A WEEK IN THE LIFE: WEDNESDAY

Author’s note: I’ve wanted to do this for some time now, to tell the story of a life in the week of a pastor. I’m not doing so to toot my own horn or to say, “Gee, look at how hard I work.” I’m doing this because a lot of you probably don’t know what a pastor’s life is like, and who knows? Maybe you’re even interested.

(Submitted for today’s BELTWAY TRAFFIC JAM.)

Wednesday began at 7:42 Tuesday night, less than 10 minutes after my wife and I got home from a quick trip to Iowa for my grandmother’s 80th birthday. My church-council president called then, letting me know that one of our council members had experienced some complications during heart surgery.
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DISNEY GETTING DIZZY

This morning brought the surprising news that Comcast (which has a history of getting what it wants) initiated a hostile-takeover attempt of Disney. Comcast’s offer of $66 billion represents about a 10% premium over Disney’s market capitalization.

The offer comes as many disgruntled Disney stockholders have begun questioning Disney CEO Michael Eisner’s leadership. The company failed to renew its agreement with the computer-animation studio Pixar, thus cutting Disney off from its only reliable source of successful movies in recent years. (Pixar produced “Finding Nemo” and “Toy Story,” among other films.)

While overall Disney is the biggest player in the motion-picture industry, much of that success is due to its subsidiaries, like Hollywood, Touchstone, and Miramax. Disney’s own movies, of late, have been flops like “Hercules” and “Atlantis.” Likewise, many parents (like me, for instance) have grown tired of Disney’s attempts to slap its brand on everything remotely related to childhood. The company is underperforming right now, making it a perfect target for a buyout.

I’m inclined to think that what Comcast is really after, though, is Disney’s television properties. (Disney owns ABC, ESPN, A&E, and, of course, the various Disney channels.) In today’s hyper-competitive cable/satellite market, there’s a real advantage to a cable company owning a network or three. Like, for instance, not having to pay the $2 per subscriber per month that ESPN is rumored to require–but still being able to collect it from your competitors.

This is 1980s-style boardroom drama coming back to life. I think this story bears watching over the next few weeks.