Reportedly approached 21st century fox to buy all or parts of the company lets get to Julia Boorstin with the very latest. A developing story, julia, what do you know . Reporter the latest is that comcast is in talks not to buy all of fox but certain assets, the entertainment assets it would not include the broadcast network. Likely a similar assortment of assets that disney was interested in, plus sky in the uk and star in india those two International Assets are particularly important comcast, although its cable assets are here in the u. S. , Nbc Universal is obviously more global but this would really allow comcast to position itself more as an international company. We have confirmed with a source that talks are still happening between fox and disney and it would be with a structure similar to what disney was pursuing now we see fox shares up 5. 5 on the news, comcast shares over 1 certainly a lot of movement in this media space right now, melissa. Weve had earnings reports since that initial report that david faber had reported about disney being interested in the assets of fox. Murdoch said they had the ability to compete in the entertainment business was he just playing the game reporter Lachlan Murdoch reiterated this as foxs Shareholder Meeting this week. Lachlan murdoch said they do not need more scale, theyre fine at the size they are. The message there is we will be fine if one of these deals doesnt happen at the same time, if you listen to the language that lachlan and James Murdoch used on their Earnings Call last week and then on their shareholder call this week, they talked a lot about the value of their brand this is something that both Nbc Universal, comcast, and disney have been very interested in, this big ip, global bands that can be exploited across multiple platforms, theme parks as well as television and movies they also talked about their global presence. This is something that both any and comcast are interested in doing more of. And i think that sky in the uk and particularly star in india are very valuable assets for these Companies Looking for more global exposure. A move like this, the International Case you made very well, julia, but in terms of domestic, providing something over the top, does this help comcast on that front . Reporter i think disney has already laid out its over the top direct to consumer plans they want content, they want brands they want to do a disney direct to Consumer Brand launching in 2019 comcast has its cable network, they already have xfinity, theyre building in different flexibilities. They take some services bundled together with broadband. They have all sorts of different packages but they are still selling tv services i dont know if comcast would do a direct to Consumer Branded product the way the disney is with what its doing for its disney brand of products if you think about the value of those brands, Nbc Universal has a movie studio they also have the theme parks there are various ways they could take the fox brand and do more with them its worth noting, were here in los angeles. The Universal Studios theme park thats just around the corner, there is a big Simpsons Ride simpsons is one of those valuable fox brands. Thank you, Julia Boorstin in los angeles with the latest on this developing story. Its interesting because you were making the point, tim, but a couple of weeks ago. Here was fox, going into earnings and before we get into earnings, we get the disney announcement earnings were very constructive, largely. Then we had this announcement. The stock has now moved 25 from where we were. It gets back to whats the multiple in this sector . Fox has given a lot of ground on their multiple you can make an argument that this changes the dynamic again, if it changes it for fox, it probably changes it for other people and this wouldnt be the place i would go for value in the sector i dont understand why fox would do the deal, it doesnt make any sense from my perspective. Content is the name of the game. You own content, you sell the network. Why would fox want to sell their content off . It doesnt make any sense at all to me. I dont think a deal like that gets done. Its a lot of cash. Thats fine, but content reigns the value of content, you see it, from the at some point of its being bid up for a reason thats whats driving the business right now its definitely been a performer in the space whenever there is smoke, theres usually fire when you look at the other networks or the other properties that are in the area, cbs, viacom, these have been both been beaten up and it probably puts a bid under the whole space, because people are looking for acquisitions now, one might be better than the other. I do believe fox is better than the other. If you look at viacom, viacom is down 32 year to date. You get Something Like a cbs down 11 year to date. I would start looking at those, the boats in the rising tide in terms of the mood were seeing after hours in comcast, does this make comcast a Better Company with these assets . And i ask this because theyve gotten they have broadband and could still charge for broadband even if people cut the cord and go to skinny bundles, whatever but thats not the way the stock is traded. The stock is traded as if cutting the cord is comcasts problem as well. To answer your question, does it make it a Better Company, yes. At a reasonable price, it makes it a Better Company. If they have to overpay for it, its an entirely different conversation you have disney on the other side, this becomes a bidding war. A couple of things stand out to me tim talked about fox it feels like it has room for the old high, which was 38. Viacom, which by the way made a sevenyear low today, i think, 22 and change but at a certain point, listen, i know the viacom quarter wasnt great. The meeting networks was pretty good for viacom. Is it deserving of half the valuation of many of its rivals . I dont think it deserves the same valuation but i dont think it should be half the valuation what does that mean . I think just in terms of rising tide type thing, i think viacom should be looked at here for more on this developing story, lets bring in michael wolf, author of the man who owns the news inside the secret world of rupert murdock. Michael, great to have you with us thanks for having me. What do you make of a comcast plus some of foxs assets tieup i think we should put a stake in the ground and say what we now know, because last week was disney, we had rumors. Now its very clear that fox has put itself up for auction. So i think that we can absolutely say fox is there is going to be some transaction that involves fox assets so fox, 21st century fox, the murdochs as we know them are now almost a thing of the past wow that is saying a lot for a family that has really shaped business, the business of news as well as totally this is a transformational moment so the murdochs are retreating from the Media Business. Rupert murdock, the man that made the modern Media Business, all of the consolidation we have seen now for nearly 30 years has been trailing murdoch. At this point in time hes going in the opposite direction. Thats big this, though, michael, assumes that by selling these assets, the News Business wont become a stronger part you know, that maybe there is this notion amongst the murdochs right now that they have to jettison the rest of this stuff so they can focus on news and it can become the powerhouse it once was the roots of the murdoch empire is in news Rupert Murdochs roots are in News Entertainment has always been a larger part of this company. This company grew on the basis of its investments in the entertainment business the News Business has been for a long period of time a very Good Business for the murdochs but it did not put them into the stratospheric and International League the News Business now, or for the past number of years, has been a not very Good Business. So they are retreating to something that its hard to find the logic here i mean, i believe that one of the things that Rupert Murdoch wants to happen is he wants to merge he wants to take this Company Private and he wants to merge the newspaper business, newscorp. , back into fox he wants his original business back together. Hey, michael, its tim seymour, thanks for joining us youve been saying the media world has been trailing rupert for 30 years are they trailing him now . Do i not want to be buying something that the murdochs are selling . Shouldnt that be telling us something . Yeah, if you believe Rupert Murdoch, if you trust his instincts, and remember the man is now 87 years old, you should be following him but i think you also have to say, is this the Rupert Murdoch who has set out to lead this business, or is this a Rupert Murdoch, an 87yearold Rupert Murdoch who is now saying it is the autumn of his years . Wellsaid michael, thanks so much for phoning us and joining us with your analysis, we do appreciate it, michael wolff. This actually happens with a lot of companies, ceos that are older. Do you want to take the next point . Speak louder. Im just kidding welcome back, by theway, weve missed guy for the last couple of days, good to see you. Im waving hi if you listen to the murdochs, they were making it clear on their Earnings Call, this isnt about us needing that scale and if we cant get scale, were cashing out. Im not sure thats the case the big boys need to get bigger at a time when antitrust is becoming more defensive on the ability to do that but its very clear that the media moguls are becoming vertical and becoming bigger to succeed. What does this say about comcast . I mean, is this a deal comcast needs to do . I think a little great deal for comcast. I think its a horrible deal for fox. Theyre reining in assets that are valuable assets, content assets but i do not think fox makes a deal like that i think it is a bad deal for them its a bad deal for them for fox i believe you have to own content. Thats the stand you have to own content. To divest them or sell them off and just to own the broadcast is not a smart move michael makes a good point in that this is the second whiff of reports that fox wants to sell assets a deal will get done, is his thesis other people would come in for these assets who else would come in for these assets does another Cable Provider want these assets, to your point, to have content of course well, i mean, lets play the game could a google come swooping in at some point . Why not . Could an amazon come in for these assets the nontraditional media companies, are they out there in the weeds . Look, clearly i dont know the answer to that question. Ill say this about theres something going to be done with fox. Whether its a good deal or bad deal, theyre clearly putting themselves out there i do think the stock continues to trend higher from here. For comcast, the International Footprint is really interesting because they do have these properties universal is around the world. And it doesnt have the commensurate presence around the world via cable channels for distribution right but i think youre on to something on the content arm the superhero content that fox does have, that disney probably wanted to put together with their arm of it. You said amazon, ill say netflix. Maybe you start to see some unbundling of a lot of these Different Things i dont know if that deal would get done but if fox wants to sell assets, theres a ripe audience that would pay a decent chunk for these assets but i still go back to, look at the undervalued entities in this sector look at viacom look at cbs. Because everything is going to start to be bid up and theres a lot more beta in a name thats down 32 superheroes, steve, you are cull straighting the superhero look here with that face if this deal goes through and they get sky, that deal is about to close, that will close june 30th there is some question whether that deal gets done. I think it gets done its an important element. Sky, when im traveling the globe, thats exactly what im wev watching theres a lot of value to them expanding that footprint in a world where the Media Business has no borders anymore content is being consumed on a global basis universal i think was a close second this actually puts them in the game now the rumor about disney coming in and taking the tv assets away, investors invest in disney for the nontv assets. I dont see investors buying into this trade. I dont think disney comes in and buys it. Theyre buying the trade. The stock has now rallied. Disney doesnt need this trade anymore, theyve completely changed the narrative, with one Earnings Call there is an Earnings Call where they changed the narrative to the negative this one is to the positive. Its a different story now theyve changed the narrative. The numbers, the last quarter, that disney recorded a week or so ago were not good i know bob iger is a genius and he changed the narrative but valuation, i do think disney trades at a premium valuation, they deserve it. I dont think they deserve the valuation that theyre getting off that quarter which was not very good. You can change all the narratives you want. The proof, as they say, is in the what . Pudding doesnt this get worse for netflix . I say no. We get to a place here where clearly the guys who have distribution are now getting into a stronger content play or the guys that werent in the case of disney, its all about distribution for us. Or the guys with content have much more leverage over netflix. Theyre curating their own content. They still have the international story. It doesnt seem to be hurting netflix. Youre telling me there is no competitive threat whatsoever on the content front to netflix if comcast owns its assets plus foxs . Theres always a threat its got a lot of momentum behind it. Were also talking about this as if its a zero sum game. I believe theres going to be a couple of Different Things that youre paying, whether its on your app, your laptop, or your television, theres enough room for a lot of these guys to have a lot different streaming. Its not one buyer or one guy holds the whole space. This chase for content has been basically derived from netflixs sort of efforts. They went out and spent money, they basically own hollywood they spend as why they see the value in it. Now youre seeing other players come in and realize the value. Theyre just behind the ball here disney has gone from a 19 multiple down to 15. Viacoms only content. You may not like their content but why is content trading at a discount content is not king the way it was a year and a half ago. One last question before we go to break. Who gets the biggest multiple boost from this deal in this space if this deal goes through . Comcast is a pretty big multiple right now i think comcast is 17 1 2, 18 times forward earnings impressed to think theyll go much higher than that i get it, its a disaster. You would have a 50 gain in price to earnings multiple, get it up to a nine, and its still cheap. I think viacom coming up, much more on these reports that comcast is looking to buy parts of 21st century fox as the story develops a wild day for the market, surging back after a rough week for stocks is this the beginning of a rally . And tesla shares clawing back from bear market territory, down 19 from its 52week high in september as it is gearing up for its semi truck unveil in just a few hours will the new vehicle blow your mind as elon musk has promised . Well have all the details the man who called the walmart rally in august, former jcpenney ceo ron johnson is here well tell you what other name could have a walmartlike revival, after that. Every day, on every street, in every town, across america. Small businesses show their love to you. With some friendly advice, a genuine smile and a warm welcome they make your town. Well, your town. Thats why American Express is proud to be the Founding Partner of Small Business saturday. A day where you get to return that love, because shopping small makes a big difference. So, on november 25th get up, get out, and shop small. Rays always been different. Last year, he said he was going to dig a hole to china. At t is working with farmers to improve irrigation techniques. Remote moisture sensors use a Reliable Network to tell them when and where to water. So that farmers like ray can compete in big ways. China. Oh. He got there. Thats the power of and. Welcome back to fast money. Weve got an earnings literary earnings alert on Applied Materials. Josh lipton has more reporter we initially tipped lower when those results crossed, how moving into the green in after hours here. Ceo Gary Dickerson said Applied Materials in 2018 can deliver strong double digit growth across all segments. He talked about how the markets are getting stronger with a broad set of demand drivers. By that he meant manufacturers ad