The waves caused by the launch of "Grandpa Ranch" last Friday have not dissipated. Daenerys Entertainment has once again created a phenomenon-level hit like "American Idol". With the release of the ratings data of this reality show, on Wednesday, Capital The market still gave the most direct feedback immediately.
At 9:30, the New York stock market had just opened, and Daenerys Entertainment's stock rose 2.6% compared to yesterday's closing price.
This is nothing.
The most eye-catching thing is the share price of Metropolitan ABC Group. During Wednesday's trading day, the stock price of Metropolitan ABC Group directly exceeded the $172 agreement price agreed by the two companies in June. As of the afternoon close, the stock price of this veteran media giant It has reached US$179.75, with a market value of US$21.9 billion.
Compared with the US$172 single share price and US$20.9 billion total market value originally agreed upon by the two parties, the gap between the US$7.75 share price and the total market value of US$1 billion has widened in one day.
Daenerys Entertainment's share price was also locked at US$81.25 at afternoon closing, an increase of 10.1% compared to the agreed price of US$73.75 in June, and its total market value has reached US$171.6 billion.
Speaking of which, the share price of Metropolis ABC Group has actually risen from US$145 when it was announced in June to more than US$179 now, because Daenerys Entertainment originally offered a very high premium. In more than three months, Daenerys Entertainment has The overall growth of Metropolis ABC Group reached 23.5%. Calculated in this way, the growth rate is actually far greater than that of Daenerys Entertainment.
In the past three months or so, the stock trends of the two companies have somewhat violated the conventional laws of previous corporate mergers and acquisitions.
In most corporate mergers and acquisitions, from the conclusion of the agreement to the final merger through regulatory review, the share price of the acquired party usually does not exceed the agreed price reached by the two parties. Just like Metropolitan ABC Group, considering that the transaction may eventually be rejected by the regulatory authorities Waiting for the risk, it stands to reason that it will definitely not exceed US$172.
This is true until the merger passes regulatory review.
Even after it was announced on Tuesday that the transaction had passed the approval of the authorities, the closing stock price that afternoon was only $169.375.
However, when the approval of the merger almost coincided with the news that the ratings of the reality show "American Idol" exploded, it unexpectedly created a rare situation on Wednesday when the shares of Metropolis ABC Group soared and even exceeded the price agreed between the two parties.
What this growth actually reflects is that investors are extremely optimistic about the prospects of the merger between the two parties.
The original "Survivor" allowed NBC to win the market share championship of the public television network for several consecutive years. This time it is also a phenomenon-level reality show with 30 million ratings. ABC will seize the market share of the public television network next year. Championship, there is almost no suspense.
The rules of the media and entertainment industry are like this, full of personal heroism.
To people.
Also for film and television projects.
In the past, FOX once relied on "American Idol" to contribute most of the TV network's profits, and it completely achieved parity with the other three established TV networks with its super high ratings.
However, the fundamental goal of capital’s pursuit of Metropolis ABC Group is Daenerys Entertainment.
Also according to the rules of most mergers and acquisitions, the stock price of the party initiating the acquisition will often fall or even plummet after the news is announced. Just like AOL's merger with Time Warner, one month after the two parties reached an agreement, the stock price of AOL, which initiated the acquisition, It plummeted by more than 20%.
However, in more than three months from the announcement of the merger agreement between Daenerys and Metropolis ABC on June 19 to the closing of the market on the afternoon of September 27, the overall stock price of Daenerys Entertainment Group increased by 10.1%, and the market value was sufficient. A sufficient increase of US$15.9 billion, which is equivalent to more than half of the market value of Metropolitan ABC Group.
Now that an agreement has been reached, unless the transaction is cancelled, payment and settlement must be made in accordance with the original agreement when the two parties merge.
At the close of trading on Wednesday, September 27, Metropolis ABC Group's share price was US$179.75. Compared with the agreed price of US$172, the increase was actually only 4.7%. In comparison, Daenerys Entertainment's stock price has increased by 10.1% in recent months.
The original merger agreement stipulated that Metropolis ABC Group shareholders could freely choose the payment ratio between stocks and cash. According to this calculation, even if all were exchanged for Daenerys Entertainment stocks based on the purchase price of US$179.75, the theoretical increase would be more than 5%. book income.
This is of course just theory.
The key depends on the stock price trend after the two companies officially complete the merger. However, depending on the situation, it is obvious that not many people have a bearish attitude towards the stock price of the new Daenerys Entertainment Group after the merger. After the ratings data of "American Idol" were released, Some Wall Street analysts believe that the share price of Daenerys Entertainment Group after the merger still has room for at least 50% growth, and the total market value is even expected to hit US$300 billion.
If the prediction comes true, exchanging more shares for this merger is obviously the wisest choice.
Even Warren Buffett, who is in Omaha, specifically called to ask for detailed viewing data and expected revenue information of "American Idol". This old-school investor who in Simon's memory once publicly stated that he did not believe in business miracles is obviously also cautious. Consider changing the established exchange strategy of half stocks and half cash.
Buffett has faced great pressure in recent years because of his refusal to invest in technology stocks. In the first half of the year, Berkshire Hathaway's stock price even fell even as the U.S. stock market continued to rise. Still because of Daenerys and Metropolis? The announcement of the ABC merger stopped the decline in the share price of Berkshire Hathaway, the majority shareholder of Metropolis ABC Group.
This time, if most people choose to exchange for more stocks, but Buffett insists on splitting cash and stocks, it is difficult to say whether it will once again arouse investor dissatisfaction, which will lead to another decline in Berkshire Hathaway's stock price.
Warren Buffett looks down on technology stocks because new technology companies are generally in a cash-burning stage, with no clear profit prospects and cash flow that Buffett cares about most.
Daenerys Entertainment is different.
Even if the stock price is on the high side, Daenerys's film, television, games and even music businesses have contributed very generous revenue and profits to the company, and they have remained so despite the fact that the company itself is already an industry giant. growing rapidly. Because it generally adopts a long-term series production strategy, Daenerys Entertainment's business is also very stable compared to the luck-based investments of other media and entertainment giants, and there will be no fluctuations in profits and losses. , these are in line with Buffett's investment standards.
The only drawback is that it is difficult for Buffett to accept the exorbitant share price of Daenerys Entertainment that has exceeded his psychological price.
Now, even if it is still difficult to accept, Buffett still has to consider making a choice that is more in line with the market against his own wishes.
Ordinary viewers will only express some emotion that the stock prices of the two companies have increased. What they are more concerned about is the 5,000 iPlayers promised to be given away in the first episode of "American Idol".
In media comments on Wednesday morning, many people also felt that the success of "American Idol" is inseparable from this large-scale lottery gift giving. Some other TV programs that give out gifts often only give away ten or eight tokens in a symbolic way. There is no such thing as "American Idol" that gives out 5,000 gifts in one episode.
Because this kind of thing is too difficult to deal with.
How to ensure that tens of millions of viewers can vote in a relatively short period of time, how to set up a lottery system, how to ensure fairness, how to send a large number of gifts to the audience after they win, etc., etc., these cumbersome reward draws and distributions process will inevitably mean additional budget expenditures.
This time "American Idol" first solved the voting issue very cleverly.
Each contestant who appears on the screen will have an independent voting number. The audience can call the hotline system specially developed by Verizon Telecom for Daenerys Entertainment. There is no need for manual answering. The audience only needs to enter the contestant number and the vote can be completed easily. .
Voting on an online platform is even simpler.
Log in to the official website, find the voting page, enter the player number, and click Confirm.
Then you can qualify for the draw.
Because the autumn season is still in the audition stage, audience voting is mainly focused on participation, and the competition stage in the spring season after the year will begin to affect the results of the competition.
The 5,000 iPlayers for the first two-episode broadcast will be randomly selected directly through a specially developed online lottery system, and the results will be announced on the official website of "American Idol". Voters need to independently check whether they have won, and then register their address. Nelis Entertainment will send out the prizes one after another.
Except for the final gift delivery, the entire process does not require much manual intervention, thus saving costs to the greatest extent.
Including the delivery of prizes, Amazon's logistics and distribution channels are also used. At this stage, Tinker Bell has opened his own online flagship store in the Amazon online mall. Even the first season of "American Idol" has a total of 100,000 iPlayer players. , compared to the total online sales of Tinco Bayer's main products, it is nothing.
In all of this, the key is coordination between different companies.
Daenerys Entertainment, Tinker Bell Company, Ygritte Company, Verizon Telecommunications Company, etc. There are not so many small companies who can work closely together to make a reality show effective. The ability to give away that many gifts in a short period of time without confusion and unnecessary budget overruns.
These are obviously not something other TV networks can easily do.
After "American Idol" started airing on September 26, "Sex and the City" was launched on the USA TV network on September 28.
Through the popularity of TV dramas such as the Housewife series and Desperate Housewives, the national basic cable network USA Television Network, which originally took over from MCA and then bought half of Paramount's shares, has become one of the most successful basic cable stations in North America. , mainly for female audiences.
Over the years, the number of subscribers to the USA TV network has grown from 21 million when Daenerys Entertainment took over the company to 62 million now, covering more than 70% of the U.S. population. The operator's share has also increased from a pitiful 15 cents to the current 55 cents, which has also increased more than three times.
Therefore, USA Television Network’s current monthly operator share revenue reaches US$34 million, which is half of the total annual revenue of US$60 million when Daenerys Entertainment initially took over the TV station. As for the whole year, because subscribers are still growing at a rapid rate, it is expected that in 1995, the total revenue of the USA TV network's operator share and advertising revenue will exceed 800 million US dollars, and the TV network's net profit is expected to reach more than 100 million US dollars.
Simon has been vetoing the TV department's proposal to open a USA sub-channel in recent years to avoid being too distracted. However, as the USA TV network continues to enrich its content, it will be logical for USA to open USA-2 and even USA-3 next.
The most popular main series of USA TV Network at this stage is still "Desperate Housewives". This TV series, which was launched in 1992, has entered its fourth season. When the fourth season was launched on September 14, the number of viewers for the first episode was reached 12.5 million. "Sex and the City" is scheduled to premiere on Thursday, September 28, in order to use the popularity of "Desperate Housewives" as a precursor. After receiving certain feedback, it will then make adjustments based on the ratings.
Compared with the craze caused by "American Idol", "Sex and the City" is much more low-key.
Because it is no longer produced by HBO, the TV department produced this series into a one-hour drama with a standard length of 43 minutes. The first season has 16 episodes. This time there is no stop-loss plan because the project budget is very low. The cost was only $1.5 million, and the total cost of the first season was only $24 million.
This is because it has to be shot in a high-cost metropolis like New York, otherwise the cost will be lower.
In addition, also because it will be broadcast on the basic cable network USA, the production team also strictly limited the rating of the new version of "Sex and the City" to the TV-14 standard, which means 'not suitable for children under 14 years old', rather than HBO's An R-rated release level.
With "Desperate Housewives", which has a viewership of over 10 million, as the lead, it was broadcast at 9 o'clock in the evening on September 28. The first episode of the first season of "Sex and the City" finally received an average of 7.5 million viewers, which is higher than in several years. The former "Desperate Housewives" was even stronger when it first aired.
Moreover, the review media clearly prefers "Sex and the City" to the popcorn-style "American Idol."
Many well-known film critics published reviews of "Sex and the City" as soon as possible the next morning, and generally gave excellent reviews, with a comprehensive media score of about 8.2 points.
A female film critic from "The Boston Globe" did not hesitate to praise "Sex and the City", "Although it has a very tempting name, it is actually discussing what urban women encounter with a very keen insight. There are problems in all aspects. The plot of the series seems to be scattered and lacks a main line, but it is full of a wonderful charm that makes people immersed in it without knowing it and reluctant to change the channel.
This is actually the result Simon hopes to see most.
The first episode had 7.5 million viewers. According to Nielsen statistics, within one hour of the broadcast, the ratings curve was very stable. There was no surge like "American Idol", and there were no highs and lows in many new dramas. This shows that as long as you watch The audience of this TV series is basically immersed in it.
It will attract 7.5 million viewers when it first airs. It is expected that after the first season, the peak viewership data will exceed 10 million. In the next few years, "Sex and the City" will be enough to become another major show in the United States along with "Desperate Housewives".
The second day of "Sex and the City" premiere is Friday.
September 29 is the last trading day for the U.S. stock market in September.
Stimulated by the continuous success of "Grandpa" and "American Idol", Daenerys Entertainment's share price finally closed at US$83.375 on Friday, with a market value of US$176.1 billion. Metropolitan ABC Group's share price ended at $183.25 on the same day, with a market capitalization of $23.3 billion.
The combined market value of the two companies is US$199.4 billion, only a small gap away from the 200 billion threshold.
This Friday, with the approval of the SEC, the two companies officially announced a one-month suspension. It is expected to open again in early November, and only the brand-new Daenerys Entertainment Group shares will be left on the market.
At the same time, Yigret successfully completed its two-week IPO global road show.
The largest IPO in history with an estimated market value of US$150 billion and a raised amount of over US$18 billion, the total amount of stock subscriptions during the road show still reached more than six times the issuance size. In the afternoon of the same day, Yigrit and a group of underwriters held a press conference in New York to officially announce that Yigrit's shares would be listed on the Nasdaq market on October 6.