14/12/2017 Outside Source

Hello, I'm Ros Atkins,

this is Outside Source.

Rupert Murdoch's media empire has

just got a lot smaller.

Walt Disney's has got much bigger.

It's spending over $50 bilion

on most of 21st Century Fox.

Here's why.

After some musing, there seemed to

me there might

After some musing, there seemed to

me there might be an opportunity to

put our companies together and

create something that's even better

than the two that was separate

companies.

Theresa May attends a crucial Brexit

summit in Brussels saying she's

disappointed after last

night's parliamentary defeat.

A huge development for

internet users in the US -

net neutrality is coming to an end.

Good for business or bad for equal

world depending on who you ask.

And remember Hurricane Harvey

that battered Texas?

Well guess how much water it

actually produced...

We'll reveal all from that

from a major scientific

gathering in New Orleans.

For more than 50 years

Rupert Murdoch's media

empire has got bigger -

today all that changed.

Walt Disney, led by Bob Iger,

is buying the bulk of

Mr Murdoch's 21st Century Fox.

The price is $52.4 billion.

For that Disney gets

a 39% stake in Sky

and 20th Century Fox film studio.

Not everything's included.

Fox News and Fox Sports aren't,

they'll become a new company.

Here's Bob Iger on how

the deal got done.

I had a lot of respect for Rupert

Murdoch and what he was able to

build over the years. He and I would

musing about the industry and the

need to reach consumers in the way I

described and the disruptive forces

we broke witnessed in our time in

this business. After some musing it

seemed to me there might be an

opportunity to put our companies

together and create something that

even bigger than the two that was

separate companies.

Next the BBC's Media Editor Amol

Rajan, on why the timing is right

for Disney and Rupert Murdoch.

There is a revolution going on in

media where people want to watch

something at a specific time in a

specific place. You can watch where

you like, when you like and pretty

much what you like. Disney say they

want even more eyeballs, more

content and scale if we want to

compete with the big players, apple,

Netflix, Amazon and Google. As he

would say, it is a humble day in

what has been a not very humble

life.

As you heard from Amol there,

Disney wants to be able to allow

people to watch what they want,

when they want.

This is Fox's on demand

Hulu service.

You can see it saying here, all your

TV in one place.

It was a huge reason

this deal happened.

Disney wants it to take on Netflix.

Perhaps Disney's decision is easier

to understand than Rupert Murdoch's.

Andrew Neil is a top

BBC News presenter.

Andrew's also edited

Mr Murdoch's Sunday Times

and he helped him to set up Sky

Television.

Here's his reaction.

The deal is remarkable because it

represents the end of Rupert

Murdoch's quest to build a Murdoch

dynasty. He has been trying to do

that for 40 years. I used to sit

with him in restaurants in London in

the mid-19 80s and he talked about a

Murdoch dynasty, putting his

children into key positions. Letting

them fight for the top position and

whoever wins would take over and the

Murdoch men would go on for ever.

Here, he is unbundling the Empire

and the dynastic ambitions have

gone.

Here is a perspective from the

US.

I don't think you will see any media

change, but what's clear is

consumers are going to have expanded

options. Having two of the Premier

collections of assets that will be

available to them. I think this is

all about adapting to help consumers

are accessing content, going away

from traditional to margin

platforms. I think Disney will be in

one of the best position is ever to

be able to adapt, provide consumers

with expanded choices and

potentially at cheaper prices

because it is all about going from

the bundle to the cheaper

alternatives and this is what

Netflix and others have been doing

so well.

It is a measure of the

influence number power of Netflix

and Amazon and a different degree,

Facebook that these two giants have

decided to join forces?

That is

exactly right. It is all about scale

and the ships in the media landscape

being so fast that companies like

Disney are forced to adapt. You are

forced to think about the leveraged

you can have. Whether it is the

distributors distributing the

content, or the Internet companies

aggregating the content. What you

have here is a plague that the

scale. The big EU gets, the more you

are able spend on content across a

host of platforms and Disney is the

best at doing that in the entire

industry.

The practicalities, how

long does it take for a deal like

this to get approved and to go

through?

Companies have talked about

12 to 18 months, but the one factor

that is out there is how the BSkyB

deal will be approved. They are

talking about the first half of next

year. This deal doesn't depend on

but approval, but I suspect the

regulator in the US industry will be

scrutinising very closely to have

two very large studios combine with

sports from Fox and I believe this

deal has a decent chance of passing

the regulatory process with

conditions attached.

The pace of the Brexit

story is quite something.

Last week, we had that deal to take

the talks to the next phase.

Last night, Theresa May was defeated

in a key Brexit vote in Westminster,

because of a rebellion

in her own party.

Now the Prime Minister

is in Brussels for a working dinner.

According to a senior

government official,

she will tell EU leaders "That

reaching the agreement on phase one

has required give and take on both

sides but a fair outcome has been

achieved" and will urge them

to rubber stamp the deal.

That will almost certainly

happen tomorrow.

Allowing talks to move

on importantly to trade.

Which both sides want, according

to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

What is necessary is we put the

handshake of last Friday into

legally binding text. And into

Article 50 text as soon as possible

on the exit bill and the border

issue.

The Prime Minister's authority

took a hit in the House

of Commons last night.

She's opposed an amendment that

requires full parliamentary

scrutiny of the final Brexit deal,

but it got through with the help

of rebels from her own party.

If you ask Jeremy Corbyn, he will

say it is a humiliating loss. Ask

the Prime Minister, you get a

different answer.

We have 135 out of 36 votes on the

EU withdrawal bill and it is making

good progress in the House of

Commons and that means we are on

course to deliver, as according to

the vote of the British people, to

leave the European Union.

What we can agree on is that this

amendment applies yet more time

pressure on these talks.

Britain will leave

the EU in March 2019.

That means a deal needs to be ready

by Autumn of next year.

That's because it'll come

under scrutiny from not

just the UK parliament,

but also the 27 other national

parliaments in the EU.

As I say time is tight.

Don't take my word for it,

this is Luxembourg's Prime Minister.

It is the second time UK citizens

want a vote, the referendum and now

a true vote in Westminster to decide

the agenda of the European Union.

This isn't good for Theresa May

because the agenda will not move.

Soon as she negotiate something she

will have to go back to London to

get approval from the Parliament and

this is not making her life easier.

It just makes it complicated for the

UK Government.

We will be live in

Brussels in a moment.

A number of ways to get analysis

of what's happening from the BBC.

One is to download the Brexitcast

podcast, which is in danger

of becoming a runaway success.

One of the most popular audio

podcasts in the UK now.

Latest one has just been uploaded,

features Tim Shipman,

political editor of the Sunday

Times.

We can talk to Kevin

Connolly, in Brussels.

Kevin, we were in touch earlier

because you sent a useful briefing

note about how we should mention

trade in the context of phase two.

Perhaps you could share your advice

with our viewers?

I will spare them

the details, but it is an

interesting point. Because

everything now is about what happens

in phase two. Phase one, everyone

agrees is pretty much over. We just

need to get back confirmed tomorrow,

but we know what will happen. They

will have been deemed to have passed

the point of sufficient progress. Do

trade talks begin immediately? We

don't think they do. First, there is

a period of transition talks which

is about creating a two-year cushion

immediately after Brexit soap

written doesn't crash out when it

ceases to be a full member of the

EU. In parallel, you have to talk

about future issues. Technically,

legally, you can only have trade

talks with somebody who is a third

party. Next year, the UK will be in

the area peen union but will want to

talk about trade. We think it should

be called talks about a future

relationship. Part of that wonky,

legalistic reason, but also because

Theresa May will use the argument

that this is so much more than trade

and money. It will be about defence

and security cooperation. They are

areas the UK feels it has very

strong cards to play in the future

conversation. He will have to look

at the future relationship in the

round. Certainly trade of course,

but other stuff as well and no trade

deal between the EU and the UK into

the UK is, what's known in

international legal tarns, is a

third party, a separate entity.

It

was interesting listening to the

premise of Luxembourg and their

concern about the defeat in the

Commons last night and Theresa May's

ability to sell any deal from

Brussels to those in Westminster.

They almost look to help her out at

times, in this situation?

That has

been the noteworthy thing. A lot of

the time, in the British media and

in British politics, the

relationship between London and

Brussels is pitched in adversarial

terms. But the last couple of weeks,

quite a lot of senior European

politicians have sounded strikingly

supportive of Theresa May. That is

because they are worried if she were

to wobble or leave office, the whole

business of Brexit would be reset to

zero and there would be no chance on

getting it done on time. So there

are practical reasons from the

European point of view to support

Theresa May. Some politicians look

at that result in Westminster last

night and worry. But the Irish Prime

Minister, he said Aida minority

government, everybody knows

Parliament will be difficult. People

are aware of the tight arithmetic at

Westminster. Some are inclined to

think it is the rough and tumble

politics and things can work out OK.

That is the view of Theresa May

herself.

A quick word about Phase

one, that continues?

Yes, what we

are saying on those celebrated Phase

one issues, the Irish border,

Citizens rights and a financial

settlement, sufficient progress has

been made to allow the talks to go

on. It doesn't mean they fixed

finalise, but plenty of talking

about all of those issues and the

Irish border, not the first time the

Irish question has been a big issue

in politics, but the Irish border,

as always, will take some fixing.

Kevin, thank you.

Let's turn back to the US.

If you use the internet,

there's been a moment of the utmost

significance in the US.

Regulators are changing

the rules that control how

the internet is provided.

This is the issue known

as net neutrality.

At its heart is the principle that

companies like Comcast

and Verizon in the US,

or BT and Sky in the UK - must treat

all internet traffic equally.

So companies can't pay for their

websites or services to be faster.

And there's been a major campaign

to keep things that way.

This is an open letter

to the US regulator.

It was signed by guys like Vint Cerf

and Sir Tim Berners-Lee who helped

create the internet.

Along with big names like Apple's

co-founder Steve Wozniak.

But the chairman of the Federal

Communications Commission,

this man Ajit Pai, is not convinced.

He says removing government

regulation will boost innovation.

He's also said "the hysteria has

reached a pitch which is completely

disproportionate to the facts."

Yogita Limaye has the

latest from Washington.

Just a couple of hours ago in the

building behind me, there was a vote

and three people were for repealing

these rules and two people against.

What has happened is regulation

which ensured Internet service

providers in America could not

charge different prices for

different websites, but regulation

has been removed. This is not a rule

that needs to be passed by Congress,

said it could come into effect. But

we have had protesters outside this

building all day and many groups

have said they will go to court

against this decision and try to

stall it. Essentially, what can

happen from now on, and Internet

service provider could go to a

web-based business and pay them a

certain amount of money so they

could provide that particular

website or that particular service

at a faster speed. And those who

refuse to pay them, that service

could be provided at a slower speed.

As part daily-macro far as the

customer is concerned, we will give

you this website for a particular

price. If you want more, you have to

pay more. That is what could happen.

But Internet service providers here

in America, these companies have

said they are not against the

principles of net neutrality, but

they are not inclined to slow down

access to a website or deny access

to it completely, they say what has

happened, the regulations that have

been removed will help them invest

more in the sector and help them

connect to roll roll and more remote

parts of America.

Stay with us on Outside

Source, still to come:

We will be at a major scientific

gathering that has been calculating

how much rain fell during hurricane

Harvey in Texas and what it tells us

about the changing weather in our

world.

The Scottish Government has

said it's going to raise

taxes for higher earners.

Those earning more than £24,000

will pay 21p in the pound.

That's a higher rate

than in the rest of the UK.

Catriona Renton explains.

This budget came against the

backdrop of the Scottish Government

facing a shortfall in its budget of

hundreds of millions of pounds from

the block grant that comes from

Westminster. Today they were able to

make announcements of money for the

NHS, education. A big announcement

about lifting the cap public sector

pay, 2% more for people earning less

than £30,000 a year. But people want

to know how it was going to be paid

for. Income tax. People who will pay

more, if you are paid more than

£24,000 a year you will be paying

tax in a new intermediate tax band

of 21p. The other higher rates will

increase by a penny...

This is Outside Source live

from the BBC newsroom.

Our lead story is...

Disney is to buy large

parts of the media giant,

21st Century Fox, for

more than $50 billion.

Let's look at what is making

the headlines across the BBC.

A collision between a school bus

and a train in the south of France

has reportedly left at least

four people dead.

Nine ohers are said to be

injured - seven seriously.

The bus was at a railway

crossing near Perpignon.

It's thought it was children

aged between 11 and 15.

A suicide bomber disguised

as a policeman has killed 18

officers at Somalia's main police

academy in Mogadishu.

Witnesses said the victims

were there ahead of

an early morning parade.

And we've been learning more

about the sacking of reality TV star

turned White House aide Omarosa

Manigault.

Accounts vary - but it seems

she was sacked by chief of staff

John Kelly last night and then

had her pass deactivated.

She's denying reports that tried

to find the president

at his White House residence,

or tripping the alarm system.

We have the first estimate of how

many Rohingya Muslims have

died in the first month

of the crisis in Myanmar.

The figure is 6700, according

to Medecins Sans Frontiers.

That includes 730 children

under the age of five.

These people didn't

die of natural causes.

Ask the Myanmar government,

it'll tell you that the

figure is 400 people.

What we can be sure of is that over

600,000 Muslims have fled

into Bangladesh from Rakhine State.

Many many stories

continue to be told.

Journalist Kaamil Ahmed

One woman said...

"They used their machetes so much,

the blades stopped cutting."

She's called Momtaz Begum,

she says she was locked in her home

before it was set on fire.

This is MSF giving more

details on its research.

We performed some surveys, six

surveys in various refugee camps the

Rohingya is in Bangladesh. Amongst

the popular patient that had fled

since August since the violence

began. We found the majority of

these people had arrived since

August. We spoke to around 2500

different households so it

represents a population of just over

11,000 people. We asked them what

had happened to them. What was their

health concerns, but also who had

died in their families. When we

spoke to them, we were getting

consistent reports from every

household of stories of death,

violence against their families that

occurred inside Myanmar,

particularly this one month period

that started at the end of August

through to September.

We told you about Greenland.

Well there's another story emerging

from that huge annual gathering

of scientists in New Orleans

called the AGU.

They have been turning their

attention to hurricane Harvey. You

must remember this storm in August,

it hit Texas terribly. The

scientists say they have now weighed

that total rainfall. The figure is

127 billion tonnes of water. We have

been trying to put this into

perspective. There is a New Orleans

Superdome. The amount of rain that

came down is the equivalent of

filling it 26,000 times. What is

interesting is how they measured it.

They measured how the Earth was

compressed by it, the way you would

comprise someone's size and weight

after they had sat down on a chair

or mattress. I was going to show you

Texas and the fact Louisiana was

next door. Let's go live to New

Orleans, Victoria Gill is with us.

We had to start with how do you

measure the way rain makes an

impression on the earth?

Quite. This

is something they already knew the

amount of rainfall from hurricane

Harvey was colossal, standard rain

gauges had about 50 inches of rain.

But these scientists here in the US

wanted a much more detailed

measurement and what they used with

GPS stations, an array of GPS

stations that advertised their exact

position on earth. What they could

do was actually see how much the

Earth was pressed down as the huge

weight, the tonnage of rainfall

fell. So one scientist described

this, when you look at the data and

these positions shifting, D epar

almost ripples and breathes like a

living animal. You can see it being

squashed and rebounding so that is a

clear measure of the weight of the

rainfall.

We all knew the store was

huge so we would expect the amount

of rainfall to be considerable,

support else can the scientists

learned by gauging big exact

rainfall?

It is important to

understand how much rain fell

because of the impact, particularly

of climate change on the severity of

the storm. We know climate change is

fuelling the kind of engine behind

those tropical hurricane 's, because

the warm air is the feel for the

engines that are those storms. They

have said for the first time, there

is a direct causal link between the

amount of precipitation and climate

change and back climate change did

directly increase the amount of

precipitation. But scientists

have said, they are starting to use

more certain terms, less

conservative with their language

when they talk about climate change

and its affect on our weather and we

are changing the weather. In order

to understand how to protect our

cities and protect living near the

coast, we need to understand how the

weather is going to change. So when

we need to protect our urban

environments and communities from

flooding in the future, we need to

know what the scale of the flooding

will be. That is why these detailed

Meza mentioned our soap crucial.

It

seems they are making an explicit

link between the scale of this storm

and this climate change, but what

about the frequency of the storms?

With this research they were talking

about specifically the amounts of

rainfall, the crucial focus of this

study, about the intensity and the

deluge of the rainfall and how much

rain fell. In this case they were

talking about putting a specific

quantity on how much the store was

fuelled and increased in its level

of precipitation in hurricane

Harvey. We note the warm ocean

temperatures are the driver of the

intensity of these storms. There is

a link on how we are changing the

weather, those increasing

temperatures, the intensity and the

frequency of hurricane is. It is a

concern for this area, it is quite

apt this conference is taking place

in Louisiana.

Victoria, thank you

very much indeed from New Orleans.

Also in New Orleans is Jonathan Amos

from the BBC science unit. We will

hear from him later in the programme

Abeid Greenland and how its ice is

melting.