0:00:00 > 0:00:06Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
0:00:19 > 0:00:25Walt Disney and 21st century Fox sign a $52 billion lock of the deal
0:00:25 > 0:00:32that may alter the entertainment landscape. And the last Jedi is
0:00:32 > 0:00:36expected to be an unstoppable force at the box office and for
0:00:36 > 0:00:48memorabilia merchants. Hello and welcome to Asia Business Report two
0:00:48 > 0:00:54of the biggest names in the movie business are emerging in order to
0:00:54 > 0:00:59take on Netflix and other online streaming services. Walt Disney has
0:00:59 > 0:01:02agreed to purchase most of 21st Century Fox, owned by Australian
0:01:02 > 0:01:08media mogul Rupert Murdoch. They are a doing it for 50 two billion
0:01:08 > 0:01:20dollars. Disney will acquire all of these brands you see on screen here.
0:01:20 > 0:01:27As part of the deal, the Disney CEO will stay on the company until 2021.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31He said that the purchase was inspired over an informal chat with
0:01:31 > 0:01:36Mr Murdoch.I have a lot of respect for Rupert Murdoch and what he has
0:01:36 > 0:01:41been able to build over the years. He and I were musing at some point
0:01:41 > 0:01:47this summer over the industry and the need to reach consumers in ways
0:01:47 > 0:01:51I described and the disruptive forces that we both witnessed in our
0:01:51 > 0:01:55time in this business. After some musing it seemed to me that there
0:01:55 > 0:01:59may be an opportunity to put our companies together to create
0:01:59 > 0:02:07something that is even better than the two that were separate.Earlier,
0:02:07 > 0:02:11our business editor gave more insight as to why Disney paid so
0:02:11 > 0:02:15much money for 21st century Fox's assets.Disney find this quite
0:02:15 > 0:02:23attractive. In the past, what they have done is focused on acquiring
0:02:23 > 0:02:26incredible premium content such as Lucasfilm, Star Wars, Pixar, popular
0:02:26 > 0:02:35brands. 21st Century Fox has some of its own. The tantalising prospect of
0:02:35 > 0:02:39the X-Men and the avengers being brought together. What they have not
0:02:39 > 0:02:45had, they need to beef up distribution. The company driving
0:02:45 > 0:02:49this consolidation today are people like Netflix and Amazon partner
0:02:49 > 0:02:56prime. These are gigantic companies. Even Disney did not feel it had the
0:02:56 > 0:03:04scale more distribution to compete with these. And you are right to
0:03:04 > 0:03:09highlight the Hulu streaming service. Adding that to the access
0:03:09 > 0:03:14of hundreds of millions of people through star India then you have
0:03:14 > 0:03:19content and distribution. They are going to take the fight to the big
0:03:19 > 0:03:22guys in Silicon Valley.
0:03:22 > 0:03:28We know that the Disney Franchise, the Last Jedi is the latest
0:03:28 > 0:03:33instalment in the Star Wars saga opens worldwide this weekend. If you
0:03:33 > 0:03:40have not had a chance to see it, you must be living under a rock because
0:03:40 > 0:03:43the Franchises made over $30 billion over the years. The Star Wars brand
0:03:43 > 0:03:47has become its own universe with a growing number of things like
0:03:47 > 0:03:54cartoons, comics, merchandise. For more let's go to Tim McDonald who is
0:03:54 > 0:04:00at an installation in Orchard Road in Singapore. I know you have some
0:04:00 > 0:04:05menacing looking storm troopers just around the corner from you. Can you
0:04:05 > 0:04:13tell us about this? What does that mean in terms of the force has for
0:04:13 > 0:04:21merchandising?It is quite incredible. Think about it, this is
0:04:21 > 0:04:26a prime commercial district in Singapore and that's not Christmas
0:04:26 > 0:04:32music in the background, that is the Imperial March. An indication of the
0:04:32 > 0:04:41scope and scale of Star Wars and its cultural reach and business reach. A
0:04:41 > 0:04:45very big part of it has always been merchandising. As you can see from
0:04:45 > 0:04:53these storm troopers, they have been updated a little, a racing stripe on
0:04:53 > 0:04:56the helmet, and this has been a big part of the business. Originally the
0:04:56 > 0:05:00studio thought that Star Wars may be a flop and when George Lucas said to
0:05:00 > 0:05:05them that he will take a smaller car from the director fee in exchange
0:05:05 > 0:05:08for merchandising, they agreed. Little did they know that that would
0:05:08 > 0:05:13be one of the biggest bits of the business and years later it has made
0:05:13 > 0:05:18George Lucas a rich man. Disney acquired the Star Wars Franchise a
0:05:18 > 0:05:26few years ago and it is quite interesting because we were talking
0:05:26 > 0:05:32about the battle for streaming. Star Wars will play a major role in that.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36When Disney launches its streaming service in 2019 to go head-to-head
0:05:36 > 0:05:44with Amazon and Netflix, Star Wars will play a major role because they
0:05:44 > 0:05:51are planning a live action show like the big budget shows from Netflix
0:05:51 > 0:05:57such as house of cards.Speaking of merchandising, did you ever owned
0:05:57 > 0:06:05one of those figurines?I did. I had a couple of storm troopers.Is that
0:06:05 > 0:06:09why you are not scared of them? I had Princess Leia. I must admit.
0:06:09 > 0:06:18Thank you so much, Tim. In other news making headlines, America's
0:06:18 > 0:06:22communications regulator has voted to end net neutrality. That is the
0:06:22 > 0:06:28principle that Internet service providers must treat all Internet
0:06:28 > 0:06:33traffic the same. The rule was introduced by President Obama two
0:06:33 > 0:06:40years ago and they are saying that innovation will now be increased.
0:06:40 > 0:06:47Speaking of the Internet, according to a report released this week by
0:06:47 > 0:06:53Google, Southeast Asia has the world 's fastest growing Internet economy.
0:06:53 > 0:06:59Is expected to reach about $50 billion this year alone and
0:06:59 > 0:07:04estimated to be worth around $200 billion 2025. A large part of that
0:07:04 > 0:07:09has to do with the pace of Internet adoption. Southeast Asia has more
0:07:09 > 0:07:16Internet users than the whole population of the United States.
0:07:16 > 0:07:21Could the region's Internet economy overtake that of the US? That is the
0:07:21 > 0:07:28question our colleague asked the Regional Chief.Asia today has more
0:07:28 > 0:07:34Internet users than all of the US. 300 million people in the US, 330
0:07:34 > 0:07:39million in Asia and we are adding more regularly. From a user
0:07:39 > 0:07:47standpoint we are bigger than the US from a monitor -- from a
0:07:47 > 0:07:51monetisation it will take time to catch up we will have an Internet
0:07:51 > 0:07:58economy that is large.In terms of the funding that is going into these
0:07:58 > 0:08:00Internet companies, we see are concentrated in Singapore and
0:08:00 > 0:08:06Indonesia. Is there a reason why venture capital is not going to the
0:08:06 > 0:08:09other countries?Venture capital environment in Southeast Asia has
0:08:09 > 0:08:16changed dramatically. In 2015 there was only $1 billion, at billion
0:08:16 > 0:08:19dollars of investment across the region. That number is now 8
0:08:19 > 0:08:30billion. Of the 8 billion, around $6 billion is gone into seven different
0:08:30 > 0:08:37areas. The $2 billion invested over the last two years in early stage
0:08:37 > 0:08:45companies. That is a significant change over what it was in 2015.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48Seven unicorns for all of Southeast Asia is not impressive compared to
0:08:48 > 0:08:51other countries. You would be surprised. There were four unicorns
0:08:51 > 0:08:59eight months ago and before that there were zero. Sir having seven is
0:08:59 > 0:09:06impressive. India, which has had an ecosystem that has been somewhat
0:09:06 > 0:09:10longer than Southeast Asia only have nine unicorns. On the other
0:09:10 > 0:09:16countries have more than Southeast Asia and India are the US and China.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20We have pretty much surpassed every other country in the world.And that
0:09:20 > 0:09:24was Google's Southeast Asia chief. China is the biggest foreign
0:09:24 > 0:09:32investor in New York City. The country's investments made around
0:09:32 > 0:09:3811% or over $24 billion on commercial real estate that it
0:09:38 > 0:09:43earlier I spoke to an expert in New York he said that Asian capital
0:09:43 > 0:09:50controls are impacting the market. In short, the last year we have seen
0:09:50 > 0:09:55a marked increase, and that came through the second quarter of 2017.
0:09:55 > 0:10:01Over 2016, the increase was approximately 50%. We saw a
0:10:01 > 0:10:07tremendous buying power that came out of China, with a marked slowdown
0:10:07 > 0:10:15in the last two quarters. The currency controls that you look to
0:10:15 > 0:10:21-- alluded to are having an impact. Looking at the markets before we go
0:10:21 > 0:10:27and they are all week. That's on the basis of the fact that people are
0:10:27 > 0:10:31unsure about the progress of the Republican tax reform. That is it
0:10:31 > 0:10:39for this edition of the Asia Business Report.