I’m not saying they wouldn’t get their money’s worth, just that it’s a very expensive company to buy even with Apple’s cash on hand, and if they really wanted to get into that end of the business they could get into it for a lot cheaper and with a lot less complications. It’s a rough business to get into because now you have to deal with FCC requirements, the whole affiliate structure, the cable company deals, and of course 2 dozen “different” movie companies. It would be paying a lot of money to suddenly enter a lot of different business worlds you have no experience in, and enter them in a big way. If they wanted to go that route a smaller company to buy involves not only dramatically smaller cash out lay but a lot fewer headaches, and if they proved to be good at it THEN they buy Disney.
Fair points. The only riposte I can think of is that their existing relationship with the Disney folks might make a buyout more like a merger, where Apple would leave most of the Disney/ABC folks in place (at least at first), but set general direction from Cupertino rather than Anaheim.