Amazon reportedly thinking of buying MGM

The video content arms race continues unabated, with Amazon looking at dropping $9 billion on movie studio MGM.

No sooner does AT&T find an innovative way of boosting its SVoD offering without having to get even further into debt, than Amazon get its wallet out and says “is that all you got?” This rumour seems less substantial than yesterdays, which became reality within minutes of us publishing the story, but it’s perfectly plausible.

The Information seems to have got the scoop, which was soon corroborated by Variety, which came up with the $9 billion figure. MGM, with its famous roaring lion and which is responsible for the Bond movies, has been passed around like a hot potato over the years. It also filed for bankruptcy in 2010, so it has done well to still be worth so much.

Of course $9 billion is pocket change for Amazon, which presumably leaked this story as much to rain on AT&T’s parade as anything else. Amazon already spends a ton on content for Amazon Prime, but doesn’t really have the kind of headline movie and TV franchises that the likes of HBO and Disney can boast, so having things like Bond and the Handmaids Tale would certainly balance out its SVoD portfolio.

As we noted in our coverage of the WarnerMedia/Discovery merger, the SVoD arms race is showing no sign of slowing. Ironically for AT&T the table stakes are even higher than those associated with owning a telecoms. It wouldn’t be surprising to be reporting on speculation that Apple is thinking of buying Lions Gate or whatever. Why not Disney itself? Apple can afford it.