…presumably. The antitrust folks are already starting to go a little pop-vein on the subject, and while such issues are beyond the scope of this blog now they’re still there. And understandably: with MGM’s library Amazon can compete in the Streaming Wars, and it’s in an unique place for selling you physical stuff while it’s giving you access to said library. I don’t know how much that’s worth, but it’s probably worth something.
Other than that, my earlier opinion stands: meh. Somebody’s gonna buy MGM’s library, and I already have Amazon Prime.
I also have Prime.
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I’d like a better selection, and – according to others’ comments, they would as well. The MGM library isn’t entirely my kettle of fish.. but it might be *their* kettle ..
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I agree, someone was going to buy it .. as someone has frequently done over the last several decades, eh?
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Mew
This would be more of a thing if MGM hadn’t sold off half their library already. They have Bond left, and that’s about it for marquee brands.
….Oh this included rights to The Hobbit films? [*twitch*]
This makes a whole lot more sense in light of Amazon’s new 2nd-Age of Middle-earth series.
Given the .. what comes after incestuous? .. level of inbreeding in Hollyweird licensing deals .. it’s unclear just who owns what.
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What is certain is there’s a LOT of content in the MGM vault, even if most if it is B-grade it’s an upward move for Amazon Prime.
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And yeah, Amazon’s production folks probably know enough to go toe to toe with MGM’s production folks in meetings, too.
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Mew
Yep. Since everyone is getting into streaming, no one will sell/rent their backlist to a third party if they can straight sell it. What do we have now? Disney/20th Century Fox, Amazon/MGM, and Warner/Discovery? That’s a Big Three. Who is Sony going to ally with/sell to? Netflix needs content and they’ll be locked out of everything else before too long.
Anti-trust?
Eh…
If they weren’t going to stop Disney – owner of ABC – from acquiring Fox, then I don’t see how they can stop Amazon from acquiring MGM.