4] Paid Content Article – News Corporation Split

[5] Fox Studio Chart – Box Office Mojo

[6] IMDb The Book Thief

[7] News Corporation Split via The Guardian

[8] FOXA Stock graphs on MarketWatch.com

[9] Kell, John. Market Watch: 21^st Century Fox profit drops 44%; Sales Gain

[10] Photos via Blog The Empress of Dress

[11] Box Office Mojo – Fox Weekend Chart Movies

[12] Background on The Book Thief via Yahoo! Entertainment News

[13] www.foxmovies.com – Fox main website

[14] IMDb Page – Runner Runner

[15] Munzenreider, Ken. 20th Century Fox Has Plans for Major Theme Park Near Zoo Miami via miaminewtimes.com

[16] The Book Thief Photo via IMP Awards

[17] Runner Runner Photo

20th Century Fox

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Rebecca Drootin

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp

10201 West Pico Boulevard,
Los Angeles, California 90035

Mail: P.O. Box 900,
Beverly Hills, California 90213
Phone: 310-277-2211
Fax: 310-203-1558
www.foxmovies.com [1]

20th Century Fox’s iconic logo.

Summary:

20th Century Fox is a film production and distribution company under Fox Entertainment

Recent Best Picture winner, Life of Pi, is a 20th Century Fox film.

Group which is a part of the media conglomerate, News Corporation. The company releases about 14 films a year many of which have been very successful [1]. 20th Century Fox formed in 1935 and has been one of the top film studios for almost a hundred years [2]. The subsidiary companies to 20th Century Fox include Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox International Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios [1]. 20th Century Fox is most notably responsible for James Cameron’s films Avatar and Titanic as well as classics such as the Star Wars series, Home Alone, the Ice Age series, Independence Day, The Sound of Music, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and hundreds more [4].

Fox Searchlight’s logo

Fox Searchlight is a speciality division under 20th Century Fox. The company tends to release smaller budget, niche-genre films. Many of Fox Searchlight’s films have earned Academy Award nominations and wins such as Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, Slumdog Millionaire, The Descendants, and Black Swan [4].

Executives [15]

Rupert Murdoch

Chris Petrikin- Executive Vice President, Global Communications
Rupert Murdoch- Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Robert Marick- Executive Vice President
Ricardo Crespo- Senior Vice President of Global Creative
Thomas E. Rothman- Board Member
Robert Harpe- Board Member
James Gianopulos- Board Member

Financial Information

News Corp’s current share price is $30.9 up 36.6% from 19.58 at this time last year. Their revenue for the year 2012 was $34.33 billion a 2% increase from their 2011 revenue of $33.4 billion [3].

This graph represents the share price of News Corp stock since 2008 [9].

20th Century Fox is currently number 4 in the market, holding an 11.7% share. It has grossed $256.9 million. Compared to its position in April of 2012, it is down $40 million in revenue, with the same amount of films released. In 2012, they finished 6th in the market with a 9.5% share, releasing 15 films. 2012 was a successful year, having increased profits from 2011 by 4.9%, up from $977 million to $1 billion [4].

Fox Searchlight is currently 16th in the market with a .2% of the market share. It has currently grossed $4.5 million at the box office with the release of 4 films so far this year. Searchlight finished 2012 grossing $117.8 million, down 22.7% from the 2011 gross of $152.4 million. For 2012, Fox Searchlight was 12th in the market a slight decline from their 2011 position of 11th in the market. In 2012 they released 10 movies and in 2011 they released 11, most likely causing the decline in profits [4].

Competitors

The Weinstein Company is independently owned unlike most studios that fall under a media conglomerate.

20th Century Fox competes most closely with the five other major studios (Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros, Disney, Universal, and Paramount.) Universal is currently number one in the market, followed by the Weinstein Company, and Buena Vista. Universal has only released 2 films so far this year, one being the successful film, Identity Theif, and have still been experiencing profits from their late 2012 releases including the award winner Les Miserables. Beuna Vista released the high grossing, Oz The Great and Powerful. The recent wild success of the Weinstein Company has caused it to become more comprable in profits to 20th Century Fox than to Fox Searchlight though they release similar types of films. This has largely been due to their award winning films Django Unchained and Silver Linings Playbook. 20th Century Fox has held a high position in the market due to the success of The Croods. Other 2013 releases inclue Broken City and A Good Day to Die Hard [4].

Recent News

After a phone hacking scandal in 2011 and increased pressure from shareholders, News Corp will be splitting into two separate companies mid-2013. 20th Century Fox and all other Fox brands will become a part of a new company titled Fox Group. The publishing side of the company will remain News Corporation. Fox Group is slated to be led by Chase Carey, president and chief operating officer, Rupert Murdoch, chief executive and chairman, and James Murdoch, who will serve as the deputy chief operating officer [6]. Due to this split, 20th Century Fox’s co-chairman Tom Rothman will be resigning, leaving co-chairman, Jim Gianopolus, to lead the entire film division [11].

The 2013 release of The Croods has been notable for more than just its success at the box office. The film is the first to be released under DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox’s new partnership. Formerly, DreamWorks films were distributed by Paramount but the two companies ended this agreement late last year. This new deal has been very profitable for 20th Century Fox, as The Croods grossed $44.7 million in its opening weekend alone [7].

20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios are currently preparing for the release of the film Epic. Director, Chris Wedge, known for the Ice Age films, claims that Epic shows both technological advancement and genre evolution for Blue Sky [12]. The companies are heavily promoting the film that is set to release in May. Teaming up with Rite-Aid, the film will be an official charity partner of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals [13].

20th Century Fox is taking initiative to lead the industry in the new medium of digital media. In September, the Home Entertainment division decided

to release digital copies of the film Prometheus three weeks before the DVD and Blu-ray release. In attempt to make online films more accessible and affordable, the company is also moving to dispel online piracy. 20th Century Fox is the first of the major studios to place such high importance on the release of digital content, calling the initiative Digital HD. Fox will release all recent films on Digital HD in addition to the effort to have over 600 Fox titles available on other digital platforms [8]. 20th Century Fox as well as other studios are currently in a prolonged legal battle with Google due to online piracy issues. The companies are requesting Google to remove links to pirated content but Google is responding by publishing the requests from these companies with direct links to the pirated content. This phenomenon is being called “copyright irony.” [14]

Fox Searchlight recently announced that it will be releasing the upcoming film, Twelve Years A Slave, rather than the parent company 20th Century Fox. The Steve McQueen film features Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, and the young Quvenzhane Wallis. It will premier in December [10]. Fox Searchlight currently has two films in theaters: Danny Boyle’s thriller Trance and Chan-wook Park’s Stoker which experienced festival success [10].

Sources:

[1] http://www.newscorp.com/management/20film.html

[2] http://www.cobbles.com/simpp_archive/zanuck-schenck.htm

[3] http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=NWS+Key+Statistics

[4] http://www.boxofficemojo.com/studios

[5] TRF 235 Lecture Notes: Barbara Jones, Class 2

[6] http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/news-corp-announces-its-corporate-split-and-the-closing-of-the-daily/

[7] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/movies/the-croods-and-olympus-has-fallen-lead-the-box-office.html?_r=2&

[8] http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/20th-century-fox-s-mary-daily-taking-digital-lead/238751/

[9] http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=NWS+Interactive#symbol=nws;range=20080103,20130401;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;

[10] www.foxsearchlight.com

[11] http://www.medialifemagazine.com/people-9-17-12/

[12] http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=101806

[13] http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1149205

[14] http://businessofcinema.com/hollywood/twentieth-century-fox-and-others-in-piracy-battle-with-google/71643

[15] http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/people.asp?privcapId=35867

Photos

1.http://www.foxstudios.com/data/image/teasers/category_bg_home.jpg

2.https://twimg0-a.akamaihd.net/profile_images/495817344/FoxLogo_FanfareVersion.jpg

3.http://www.impawards.com/2012/posters/life_of_pi.jpg

4.http://www.foxsearchlight.com/media/blog_post_images/fsl_logo2.jpg

5. http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/files/2010/09/rupert-murdoch.jpg

6. http://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/articles/2010/11/19/weinstein.jpg?1290168446

7. http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BODU3NzI5ODc1NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODQ2NDU1OA@@._V1_SX214_.jpg

8. http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2011/09/FBI_Anti-Piracy_Warning.jpeg

NewsCorp/Fox

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Adam Kloos Jr

by Adam Kloos

News Corporation

Fox Broadcasting Station

[1][2]

Contact Information [3]:

1211 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY, 10036 United States

(212)-852-7000

http://www.newscorp.com

Key Executives [6]:

Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and CEO

[7]

Rupert Murdoch is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of News Corporation. He is very active within the company and continues to expand into new media outlets.

Jose Maria Anzar, President

[9]

Jose Maria Aznar is the president of News Corporation and former Prime Minister of Spain.

HRTS Kicks Off With "A Conversation With.. Chase Carey"

Chase Carey, President and COO

[10]

Chase Carey is the President and Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation.

Natalie Bancroft, Director

[11]

Natalie Bancroft is the Director of Newscorp. She is part of the Bancroft family that used to own the Dow Jones Media [5].

Gaude Lydia Paez, Vice President of Corporate Communications

[12]

Gaude Lydia Paez is the Vice President of Corporate Communications at FOX Broadcasting Company.

Overview:

News Corporation is a corporation made up of a large number of various media businesses. News Corporation has assets in film, magazine, newspapers, direct satellite television, news, cable broadcasting, cable programming, television programming and broadcast, as well as sports teams and social media [4]. The media conglomerate was created and is currently under control of Rupert Murdoch, who according to Forbes is the 26th most powerful person in the world and the 91st richest[5]. News Corporation currently operates on 5 continents that include North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia [8]. Their main competitors include CBS, NBC/Comcast, and Disney. The FOX Broadcasting Company was launched in 1986 as a fourth broadcast station that has been largely successful in competing with the Big Three. It owns 27 different stations in the US and many more internationally. Throughout the early 2000s until 2012 FOX was the number one watched station by young adults, 18-49 [13].

History:

The history of News Corporation stretches back to 1952, when Rupert Murdoch inherited ‘The Adelaide News,’ a newspaper company his father owned. After returning from school to run the company, Murdoch greatly improved its profits. From there he acquired a number of other newspapers throughout Australia and New Zealand before eventually moving to the British market in the mid-60s. In 1973 he turned his attention to the US where he began buying up American newspaper publishers. In 1980 he announced the creation of News Corporation as a global holding company [4].

In 1985, News Corporation acquired 50% of TCF Holdings which was the parent company of 20th Century Fox. In 1986, 20th Century Fox launched FOX, an alternative to the already existing broadcast stations ABC, CBS, and NBC [14]. In the early 90s, FOX signed a contract with the NFL, giving them the rights to broadcast NFL games on Sundays. Today FOX continues to be the preferred station of youner adults with popular shows such as The Simpsons, American Idol, Glee, Family Guy, Bones, and The X Factor [15].

What They Are Doing Presently?

In 2011, News Corporation was caught in a huge phone-hacking scandal that involved the family of a murdered British school girl by News of the World. There were also accusations of phone-hackings of the London subway bombing victims, families of deceased British soldiers, and an FBI investigation of possible phone-hackings of 9/11 victims. As a result of this, Rupert Murdoch shut down publication of the magazine, News of the World in England and 12 people were arrested. This scandal also caused the company to withdraw a $12 billion bid for shares of British Sky Broadcasting [16]. The arrests and investigation continued into late 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIZNXZVNk74

Apart from the scandal, News Corporation announced in 2012 that they plan to split into two publicly traded holding companies. One division would take care of all film and television assets including 20th Century Fox film studio, Fox Broadcasting Company, and Fox News. The other would have control over the company’s publishing division that includes The Times of London, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Post. Rupert Murdoch would remain chairman of both companies while Chase Carey would remain Chief Operating Officer of the entertainment and media company [17].

What Are Their Plans For The Future?:

Disney and News Corp. are currently in negotiations over the video streaming service Hulu. Jason Kilar, the current CEO of Hulu is planning to leave his postion, and the interim CEO for now is senior vice-president Andy Forssell. Once News Corp. and Disney finalize their negotiations, a permanent CEO will be named to take over Hulu. There has been recent talk of both Disney and News Corp. planning to buy out each others stake in the company. Both companies admitted that Hulu was losing money due to the high costs of liscensing television shows and computer servers [18].

Fox Broadcasting Company is looking forward to “Fox Now,” a collection of apps for mobile devices. These apps allow audiences to view their favorite FOX shows and allow viewers to be more interactive with the content. “T-Commerce” is part of the “Fox Now” app that enables viewers to shop online while watching the show New Girl. The items from the show such as clothing and other paraphenelia would be available to audiences in real time [13].

Programming:

American Idol, 2002-present

[19]

American Idol has been a long running success on the Fox network. It first aired in 2002 and had been the number one watched show for eight consecutive seasons through 2011. The show is very interactive with the audience because the millions of viewers get to decide which contestants get to move on to the next round each week, before eventually choosing the winner [20].

The SImpsons, 1989-present

[21]

The Simpsons is the longest running prime-time animated comedy series in the history of television. Created by Matt Groening in 1989, it is currently in its 24th season. The show focuses on the lives of a dysfunctional lower class family in Springfield. The show is typically family friendly [22].

Family Guy, 1999-present

[23]

Family Guy was created by Seth McFarlanein 1999. Family Guy has remained a hit on Fox since that time and gained an undeniable cult following. Also focusing on the lives of a dysfuncitonal working class family, this show contains content for more mature audiences with it’s slapstick and often raunchy humor. The show is currently in its 11th season [22].

Financials:

By the end of 2012, News Corporation had assets that equaled out to $63 billion and saw a revenue of $34 billion, the highest it had ever been. This was up from 2011 by about $500 million. The increase in revenue can be attributed to its deals with Netflix and Amazon.com for its sitcoms and films [6]. Currently a share of News Corporation is $30.68 [24]. This is improved from exactly one year ago when a share was going for $23.18. Stockholders have been pleased with the strong growth over the past few years, especially the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

Works Cited

1. http://www.logok.org

2. http://www.zenithotimedia.blogspot.com

3. http://www.hoover.com

4. http://www.corporatewatch.org

5. http://www.forbes.com

6. http://www.newscorp.com

7. http://www.guardian.co.uk

8. http://www.nndb.com

9. http://www.en.mediamass.net

10. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com

11. http://www.nymag.com

12. http://www.foxflash.com

13. http://www.thefutoncritic.com

14. http://www.thehistoryofcorporate.com

15. http://www.fox.com

16. http://www.poynter.org

17. http://www.money.cnn.com

18. http://www.news.yahoo.com

19. http://www.roniloren.com

20. http://www.tvguide.com

21. http://www.collegiatetimes.com

22. http://www.imdb.com

23. http://www.tv.com

24. http://www.wsj.com

20th Century Fox

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Bria Holness

by Bria Holness

Photo courtesy of fanpop.com

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp

10201 West Pico Boulevard,

Los Angeles, California 90035

www.foxmovies.com

A Brief History

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, also known as 20th Century Fox, was established on May 31, 1935 when the founders of Fox Film Corporation and Twentieth Century Pictures decided to merge into one. It is now one of the major American film studios that produces, acquires, and distributes motion pictures. Based in Los Angeles, California, it operates as a subsidiary of Fox Entertainment Group Inc. and is responsible for some of the top grossing movies, including Avatar and Titanic. [1] [2]

Quick Financials

During the first quarter, which encompasses the months of January, February, and March, 20th Century Fox brought in a gross income of $256.9 million, a 13.7% decrease in comparison to the first quarter of 2012; however, this is also an 123.7% increase in comparison to 2011. [19]

Key Executives

Keith Rupert Murdoch

Photo courtesy of biography.com

Murdoch is the founder of News Corporation, in which 20th Century Fox is a subsidiary of, and has been its Chairman since 1991. Since 1992, Murdoch has been the Chairman of Fox Entertainment Group Inc. and its Chief Executive Officer since 1995. He operates as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. [2]

Eduardo Echeverria

Photo courtesy of variety.com

Echeverria is Senior Vice President of Latin America at Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and has served as so since 2001. [2] Echeverria manages the sales and marketing operations and theatrical distribution for all Fox Filmed Entertainment product in Latin America. [2]

Michael Peikoff

Since July 1, 2007, Peikoff has been Senior Vice President of Licensing and Merchandising of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. His duties include managing internal and external communication for the licensing division and managing retail marketing and licensed promotion initiatives in the U.S. [2]

Robert Marick

Photo courtesy of licensing.biz

As Executive Vice President since July of 2010, Marick manages the global licensing of Fox’s television and film assets across different platforms including television promotions, interactive gaming, literary publishing, themed entertainment, and consumer products. [2]

Ricardo Crespo

Photo courtesy of centralpa.aiga.org

Crespo has served as Senior Vice President of Global Creative at Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation since July 2010. [2] Prior to joining the 20th Century Fox team, Crespo held several leadership positions at Saatchi & Saatchi, Mattel Inc., Bozell Worldwide, and McCANN ERICKSON. [4]

In The News

Broken City

Photo courtesy of radionowindy.com

20th Century Fox Films released its first film of the year, Broken City, starring Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, and Catherine Zeta Jones, on January 18th. The film told the story of a New York City cop, who one night gets involved in a scandalous shooting. He’s stripped of his badge but kept out of jail by the works of New York’s Mayor, who offers him a lump sum of money to investigate his wife. While doing so he finds himself in the middle of a much larger scandal as he realizes that the Mayor isn’t who he seems to be.

During its opening weekend, the film made about $9 million and $4 million the weekend after. With an estimated budget of $55 million, it has made an overall gross of $19,667,601 up to date. It has received mixed reviews ranging from being called a complete mess to being considered an entertaining thriller. Nonetheless, there seems to be a majority consensus—the cast and the numerous twists are great but can only keep the “weak” storyline going but so far, causing it to receive a B- from Entertainment Weekly. [5] [6]

20th Century Fox employed an interesting marketing strategy for the movie. Instead of featuring promotional quotes from legitimate movie critics, they chose to use tweets from the hashtag, #BrokenCity, in which basically anyone could be a critic.

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The studio believed it was a way to be more personable and interactive and to get fans more excited for the upcoming film. However, the tactic raised many questions about the weight of movie critics’ opinions and whether or not they carry the same weight as the opinions of the fans. [7]

Wahlberg also held a special, early screening of the film as a fundraiser for the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation . He offered a chance to win tickets at Celebrities for Charity. [8]

A Good Day to Die Hard

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20th Century Fox released the fifth movie of the Die Hard franchise, A Good Day to Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis and Jai Courtney, on February 14^th. This is the first of the franchise to not be released during the blockbuster summer months and instead in the cold month of February. [9] The film tells the story of a cop, John McClane, who travels to Moscow to help his unruly son Jack, unaware that Jack is really a CIA agent attempting to stop a nuclear weapons robbery. Despite their differences, they are forced to work together to keep each other and the world safe. [5]

The film was produced for about $92 million. During its opening weekend, it made $24,834,845 domestically and $45,301,894 oversees, giving it the number one spot of films newly released that weekend. [10] However, this is over $70 million less than what the last movie of the Die Hard franchise made in the summer of 2007. With this comparison, it could be considered disappointing. [11]

Very unlike the previous films of the series, the film has been largely slated by various critics. Based on 40 “generally unfavorable” reviews, Metacritic has given the movie a 28 out of 100 and based on 184 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes has given it a score of 4 out of 10. On both sites, several reasons for such low scores have been cited but the majority seems to agree on a muddling plotline with too many holes and twists as the movie’s downfall. [12] [13]

The Croods

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20th Century Fox teamed up with DreamWorks Animation for the first time in the production and release of The Croods, a prehistoric comedy for the family, starring Nicholas Cage, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, and Catherine Keener. It officially premiered worldwide on March 22nd and brought in $43,639,736 during its opening weekend. [18]

The film follows the story of a caveman, Crug, who must lead his family across an unstable and dangerous landscape after an earthquake destroys their home. While doing so they come across a nomad who charms everyone but Crug with his revolutionary modern ways. [14] As of April 1st, with a budget of about $135 million, the film has made $93,893,394 domestically and $148,802,379 from foreign theaters, amounting to $242,695,773 worldwide. [18]

To build up anticipation of the release of the movie, DreamWorks made a deal with Rovio to create a mobile game based on The Croods, an impressive marketing strategy. In the game, the Croods, a family of cave men, find their way out of the Stone Age through the use of a new tool, the idea. They hunt and gather their way through new landscapes as they tame creatures they’ve never seen before.

Rovio released the game for Apple and Android devices on March 14, just about a week before the official release of the film. [15]

What’s Next for 20th Century Fox?

20th Century Fox plans to release another 3-D animated family film, Epic, which is based on the children’s book, The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs. From the creators of Ice Age and Rio, Epic follows the story of a teenage girl, who finds herself magically transported into a secret universe. While there, she must team up with a group of capricious characters in order to save their world and her own from Queen Tara, the evil spider. [16]