評(píng)論
打印
The film industry
電影業(yè)
Rated “P” for persistent
被評(píng)定為代表執(zhí)著的“P”
Time Warner's boss may not find Rupert Murdoch's overtures so unwelcome
時(shí)代華納公司的老板也許會(huì)喜歡魯伯特.默多克的提議
RUPERT MURDOCH is a man who does not mind walking in his own footsteps. In the 1980s he tried and failed to gain control of the parent company of the Warner Bros. film studio. This week it emerged that Mr Murdoch's 21st Century Fox had made an $80 billion bid for the company's modern incarnation, Time Warner, which also owns cable networks such as CNN and HBO. He was rebuffed, but when has that stopped him?
魯伯特默多克是一個(gè)不介意師心自用的人。在20世紀(jì)80年代他曾試圖控制華納兄弟電影制片廠的母公司，但失敗了。本周有消息稱默多克的21世紀(jì)福克斯公司出價(jià)800億競(jìng)購(gòu)該公司的現(xiàn)代化身—時(shí)代華納公司，其同時(shí)擁有有線電視網(wǎng)絡(luò)，如CNN和HBO。默多克被斷然拒絕了，但是他什么時(shí)候才會(huì)死心？
Such a deal is simpler now than it would have been until recently. Last year Mr Murdoch split Fox from its former parent, News Corp, and earlier this month Time Inc, Time Warner's magazine arm, became a separate, publicly traded firm. A merged Fox and Time Warner would have more bargaining-power with its customers, from pay-TV operators like Comcast to online distributors such as Netflix.
直到最近，這一交易才變得比原來(lái)簡(jiǎn)單。去年默多克將福克斯公司從其前母公司—新聞集團(tuán)分離出來(lái)，且本月初，時(shí)代華納公司的雜志部門(mén)—時(shí)代公司轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)楠?dú)立的上市公司。合并后的福克斯和時(shí)代華納公司將獲得更多與其客戶討價(jià)還價(jià)的資本，包括Comcast這樣的付費(fèi)電視運(yùn)營(yíng)商到Netflix這樣的在線分銷(xiāo)商。
However, a deal would put immense programming power in the hands of one company. Since Fox already has a cable-news network, CNN would reportedly be sold to make the deal more palatable. Even so, regulators still might not find the proposal “fair and balanced”.
然而，一個(gè)交易將使得強(qiáng)大的編程能力落入一個(gè)公司手中。由于福克斯公司已經(jīng)擁有有線新聞網(wǎng)絡(luò)，CNN將按照此前報(bào)道的那樣被出售，以使這一交易更易被接受。即便如此，監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)可能依然無(wú)法認(rèn)可這一提案的“公平和平衡”。
If a marriage does occur, it will not necessarily be with Fox. Jeff Bewkes, the boss of Time Warner, may be playing hard to get while waiting to see if other suitors emerge. The head of a rival media firm muses that Mr Bewkes, who is 62, has been cutting off the undesirable parts of his apple, and has deliberately kept the most alluring bits with the hope of being able to sell it and retire. As for Mr Murdoch, who is 83, he may yet get one of the apples of his eye—after 30 years of trying.
如果合并真的發(fā)生，也不一定是與福克斯公司。時(shí)代華納公司的總裁杰夫比克斯也許是耍了欲擒故縱的把戲，等待著是否有其他的求購(gòu)公司出現(xiàn)。作為競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的一家媒體公司的負(fù)責(zé)人揣摩62歲的比克斯正切除其公司的不良部分，故意保留其最誘人的部分，以期能將其公司賣(mài)掉并退休。至于83歲的默多克在奮斗了30個(gè)年頭后，也許還未曾得到任何一樣他夢(mèng)寐以求之物。
