News Bob Iger is back! Chapek is out!!

[DCLcruiser]

Originally, D+ was going to be for the niche family market. Then D+ blew through its four year projection in one month. Both Bobs were astounded that over half of the D+ subbers were households without children.

And so, they pivoted. D+ wasn't going to be a 2 quadrant streamer, but a 4 quadrant. So, they started to put more mature content on D+. Added a child lock. Decided to eventually merge D+ with Hulu rather than have them go after different markets.

This made them adjust their goal to be one of the big streamers after the streaming wars were over.

And those who were subbed to D+ were telling them in surveys that they wanted more "general audience" (i.e. 'adult') content.

So, D+ (along with the eventual Hulu merger) will be a 4 quadrant streamer.

Recommending them to double down on going back to being a niche market streamer is crazy.

I have Hulu w/ Live TV and D+. I like that they have different content (besides DWTS, which is a crossover from ABC). Anything that is not PG13 should stay on Hulu.

 

[DonniePeverley]

Chapek didn't get a great hand with the pandemic and nflation hitting - but he's been desperately disappointing.

Furthermore, yes his main priorities were the investors, he didn't help himself by alienating Disney fans (a term that has popped up in the last few years).

He dithered and was perhaps overly conservative during the pandemic - especially in Florida where there were little restrictions. Universal opened quickly when they were allowed, but Disney dithered for no apparent reason and remained closed for a period. Why? Why weren't they ready to go. Any savings they made from getting rid of workers was negated by being closed.

As a new CEO there seemed no confidence to plan for a big investment, the next big takeover, the next big attraction, the next big theme park.

As a theme park fan, i don't see anything to get excited about for the future (maybe like investors are feeling). Epcot is a mess with half the park having being behind a construction wall for a decade when it's finished. Everything become tacky and cheap, and the dreaded reservation system. And worst of all there is no plan for new attractions being in the horizon, just fluff about 'what we might do' which insults it's fans.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I'm surprised that the exit package he received was lower than I thought . He can rest and relax in his $12.5M house he bought last year to plan his next move.

I am too…that’s low by todays standards

Ovitz got $67 25 years ago


So not only was chapek an awful manager…he’s got bad lawyers too

 

[Stevie Amsterdam]

You have to consider that Iger negoiations have been on-going for weeks if not months.

Days, actually

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I have Hulu w/ Live TV and D+. I like that they have different content (besides DWTS, which is a crossover from ABC). Anything that is not PG13 should stay on Hulu.

Just wait until the D+ audience gets a load of those particular commercials that run on Hulu every break.

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

“Chapek was bad with talent - look how he treated Scarlett Johannson!”

Fiege had a chance to leave and stayed. What directors and actors have said they won’t work with Disney? How many big names have development deals with Star Wars / Lucasfilm right now?

Letting Shonda Rhimes leave was a much bigger issue than the ScarJo one. That happened in 2017, and she said a big reason was she felt undervalued in the company.

Who was CEO then?

 

[Smiley/OCD]

Will this finally mean the end of all the Paycheck, Cheapek, whatever jokes that take over every thread?

THIS IS GLORIOUS!

(just my opinion, but I don't think Genie is going anywhere)

Nope, we should keep a thread and celebrate every year on November 20th the same way we celebrate Katiebug

 

[SteamboatJoe]

To spread out crowds more…

The need to extend existing parks first though

They also need to come to the realization that keeping people in lines with reasonable wait times isn't all bad. Sure it might some reduce some spontaneous spending but it also helps with the perceived crowds. More people in lines means less people crowding all the other areas. That said, to your point, they need more lines (i e. more attractions) to diffuse the crowds even more and keep wait times reasonable.

 

[matt9112]

Still way below the 30 day.. Just stopped the bleeding for now..

This….actually setting a direction and delivering is needed here. Sadly for the consumer prices are likely only going to increase at a faster clip. The PR end of things will just be far smoother. There’s no reason to back off the gas pedal in the parks. The parks need to pay for the DTC….remember that.

 

[el_super]

CNBC did say they looked internally. There isn’t anyone internally ready. I agree tho there are some structural problems. They need to come up with a plan.

Hot take I know, but if things do go south for Iger, there is almost no chance that the Street will allow an internal candidate and certainly not one from parks to ever be CEO again.

If things do go badly the next couple years, they will be forced to hire someone from the outside, which is what Disney has spent the last 20+ years trying to avoid.

Whatever it was, it's a good thing for the BOD that Iger said yes.

Seems odd that Iger would even be home to answer the phone. Shouldn't he be off enjoying his retirement and galavanting somewhere?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

But running a country would be ok ....

You won’t like what’s under that bucket you’re kicking

 

[Rteetz]

If things do go badly the next couple years, they will be forced to hire someone from the outside, which is what Disney has spent the last 20+ years trying to avoid.

They absolutely should look outside this time. The landscape isn’t what it was 20 years ago.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

The board doesn't take it's cues from earnings calls. Rest assured that whatever utterances are made during an earnings call, the board is already acutely aware of the background details minus the spin. Chapek may very well have already known the earnings call was his own eulogy.

Inside Bob Iger's return to Disney: A senior executive's outreach to the former chief followed months of complaints to the board about CEO Bob Chapek

Top Disney leaders told the company's board over the past few months that they were considering leaving the company if CEO Bob Chapek remained in the role. Now former chief Bob Iger has taken the reins again.

www.businessinsider.com

Interesting article. I don't think it's unimportant that Chapek seemed to have terrible people skills, not even in comparison to Iger but just in general. One thing Iger did seem very good at was attracting and keeping top talent at Disney and more or less letting them do their thing. Chapek seemed to start annoying people pretty much right off the bat and struggled to course correct as I don't think he really understood why people were annoyed.

Just as a random thought, I wonder whether the 50th anniversary of WDW - surely one of the weirdest days in Disney theme park history - is something of a reflection of Chapek's management style and difficulty with, ah... empathy? Of course the CEO does not plan something like the events of the day of the 50th, but surely he was at least apprised of them, particularly as he was going to be present. I get the feeling Iger would have been more likely to suggest that they have to do something for the people that showed up on the day rather than just leaving them wandering around, bewildered and waiting for some kind of commemoration. Every signal we've had from Chapek so far suggests he wouldn't have seen the issue with just selling some limited-edition merchandise and leaving it at that.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

From Bloomberg:

Chapek’s parachute is est $23,000,000 plus potential options

Also…Disneys biggest problem is likely China…they are way too dependent on it’s production and it’s crippling them.

I know what you’re thinking…and we’re all right

I’ll bring the scissors to cut some holes in that parachute

 

[monothingie]

Seems odd that Iger would even be home to answer the phone. Shouldn't he be off enjoying his retirement and galavanting somewhere?

And that's why it's laughable that some people think he's only going to be there for two years.

I mean he probably brought his old name plate with him for his desk on his first day.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

They absolutely should look outside this time. The landscape isn’t what it was 20 years ago.

Eddie Sotto tweeted they should bring back and prep Matt Ouimet.

 

[Captain Barbossa]

The original nightmare is back. Nice

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

And that's why it's laughable that some people think he's only going to be there for two years.

I mean he probably brought his old name plate with him for his desk on his first day.

I’m not buying that either…

They’re saying it…and it’s the right move…

So no shot

 

[networkpro]

You won’t like what’s under that bucket you’re kicking

 

[Disney Analyst]

Originally, D+ was going to be for the niche family market. Then D+ blew through its four year projection in one month. Both Bobs were astounded that over half of the D+ subbers were households without children.

And so, they pivoted. D+ wasn't going to be a 2 quadrant streamer, but a 4 quadrant. So, they started to put more mature content on D+. Added a child lock. Decided to eventually merge D+ with Hulu rather than have them go after different markets.

This made them adjust their goal to be one of the big streamers after the streaming wars were over.

And those who were subbed to D+ were telling them in surveys that they wanted more "general audience" (i.e. 'adult') content.

So, D+ (along with the eventual Hulu merger) will be a 4 quadrant streamer.

Recommending them to double down on going back to being a niche market streamer is crazy.

As a Canadian, Disney+ adding the Star tab and mixing in other offerings has made Disney+ our go-to streamer. If they changed this, we’d be out.