MGM held preliminary talks with Apple, Netflix, and other large media companies to gauge their interest in a possible acquisition, reports CNBC.
The report confirms another report from The Wall Street Journal last month that suggested Apple was exploring deals for MGM Holdings content, though the talks had "yet to reach an advanced stage."
A deal with MGM would potentially offer Apple a huge catalog of content to add to Apple TV Plus. MGM owns the James Bond franchise and is responsible for multiple hit TV shows like "The Handmaid's Tale," which currently airs on Hulu. It also owns Epix and the rights to movies like "Rocky" and "Mad Max."
There's no word on when and if MGM and Apple might reach some kind of deal, and all companies declined to comment on the ongoing talks.
Right now, Apple is behind other streaming media services. Apple TV+ features a handful of original Apple shows, like "The Morning Show," "For All Mankind," "Servant," and "See." Some of the shows have been nominated for awards and have proven popular, but Apple has a long way to go to be able to compete with the larger catalogs available from Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+.
Top Rated Comments
Continuing to play with the cash idea, a hypothetical Disney acquisition would be more than 40X larger than the largest acquisition Apple has ever done (Beats at $3B). Bad idea imo. Disney comes with astronomical annual overhead. Most of their revenue comes from their media networks, not studio entertainment. Disney is a hydra that Apple should avoid imo. Apple's better play is to buy what they consider to be wheat (content) and stay away from the chaff that is business interests that don't align with theirs. A lot of Disney does not align with Apple.