Quote from: DaLiu on February 26, 2026, 17:14
They do not necessarily need to close all of these sites. Each site may have its own client base, and not all clients would automatically migrate to a main platform if those sites were shut down. Many could choose alternative providers instead.

For this reason, I believe it would be risky for Getty to close all platforms and consolidate everything under a single site.

I think you're right. I think they will close down Bigstock, which adds nothing. Envato is into different markets, not just stock images. Pond5 is video, but f the customers are directed to IS and SSTK, they don't need a third website.

People seem to forget that Getty bought iStock and didn't shut it down. The management and staff was moved from Canada and consolidated. The same would make sense for SSTK as the expensive office in the Empire State Building would not be needed. There's the biggest, easiest, first savings. We/re already paid about the minimum that will still attract new content and hold the old. 15% on IS, 20% for illustrations, and the magic mystery prices and calculations on SSTK, dimes and reset.

Quote from: DiscreetDuck on February 26, 2026, 18:30
Right. We still sell every month on Bigstockphoto, even higher RPD than on SS: $0.38 is the lowest royalty. 

Another reason that they will shut down BS. The overwhelming majority of the images, are the same content from the same people, either on IS or SSTK or both, and it's costing the company more, to license it. The first cut will be, close BS and shift the buyers to IS and SS.

By the way, the big holdup by CMA is all about UK Editorial competition. Considering how little SSTK actually does with Editorial, it's not likely to be a big deal.

June maybe sooner.

UK's CMA April 16th weigh-in on merger:

https://antitrust-intelligence.com/cma-signals-tough-remedies-in-getty-shutterstock-merger-probe/

very interesting. obviously getting that editorial dominance is the real reason the merger will be so valuable

curious how they will solve this problem

getty can probably also do well without shutterstock, but what willshutterstock do without getty. there are no more interesting agencies left to buy and organic customer growth is difficult for them

Right now the deal is under review in the UK, and regulators are worried it could reduce competition and push prices up. For contributors, opinions are split: some hope it will stop the "race to the bottom" in prices, others think it will just mean even lower earnings and more control from one giant company.

One question is if the stock companies feel that the quality of the stock content has gone down (and therefore affected sales) simply because artists are payed too little to make it worth their time.
If they feel that way, then maybe things will change in a positive direction.

Quote from: wds on April 18, 2026, 15:12
One question is if the stock companies feel that the quality of the stock content has gone down (and therefore affected sales) simply because artists are payed too little to make it worth their time.
If they feel that way, then maybe things will change in a positive direction.

I'd agree with that. I don't know what Getty thinks?

But the quality has gone down, along with the standards. Much of it is based on the SSTK program to pay the least and have the most images, bragging rights. What they did was what you are suggesting. The people who create better quality, quit or at the least moved elsewhere. The people who mass produce shoddy, high volumes of images, flooded the collections.

I don't see pay going up or anything improving, but I do see the decline, possibly leveling off. That would be positive. My prediction is still, when Getty takes over, they will make things the same as iStock. 15% or 20% for video/Illustrations. That's a positive, I hate to admit.

What about Exclusive? Do they need that, when there's nearly no competition to matter anymore. Getty, Adobe, Alamy.

the quality  only goes down if review standards go down. they can easily improve incoming quality by raising review standards.

so that is in principle not the fault of the contributors. if lower quality is easily accepted and sold, why should they make a bigger effort?

and if the lower quality content sells, then maybe there is no reason to change anything.

agencies can always offer clients edited specialized collections.

Photo Archive News just did an item about a potential sell off for Rex/Splash/Backgrid. Nothing really new there - but might interest some.
https://photoarchivenews.com/news/rex-features-splash-backgrid-maybe-for-sale-again-cma-getty-images-shutterstock-merger-remedy/

My biggest concern is (as Uncle Pete said) that a Getty controlled Shutterstock will remove images of celebrities/politicians etc so that they don't compete with the main Getty Images offer. I have quite a few archive shots that do sell on a regular basis (for example an image of Margaret Thatcher that SS licensed last year netting me an astonishing $505.00 in commission!).

Quote from: Newsfocus1 on April 23, 2026, 14:50
Photo Archive News just did an item about a potential sell off for Rex/Splash/Backgrid. Nothing really new there - but might interest some.
https://photoarchivenews.com/news/rex-features-splash-backgrid-maybe-for-sale-again-cma-getty-images-shutterstock-merger-remedy/

My biggest concern is (as Uncle Pete said) that a Getty controlled Shutterstock will remove images of celebrities/politicians etc so that they don't compete with the main Getty Images offer. I have quite a few archive shots that do sell on a regular basis (for example an image of Margaret Thatcher that SS licensed last year netting me an astonishing $505.00 in commission!).

Interesting. Selling off Rex will reduce some of the monopoly and bring back some money that Getty needs so much. But reading more, Getty disagrees. So back to waiting for Santa, the Great Pumpkin or the Easter Bunny to arrive and complete the merger. (Tooth Fairy?)

Quote from: Newsfocus1 on April 23, 2026, 14:50
Photo Archive News just did an item about a potential sell off for Rex/Splash/Backgrid. Nothing really new there - but might interest some.
https://photoarchivenews.com/news/rex-features-splash-backgrid-maybe-for-sale-again-cma-getty-images-shutterstock-merger-remedy/

My biggest concern is (as Uncle Pete said) that a Getty controlled Shutterstock will remove images of celebrities/politicians etc so that they don't compete with the main Getty Images offer. I have quite a few archive shots that do sell on a regular basis (for example an image of Margaret Thatcher that SS licensed last year netting me an astonishing $505.00 in commission!).

If this happens I will loose thousands images from red carpet in SS, just one images made for me $256 last year no to much but good compensation for $ 0.10 sales during all year. I do not think will happens, and if yes Alamy , DT, DP is here

Options for shareholders extended to May 14th, 2026

What is being offered:

· In exchange for each of your securities:

· Mixed Election

¨ $9.50 cash and

¨ 9.17 shares of Getty Images Holding, Inc. common stock (symbol GETY)

· Cash Election

¨ $28.8487 cash, subject to proration

· Stock Election

¨ 13.67237 shares of Getty Images Holding, Inc. common stock (symbol GETY), subject to proration

-=-=-

Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (GETY) 0.8102 = $11.07 a share for each SSTK
Shutterstock Inc NYSE: SSTK $16.70

Take the cash? 

"Getty Images faces an uphill battle. Its poor sales growth and falling returns on capital suggest its growth opportunities are shrinking."

Summary of a report:

Company Overview

With a vast library of over 562 million visual assets documenting everything from breaking news to iconic historical moments, Getty Images (NYSE:GETY) is a global visual content marketplace that licenses photos, videos, illustrations, and music to businesses, media outlets, and creative professionals.

The company operates through three main brands: Getty Images for premium content, iStock for value-oriented offerings, and Unsplash for both free and subscription-based content. This multi-tiered approach allows Getty Images to serve customers ranging from major corporations and news organizations to small businesses and individual creators.

Getty Images sources its content from a network of over 557,000 contributors worldwide, including more than 110 staff photographers and videographers who cover news, sports, and entertainment events. The company maintains exclusive relationships with over 80,000 contributors and 70 editorial content partners, including major organizations like Disney, Bloomberg, and sports leagues such as Formula One, NBA, and FIFA.

A corporate marketing team might use Getty Images to license professional photography for an advertising campaign, paying either through a single purchase or via a Premium Access subscription that provides broad access to the company's entire library. Meanwhile, a small business owner could turn to iStock for more affordable visual assets, while a blogger might utilize Unsplash's free content collection.

The company has increasingly shifted toward subscription-based revenue models, with annual subscriptions now representing more than half of total revenue. These subscription offerings provide customers with ongoing access to content while giving Getty Images more predictable revenue streams. Beyond simple licensing, the company also offers services like custom content creation, digital asset management, and recently launched AI-generated imagery in partnership with NVIDIA.

There may be an update today at the close, but that would be predicted, not an actual earnings report.

AI monetization: Getty is integrating generative AI tools trained on permissioned content, aiming to differentiate from free AI image generators, but monetization success is uncertain.

Profitability path: Negative net margins (~21%) and a high debt-to-equity ratio (2.12) remain central concerns.

Market sentiment: Stock near 52-week lows; insider selling in recent months has raised questions about management confidence.

Revenue was driven by higher-than-expected sales, but the earnings miss reflects ongoing integration costs and profitability challenges.

Insider Activity Cluster: Multiple senior executives, including the CFO and several SVPs, also sold shares on the same day, with aggregate insider disposals of about 391,500 shares (~$305,000) at the same low price. This concentration of exits coincided with Getty Images' stock dropping about 3.9% in the short term, which some analysts view as a negative near-term signal. Getty Images CEO Craig Warren Peters sold 167,403 shares of the company's stock on March 25, 2026, at an average price of $0.78 per share, for a total value of about $130,574. This transaction reduced his ownership by 11.49%, leaving him with 1,289,548 shares worth roughly $1.01 million.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-conditionally-clears-getty-merger-with-shutterstock

looks like  shutterstock editorial including their 3 brands will be sold.

this will be interesting.

also will istock then be more open to accepting more types of editorial content?

who will buy shutterstock editorial? maybe alamy?

Quote from: cobalt on May 16, 2026, 11:14
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-conditionally-clears-getty-merger-with-shutterstock

looks like  shutterstock editorial including their 3 brands will be sold.

this will be interesting.

also will istock then be more open to accepting more types of editorial content?

who will buy shutterstock editorial? maybe alamy?

That would be interesting if Alamy bought those divisions. I think Getty doesn't want iStock to have editorial. They blocked all of us. That could change? But what happens to my thousands of images that they deactivated? They are all old news and wouldn't matter anyway.

"The CMA's independent inquiry group has concluded the merger between Getty and Shutterstock would lead to competition concerns for editorial content supplied to UK media outlets, but not for stock content supplied globally.

The inquiry group concluded that a sale of Shutterstock's global editorial business, which operates under the Shutterstock Editorial, Backgrid and Splash brands and competes with Getty across live and archive news, sport and entertainment content, could resolve the competition concerns identified."

Could resolve concerns? Come on, get off the pot and say yes or no. CMA is a PITA.

Quote from: Uncle Pete on March 18, 2026, 15:59
By the way, the big holdup by CMA is all about UK Editorial competition. Considering how little SSTK actually does with Editorial, it's not likely to be a big deal.

June maybe sooner.

22 days

From what I've seen in my own stats and from clients, different platforms still bring different buyers - so I don't think they'll kill everything. But yeah, something like Bigstock feels redundant. When Getty Images bought iStock, they kept it but optimized internally - I expect similar with Shutterstock. More consolidation, less duplication. Have you noticed your buyers shifting between platforms lately?

Quote from: alan b traehern on May 18, 2026, 12:28

Quote from: Uncle Pete on March 18, 2026, 15:59
By the way, the big holdup by CMA is all about UK Editorial competition. Considering how little SSTK actually does with Editorial, it's not likely to be a big deal.

June maybe sooner.

22 days

Not if they are forced to find a buyer for Rex and the rest, before they can proceed with the merger. I was counting on approval, because SSTK doesn't make much from Editorial, but now it appears they will be forced to sell off that division, before the Getty take-over.