Chapter 506： USA Network

Last summer, at the height of Jean Messier's life, he received France's highest honor, the Napoleon Initiate Medal, at the Bloomberg Center.

On that elegant occasion, Messier, dressed in a neat blue suit, strode onto the stage with a radiant smile on his face of a successful career.

When the medal was pinned to the lapel of his suit, he started his speech in a tone that people are accustomed to: "It is with great joy that I thank all my friends and loyal partners, look at today's Vivendi Universal, we can reasonably say..."

The past is empty.

On July 3, 2002, Vivendi officially announced that Messier's resignation application was approved by the board of directors.

Vivendi, it's time to change the dynasty.

Michael Ovitz has been matchmaking for Vivendi and Dunn, so Dunn can also get first-hand news.

At present, Vivendi needs to quickly select an experienced and prudent CEO to lead the company out of the predicament.

But how easy is it?

Vivendi's current debt exceeds 34 billion euros. To ease the financial pressure of the huge debt, at least 12 billion euros of assets must be sold; to upgrade Moody's credit rating, at least 20 billion euros of assets must be sold.

What's more difficult is that the asset sale is a long process. Vivendi can't even pay the debt interest now, and urgently needs a short-term loan of 2 billion to 3 billion euros to maintain operations.

This is of course good news for Dunn.

The more money Vivendi lacks, the more he needs Dunn!

At this time, it is estimated that only Dunn in the world can come up with a huge amount of cash in a short period of time to help Vivendi, a company with a bankrupt reputation, to tide over the difficulties.

There is also good news, Dunn's luxury yacht finally made a big circle from the German shipyard and came to Los Angeles!

This is the world's largest private yacht!

Not counting the bilge, there are 4 floors and the height of a three-story building. The classic and atmospheric design has a noble and graceful demeanor.

Once the "nat" logo appeared, it caused a strong shock in Los Angeles.

That night, Dunn invited Hollywood celebrities, including directors, stars, and company management, to a grand reception on the yacht.

The euphemism is to celebrate the successful premiere of "Pirates League: The Curse of the Black Pearl", which has received rave reviews. Those who know the inside story actually understand that Dunn is celebrating the resignation of Vivendi's CEO Messier.

The yacht "nat" has a total of four floors. The top floor is the master bedroom, the promenade and the viewing platform; the third floor is the guest room, restaurant and bar; the second floor is the current reception center, and there are several venues in the next room.

The yacht is on the high seas, and everyone can go there and play a few hands.

Of course, most of the participants are stars, actors and some dancers and models hired to liven up the atmosphere.

People with real status will not show off on such solemn occasions.

Michael Eisner came over with a glass of red wine, "Looks like you're halfway there!"

Dunn looked at him with a smile, and whispered to the girl next to her, Jennifer Connelly, "You can go to the first floor for a walk. There is a swimming pool there. Nicole and Kate are both there."

Then he raised his glass with Michael Eisner and took a sip, "It's still early!"

Michael Eisner disagreed, "Comcast has been haunted by me, Vivendi is in such a bad situation, it needs a lot of money urgently, Universal Pictures... It looks like it's going back to Hollywood."

Tang En said lightly: "Of course! Hollywood's industry, only Hollywood can operate better!"

A somewhat complicated expression suddenly appeared on Michael Eisner's face, "I heard... the movie "Pirates Alliance" is about a group of pirates in the Caribbean Sea?"

Tang En's heart skipped a beat and said calmly, "Yes."

Michael Eisner said: "You know, Disney's Adventure Park in California happens to have a Pirates of the Caribbean park, if possible..."

"and many more!"

Dunn waved his hand immediately and interrupted him, "Michael, don't forget, Disney has amusement parks, and Universal has them too!"

Michael Eisner wants to get the license to update and remodel Disney's Adventure Park to add elements from "Pirates League", which is absolutely impossible.

Amusement parks are an inevitable option after the film and television industry develops to a certain scale, and are a major source of brand value and peripheral income.

Now, the most famous amusement park in the world is undoubtedly Disneyland.

However, Universal Studios is not small!

After Dunn entered Universal, the first step was to change the strategic direction of Universal Studios, expand the park, strengthen its influence, and challenge Disneyland.

With elements of "Marvel," "Harper Little," "Pirates," and later "Transformers" and many Pixar animations, Universal Pictures can certainly shake the status of Disneyland.

Looking for a random reason, Dunn said goodbye to Michael Eisner and walked over to Ron Mayer with a low voice, "How is it? Do you have any inside information?"

Ron Mayer shook his head, "Not yet, but the plan to sell entertainment assets at Vivendi headquarters has basically been confirmed."

"Oh?" Dunn was very excited, "how to say?"

Ron Mayer said: "Yesterday, the financial people in France came to check the assets. Not only Universal Pictures, but Universal Music. USA TV Network, Blizzard Games, Houghton Mifflin Publishing House and other companies."

Tang En pondered for a long time, thoughtful.

Ron Mayer glanced at him, "What do you think of the usa network?"

Tang En laughed dumbly, "What do you think?"

usa television network is a basic cable television network in the United States, including chiller channel, cloo channel, e! channel, usa TV station, high-definition channel, American wonderful TV station, and Esquire TV network, with nearly 20 TV stations covering more than 60 million people in the United States. home users.

In 2001, the net profit was 530 million US dollars and the market value was 4.7 billion US dollars, ranking 15th in the United States!

In December last year, Vivendi spent $10.3 billion to acquire the usa TV network, with a premium of nearly 200%, which shows Messier's madness.

Ron Mayer shook his head and said calmly: "In the past six months, the USA TV network has channels, and Universal Pictures has content, and the turnover has increased by 40%. This is a good combination."

Dunn's eyes narrowed into a line.

He was no longer a business novice, and he knew what Ron Mayer was thinking almost instantly.

The acquisition of Universal Pictures by Dunn Pictures is an almost irreversible transaction.

In this case, Ron Mayer must be thinking about the situation after the merger of the two companies.

He is the chairman of Universal Pictures, Bill McNick is the president of Dunn Pictures, and they are the top managers in Hollywood.

After the company merges, who will dominate?

In other words, how much power can Ron Mayer gain even with Bill McNick as the main player?

The complementary role of Universal Pictures and usa TV network is the greatest confidence of Ron Mayer.

The rate of return and profit margin of Universal Pictures is far less than that of Dunn Pictures. But Universal has a library that Dunn can't match -- 3,600 titles (1,800 exclusive, 1,800 shared) and 100,000 hours of TV shows.

If Dunn Pictures took over the usa network, then Ron Mayer's role would be even greater.

Tang En pondered a little, "But I'm not optimistic about the future of TV networks."

Ron Mayer raised his eyebrows, "sta TV network?"

Tang En shook his head and said, "That's different, sta is a professional cable, and it provides high-quality content."

Ron Mayer was a little uncertain about Dunn's thinking, but just followed him and said: "But if the sta TV network wants to develop, it must use the huge TV network resources to promote its influence when the operators are not strong. "

"Oh?"

"There are so many sports stations in the United States, but why has ESPN become the largest sports TV station in the United States in just over a decade? It is because of the resources of the powerful abc TV network behind it. Now, ESPN has become indispensable to the American people. channel, which in turn feeds back to Disney’s TV network.”

Ron Meyer watched Dunn pondering, and continued: "I know the situation of sta TV network is not very good, the number of users is constantly decreasing, while the number of users of competitors hbo and sho is increasing. Except for sta In addition to the high subscription fees and negative operators, it is because there are powerful TV network resources behind hbo and sho to promote!"

Tang En looked at him with a half-smile, "So... usa TV network is determined to win?"

Ron Meyer said calmly, "USA TV network and Universal Pictures are two companies that work closely together in the Vivendi Entertainment Department. Once they are cut apart, the value of both parties will decline, and Vivendi will not allow this to happen. ."

Dunn frowned, "You mean... Universal Pictures will sell it in a package with the usa TV network?"

Ron Mayer said solemnly: "It's very possible!"

"I see."

Dunn nodded, the problem of TV media has always troubled him.

The next ten years will be a golden period for the development of the cable TV industry.

But ten years later, with the arrival of streaming media, the TV industry will gradually be seen as a sunset industry. Moreover, the market competition in the cable industry is too fierce, and it will face the competition of giant companies such as Disney, Comcast, Viacom, and News Corporation.

So Dunn was very careful about getting involved in the television industry, and only acquired a professional cable TV station.

Because only a TV station like hbo that can provide unique content services can survive the wave of streaming media.

But if, as Ron Mayer said, Vivendi would insist on selling Universal Pictures and USA TV as a package, then he would have to accept it.

"Forget it, even if it is a sunset industry, the TV network will not be in a situation of losing money. It's just that the stock price reflects a little worse, and the price-earnings ratio is not high. As long as there are more profits and more profits, the price-earnings ratio is not afraid of low! Apple is the price-earnings ratio. Less than 20 years later, isn't it also the world's largest company?"

Tang En shook his head and threw out the distracting thoughts.

There must be a way to the front of the mountain.

Anyway, he had foresight, so he could be one step ahead of others and prepare early.

Even if you buy it at a low price and sell it at a higher price in a few years, it is a good deal.

7

(Sanqi Chinese)