last year to get the kingdom back in order. On February 8th he announced that revenues grew by 8% year-on-year in the three months to December and the number of subscribers to its streaming services held up better than expected, even after Disney+ raised its prices. But the cheery financial data were not the main excitement of Wednesday’s call.
Instead, investors clung to their seats to hear Mr Iger’s plans for Disney’s future. He announced that 7,000 people, or 3.6% of its workforce, would be laid off as the firm embarks on a $5.5bn cost-savings push. The company will be reorganised into three separate units as part of that effort. Streaming will be merged with film and television under a new Disney Entertainment unit. Sports will become its own unit, featuring ESPN and ESPN+.
The task ahead is a big one. Disney is under fire from Nelson Peltz, an activist investor, who is demanding a seat on the board and has complained about the firm’s creaking balance-sheet. Its foundations for growth are looking wobbly. Disney’s reliance on cable is unsustainable. The prime-time audience of ABC, a broadcast network owned by Disney, has fallen by nearly a third in the past four years. Cinema has not fully recovered from covid-19, and may never do so.
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Source: TheEconomist - 🏆 6. / 92 Read more »