Could Apple End Up Owning DC Entertainment?

The short answer to the question posed in the title to this article is, “Probably not.” But it’s at least worth discussing Apple in charge of DC Entertainment because of reports that the most valuable company in the U.S. is considering buying DC’s parent company, Time Warner.

The New York Post ran one of those reports this week, stating that even though Time Warner wasn’t officially for sale, Apple was “staying extra close” to any sign that the company would look for a buyer. Apple’s interest would primarily be in content providers like HBO, Turner Sports, CBS and Warner Bros., the better to buff up its streaming TV and movie offerings.

It’s intriguing because Apple’s preference for the walled garden approach shines through in many of the company’s products, meaning that acquiring the content it desires rather than continuing to make deals with other companies to get it would likely be appealing. As Fortune points out, Apple can easily afford Time Warner too.

That takes us back to DC, which is most valuable to Time Warner in the same way that Time Warner would be valuable to Apple. That is, as a source of content that the parent company can monetize in many different ways, including TV and movies. With that in mind, while DC Entertainment wouldn’t necessarily need to be part of a potential Apple acquisition — and these same reports are suggesting that Time Warner could choose to simply spin off certain assets instead of selling itself entirely — one would imagine that its stable of superhero IPs could be interesting to Apple as well.

From a strictly comic book fan perspective, while there are always fears of corporate meddling when huge companies start sniffing around after publishers, there’s also a sense of security that comes with knowing there are deep-pocketed owners behind them. For example, even if Marvel isn’t super profitable in its comics book business (and I have no idea if it is or not), there’s less of a chance now than probably ever in its history of it shutting down, since it cranks out ideas for Disney.

Next: NBC Orders Pilot for DC Comics Comedy Powerless

Since pockets don’t get any deeper than Apple’s, DC could certainly benefit from a Time Warner sale. Keeping an eye on business news might not be at the top of the list for comic and superhero fans, but in this case, it might be worth at least paying a little attention to that area in the months to come.