Rantburg

Today's Front Page   View All of Wed 05/28/2025 View Tue 05/27/2025 View Mon 05/26/2025 View Sun 05/25/2025 View Sat 05/24/2025 View Fri 05/23/2025 View Thu 05/22/2025
2023-07-20 Economy
Disney Prepares to Sell Off Third of Company
[BREITBART] Disgraced Disney CEO Bob Iger "put roughly a third of the company up for sale this week," Bloomberg Business reports.

According to the report, the sale announcement was a subtle but unmistakable one. Iger made the announcement during his disastrous CNBC interview last week, where he was caught lying with the false claim that Disney is not sexualizing children.

By declaring its cable and broadcast TV assets "noncore," the report says, Iger told the world ABC TV, the FX cable networks, National Geographic, and Freeform are all for sale. He’s also looking for a partner for the failing ESPN.

Bloomberg does the math. "Disney’s media networks generated 35%, or $24.8 billion, of company revenue and more than 50%, or $7.5 billion, of its operating income." Yep, that’s a big sell-off.

The problem — and Disney knows it — is that cable/satellite TV is quickly dying off. People are moving to streaming, which is much cheaper and, in many cases (Pluto TV, FreeVee, Tubi, etc.), entirely free. The billions Disney (and other entertainment/media outlets) has made from cable TV have nothing to do with merit. For nearly 50 years, upwards of 100 million American homes have subscribed to cable TV and paid a fortune for channels they never watch. The reason your cable bill is so high is because corporations like Disney earn a substantial piece of that bill simply for providing a channel on your cable package. You don’t watch it but still pay for it (same with CNN
...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for...
, MSNBC, MTV, etc.). Cable/satellite TV is one of the most lucrative scams in the history of American business.

Streaming puts an end to that. Tens of millions have canceled their cable TV and moved to streaming. Streaming companies, like Disney+, have to survive on merit now, which is why Disney+ is losing billions every year.

Moreover, cable and broadcast networks like FX and ABC are fading assets that will soon be worthless. Before long, there will not be enough cable subscribers to keep these outlets profitable. Additionally, nowhere near enough people actually watch these outlets to allow them to survive on advertising.

Per Bloomberg, Disney can sell these networks today for about $8 billion. Whoever purchases them will know time is short to squeeze them dry, and squeeze them dry they will.

"Iger’s comments should spook his peers," says Bloomberg. "If a diversified company like Disney is bailing on its cable networks, what does that mean for companies like Paramount Global and Warner Bros Discovery Inc.?"
Posted by Fred 2023-07-20 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11133 views ]  Top

#1 Even Snow White is not safe at Disney anymore!
Posted by Jeremiah Jomosing7109 2023-07-20 02:54||   2023-07-20 02:54|| Front Page Top

#2 ...Disney is likely in worse shape than Paramount or Warners because Disney has had an unbroken stream of disasters. Right now they are on track to lose more than a billion dollars...which somehow Disney's board managed to overlook when they extended Iger's contract by two years.

I have a funny feeling that the Board may act to correct this issue. Eight billion dollars sounds like a lot of money, but even if he gets that (and having opened his pie hole a little early, he may not now) it's gonna go PDQ.

Mike
Posted by MikeKozlowski 2023-07-20 06:33||   2023-07-20 06:33|| Front Page Top

#3 Strange to think that in 10 years Disney may be another failed brand like Circuit City. While media is evolving, Disney has a 30% approval rating from the American people. Paramount can reinvent or adjust; hated media has no viable business strategy. The problem not being addressed is abhorrent content.

Content has to be fixed or even the parks are DOA. Nobody is flying across the country, staying in expensive resort and paying $25 for a peanut butter sandwich to enjoy the nostalgia of things they now hate. You would get better attendees at a Shawshank Redemption themed park at this point.
Posted by Super Hose 2023-07-20 06:55||   2023-07-20 06:55|| Front Page Top

#4 Disney actually has done well lately based on their financial reports. Revenue and Income both increased in 2023 Q2 compared to 2022 Q2.

Partly this was due to raising prices at Disney World and for various other income streams.
Posted by lord garth  2023-07-20 07:09||   2023-07-20 07:09|| Front Page Top

#5 A lot of foreign tourists at Orlando.
Posted by Procopius2k 2023-07-20 07:15||   2023-07-20 07:15|| Front Page Top

#6 "Doing well" is relative and looks a lot better than it is out of context. Dizney's expenses are stupidly high. Institutional inertia is not a substitute for healthy growth.

Like the urban model, big entertainment is structurally in trouble.

Ripe for "creative destruction."
Posted by M. Murcek 2023-07-20 07:29||   2023-07-20 07:29|| Front Page Top

#7 Nobody is flying across the country, staying in expensive resort and paying $25 for a peanut butter sandwich to enjoy the nostalgia of things they now hate.

Unless of course it is sold as a 'Mecca East' and repainted as a muslim theme park.
Posted by Skidmark 2023-07-20 08:22||   2023-07-20 08:22|| Front Page Top

#8 They will be keeping the Left Half and selling the right and middle sections. 🤓
Posted by NN2N1 2023-07-20 09:18||   2023-07-20 09:18|| Front Page Top

#9 In the real world, where a fraction of 1% are actually sexually off-kilter, that's not a big audience. At ivy league schools, where 40% say they identify as sexually off-kilter, the student debt load is too high to afford Dizney prices.
Posted by M. Murcek 2023-07-20 09:23||   2023-07-20 09:23|| Front Page Top

#10 TBD
What to Know About the Hajj Pilgrimage and Why It Matters to Muslims
Posted by Skidmark 2023-07-20 10:24||   2023-07-20 10:24|| Front Page Top

#11 Expenses seem to be a big problem at their Lucas Films. My understanding is that President Kathleen Kennedy is locked out of her email and banned from the property as corporate goes through the financial books.
Posted by Super Hose 2023-07-20 11:58||   2023-07-20 11:58|| Front Page Top

#12 
#11 Expenses seem to be a big problem at their Lucas Films. My understanding is that President Kathleen Kennedy is locked out of her email and banned from the property as corporate goes through the financial books.
Posted by: Super Hose 2023-07-20 11:58

SH,

Do you have any links on that?

Mike
Posted by MikeKozlowski 2023-07-20 12:18||   2023-07-20 12:18|| Front Page Top

#13 Mike I have nothing legitimate but there are several sources that have predicted all the Disney foul ups over the last two years. Here is the funniest one with regard to presentation. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RTTsyz2f42k
He predicted the Indy flop months ago and the script rewrites two years ago.
Posted by Super Hose 2023-07-20 13:23||   2023-07-20 13:23|| Front Page Top

#14 If you search on "Kathleen Kennedy fired," you will get "reports of rumors" from entertainment blogs. I wouldn't bother to post any links as they have all the substance of political discussions on tech blogs.
Posted by M. Murcek 2023-07-20 13:28||   2023-07-20 13:28|| Front Page Top

#15 Last year we got rid of all cable and put a 1950s-style antenna on the roof. We get a decent amount of sports and the weather forecast. Which is all I really need.
Posted by Tom 2023-07-20 15:39||   2023-07-20 15:39|| Front Page Top

09:43 Mullah Richard
09:27 Warthog
09:11 Mercutio
09:07 AlmostAnonymous5839
08:52 Matt
08:24 Matt
08:20 SteveS
07:43 Procopius2k
07:42 BrerRabbit
07:42 Procopius2k
07:39 Procopius2k
07:36 Procopius2k
07:35 Procopius2k
07:34 trailing wife
07:31 Procopius2k
07:30 NN2N1
07:22 NN2N1
07:18 trailing wife
07:14 Richard Aubrey
07:10 NN2N1
07:09 Besoeker
07:03 NN2N1
06:58 NN2N1
06:58 Besoeker









Paypal:
Google
Search WWW Search rantburg.com