Word: saban
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...probably the biggest media mogul you've never heard of. Born in Egypt and reared in Israel, Haim Saban is the self-made billionaire who turned an offbeat Japanese kids' TV show into a global franchise: the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He lives on a six-acre estate in Beverly Hills, Calif., and keeps a fairly low profile. So why is he buying a group of major German TV networks and a film library...
...skills and colorful Yiddish shtick. "Bubeleh, let's make a deal; I feel it in my kishke," he'll say, referring to his gut. The assets were being auctioned off by the bankrupt German firm KirchMedia, which failed after owner Leo Kirch overexpanded into pay TV and sports programming. Saban was a dark horse, competing against global media giants like Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. But by early this year, Saban had talked his way into Germany's insular media community and, with a $2 billion offer, snagged the prize. "Haim never takes no for an answer," says Shuki Levy...
Nonetheless, this ad chose to recognize Haim Saban. Who is Haim Saban? See entry six: “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers was produced by Haim Saban, an Israeli whose family fled persecution in Egypt...
Should Israel really be proud of this man? Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers is arguably the most pathetic show in television history. Abraham fathered a great nation. Moses led us from Egypt and gave us the law. Saban? He gave us strange robots that morphed into a larger robot, to defeat grotesque puppets and weird men in gray spandex called “puddies...
Maybe I’m being too hasty. Saban is brilliant. He made a cheesy, low-budget TV show into a merchandising empire, and he mightily morphed into a powerful, rich businessperson. But in all honesty, Power Rangers isn’t really a great contribution to the world. Except for maybe the Pink Ranger. She was pretty hot, but alas, such a shikse...