Fox's Time Warner bid takes aim at ESPN
FILE - In this Aug. 14, 2012 file photo, News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch speaks during a forum on The Economics and Politics of Immigration in Boston. Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox on Wednesday, July 16, 2014 said Time Warner has rejected an offer it made last month to combine the two media and entertainment giants. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds, File) Credit: AP
The bombshell this week that Fox offered $80 billion to buy Time Warner – an offer Time Warner promptly rejected – has implications throughout the media industry.
But regardless of the other elements of the proposal, one of the biggest motivations for Fox surely is adding to its sports portfolio, and finding a short-cut to an elusive ambition: providing serious competition for ESPN.
With Time Warner’s rights to the likes of the NBA, MLB and NCAA Tournament, Fox would enjoy the kind of power and influence that the Worldwide Leader long has enjoyed – and have a lot more stuff to put on Fox Sports 1.
It’s all a long way off for now, but Fox boss Rupert Murdoch has a history of eventually getting what he wants.
