TheWrap – May 27, 2021 at 09:01AM:
In gobbling up MGM for $8.45 billion, tech behemoth Amazon’s big move into legacy content acquisition is signaling the power of distribution over creative content in the fight for Hollywood dominance, experts say.
“There are starting to be fewer choices for the larger companies that have to keep bulking up…assets are a priority, and I don’t see the trend reversing any time soon,” said Erick Opeka, chief strategy officer and president of Cinedigm Networks. “These companies are battling for global supremacy.”
Entertainment industry analyst Rich Greenfield of Lightshed Partners called the acquisition a “watershed moment” as streaming services are increasingly scrambling for library content alongside developing their own new premium content. Just last week, AT&T made a $43 million deal to merge WarnerMedia with Discovery, uniting HBO Max and Discovery+, a game plan which Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav has said will allow the new entity to differentiate itself from streaming services like Disney+ and Netflix by marrying a combination of news and sports with high profile entertainment franchises such as “Game of Thrones” and Harry Potter.
Tech Takes Hollywood: How Amazon’s MGM Buy Signals a New Order in the Content Game
Thirty Mile Zone 