Amazon to buy MGM, studio behind ‘James Bond’ and 'Shark Tank'

Amazon is going Hollywood The online shopping giant is buying MGM the movie and TV studio behind ldquoJames Bondrdquo ldquoLegally Blonde and ldquoShark Tank with the hopes of filling its video streaming service with more stuff to watchAmazon is paying 845 billion for MGM making it the companys secondlargest acquisition after it bought grocer Whole Foods for nearly 14 billion in 2017The deal is the latest in the media industry thats aimed at boosting streaming services to compete against Netflix and Disney ATampT and Discovery announced on May 17 that they would combine media companies creating a powerhouse that includes HGTV CNN Food Network and HBOAlso Read Amazon Prime Video Acquires Streaming Rights To New Dc Comic TitlesAmazon doesnt say how many people watch its Prime Video service But more than 200 million have access to it because theyre signed up for its Prime membership which gives them faster shipping and other perks Besides Prime Video Amazon also has a free streaming service called IMDb TV where Amazon makes money by playing ads during movies and showsBuying MGM would give Amazon access to more films shows and famous characters including Rocky RoboCop and Pink Panther Amazon will also get a cable channel Epix which MGM ownsKnown for its roaring lion logo MGM is one of the oldest Hollywood studios founded in 1924 when films were silent It has a long list of classics in its library including ldquoSingin in the Rain More recent productions include reality TV staples ldquoShark Tank and ldquoThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hills as well as the upcoming James Bond movie ldquoNo Time to Die and an Aretha Franklin biopic called ldquoRespect Amazon already has its own studio but has had mixed results Two of its shows ldquoThe Marvelous Mrs Maiselrdquo and ldquoFleabag won best comedy series Emmys But many of its films have failed to click with audiences at the box office Recently Amazon has been spending on sports and splashy shows It will stream ldquoThursday Night Football next year and is producing a ldquoLord of the Rings show which reportedly cost 450 million for its first season aloneThe deal which is subject to customary approvals will make Amazon already one of the most powerful and valuable companies in the world even bigger Regulators around the world are scrutinizing Amazons business practices specifically the way it looks at information from businesses that sell goods on its site and uses it to create its own Amazonbranded productsA report by the House Judiciary Committee in October called for a possible breakup of Amazon and others making it harder for them to buy other businesses and imposing new rules to safeguard competitionAmazon founded in 1995 as an online bookstore has become a 16 trillion behemoth that does a little bit of everything It has a delivery business network that gets orders to people in two days or sooner sells inhalers and insulin has a cloudcomputing business that powers the apps of Netflix and McDonalds and has plans to send more than 3200 satellites into space to beam internet service to EarthThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever