News The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors Extends Robert A. Iger’s Contract as CEO Through 2026

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yes, Chapek totally botched that.

You’re kidding yourself if you think Iger would have done anything different in 2020 and 2021…he also still had full control of the board.

Chapek made stupid mistakes…cause he was always an idiot…but this “Bob didn’t do it” stuff was never intellectually valid

The main culprit of their current predicament is Robert A Iger
…as was always inevitable

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

None of my posts ever compared D+ to Netflix.

But you should…because it’s the only model to comp at this point for what D+ is

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It seems Disney isn't interested in this. They seem pot committed to large tentpole productions from Marvel and Star Wars only. (Too big to fail?)

…one little problem there

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

If the numbers where good we would already know.

Exactly

This is a company lead by an egomaniac desperate for any good PR they can get.

Not likely to go “Low key”…which means it ain’t good

 

[el_super]

D+ Core subscribers increased from 112M. With the majority 7.4M occurring in Q4 2023. D+ Lost Subscribers in Q1 2023 and Q2 2023 to the total of approximately 900K.

So they lost 900k at the beginning of the year then added 7 million later on?

So what happened in Q4 to drive subscriber growth?

 

[el_super]

I will only consider D+ to be a competitor to Netflix once it's integrated with Hulu.

Hulu will certainly help, but I have to keep remindingyself of the ways D+ is branching out that don't really impact me. Someone just reminded me that BTS is coming to Disney+ and I have to imagine that will be pretty big for them.

Dr Who is coming as well. Different strokes you know..

 

[JD80]

If the numbers where good we would already know.

No platform is all fully paid subscriptions. That state of subscription will never happen. There will always be promos for signing up. There will always be sales and bundles. There will always be cell phone and cable companies offering subs for free or part of a package.

This point is silly because every streaming platform does it.

 

[JD80]

Hulu will certainly help, but I have to keep remindingyself of the ways D+ is branching out that don't really impact me. Someone just reminded me that BTS is coming to Disney+ and I have to imagine that will be pretty big for them.

Dr Who is coming as well. Different strokes you know..

Bridgerton alone got an extra few months of sub in my house because my wife loves the books/show. I would have cancelled much earlier. All platforms will need a way to broaden their audiences.

 

[JD80]

I don't think we would see a deal where Hulu offers 99 cents for a month or 12 dollars for the entire year. Steepest discount I have ever known them to have.

That's not abnormal in subscription based business. 10-20 years ago, how many magazines offered X months/years subscription for free or cheap? And they had to actually print things and mail them to you. D+ doesn't have to make anything.

New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Athletic, Sirius Radio you name it. They all do this.

 

[monothingie]

So they lost 900k at the beginning of the year then added 7 million later on?

So what happened in Q4 to drive subscriber growth?

Don't know. Comparatively speaking Netflix gained subs on the same level in Q4 as well.

Don't know also whether these are retail subs or wholesale.

 

[LSLS]

My data range was just laziness than anything specific. My point is that there are significantly less dollars in the movie marketplace than before. They are being spent on other entertainment content. Maybe their movie ticket budget is going to more streaming platforms.

I understand, but the reality is most studios aren't seeing a huge drop (if any) when compared to pre-covid, that's really specific to Disney. Universal had the second best year they have had since 1995 (revenue/per movie released). WB just had it's best, as did Paramount. NOW, here's the other part of the equation to the idea there is less dollars. There were a LOT less movies this year. Looking at the top 5 producers, 2023 had the LEAST number of theatrical releases (outside of the 2020/2021 covid years) of any year since 1995. They released 30% less movies this year than 2019, 35% less than 2018. So it could be the numbers are down across the board simply because less is coming out at this point.

 

[yensid67]

I just hope and pray that the same can be said of the entire Disney Company! AND PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE...LISTEN TO THE FANS!
The fans are the ones inside the parks and see everything that is wrong! Listen to your fans and DIsney will succeed for 100+ years!
#1- Get rid of Genie+ and brings back FastPass...make it FastPass+...free fastpasses at the attractions like before with a later return time, have the main attractions as purchased fastpasses!
#2- Bring back the nighttime parade at the Magic Kingdom...you have parades sitting in storage, like Paint the Night that has yet to make an appearance at WDW!!
#3-This should have been #1...but let's get those ticket prices lowered! If I have to pay for Genie+ and Lightning Lanes once I pay $159+ for my ticket...then the ticket prices should be lowered or Genie+ removed and replaced with FP!

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I understand, but the reality is most studios aren't seeing a huge drop (if any) when compared to pre-covid, that's really specific to Disney. Universal had the second best year they have had since 1995 (revenue/per movie released). WB just had it's best, as did Paramount. NOW, here's the other part of the equation to the idea there is less dollars. There were a LOT less movies this year. Looking at the top 5 producers, 2023 had the LEAST number of theatrical releases (outside of the 2020/2021 covid years) of any year since 1995. They released 30% less movies this year than 2019, 35% less than 2018. So it could be the numbers are down across the board simply because less is coming out at this point.

More movies released tends to drive more people to the BO…

…but it still doesn’t account for Disneys rejection at all.

It’s just bad content. The brand is tarnished

 

[celluloid]

That's not abnormal in subscription based business. 10-20 years ago, how many magazines offered X months/years subscription for free or cheap? And they had to actually print things and mail them to you. D+ doesn't have to make anything.

New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Athletic, Sirius Radio you name it. They all do this.

How are those magazines doing now? Are they growing?
Disney does not have to make anything? There are costs involved, and you have to produce content that is much more expensive than a magazine.

Also, it is abnormal to offer less than when the deal was around last time. Not a sign of growing business demand.

I specifically stated lower than ever. Hulu used to have 2.99 a month for a year around Black Friday. It has lowered every year to now just 99 cents a year and has a 9 billion debt to comcast.

Sometimes JD80, you are wrong, and that is ok.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

How are those magazines doing now? Are they growing?
Disney does not have to make anything? There are costs involved, and you have to produce content that is much more expensive than a magazine.

Also, it is abnormal to offer less than when the deal was around last time. Not a sign of growing business demand.

I specifically stated lower than ever. Hulu used to have 2.99 a month for a year around Black Friday. It has lowered every year to now just 99 cents a year and has a 9 billion debt to comcast.

Sometimes JD80, you are wrong, and that is ok.

The cut rate prices are a bit of an odd play when you are also promising stock holders that the money is about to pour in…

 

[LSLS]

More movies released tends to drive more people to the BO…

…but it still doesn’t account for Disneys rejection at all.

It’s just bad content. The brand is tarnished

Yeah I agree it doesn't account for it. Like I said, this is the worst year when ratioing their revenues to number of releases since 2015. And that is not accounting for inflation, nor does it factor in what the movies released are (i.e. number of high budget releases vs small releases), so it could drop a lot further. But I'm not sold it's brand tarnished as much as I think in their haste to do D+ they have completely sacrificed their box office (well, long term tarnished, as in, I think it can come back). If they want their box office back, I think they need to take giant hits now and make people believe that if they don't hit the theaters, they won't be seeing these for "Free" for 9 months or even a year. It won't solve all their issues with say Marvel, but I think that's something they strongly need to consider if they ever want that box office back.

 

[Trauma]

That's not abnormal in subscription based business. 10-20 years ago, how many magazines offered X months/years subscription for free or cheap? And they had to actually print things and mail them to you. D+ doesn't have to make anything.

New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Athletic, Sirius Radio you name it. They all do this.

Can you link me to the $1 a month for Netflix deal ?

 

[MisterPenguin]

and if they can leverage Hulu’s live TV services,

Tho... "Live TV" subs are in danger. They provide live airing of linear channels. But if linear channels go extinct, there will be nothing "Live" to stream.

The exception would be sports, and Disney will be making the ESPN Cable channel into a concurrent streamer in 2025.

Based on Neilson Streaming ratings, (The latest available shown here) The only consistent piece of content they have that people really want to watch is Bluey. (Which they do not own but only distribute)
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Except this is the norm, not the exception. If you look back through historical ratings data, the only consistent successful program is Bluey.

D+ original content like Ashoka, Loki, Andor, Obi-Wan, Boba Fest, Secret Invasion, even Mandolorian S3 have not performed well or had lasting power to remain at the top of ratings charts. (They can't even come close to matching Bluey)

These are expensive productions that do not create the user engagement Disney needs to ensure the longterm viability of the D+ platform.

Before you weaponize the Nielsen data, there are things to be kept in mind:​

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1. Nielsen only counts minutes watched. This favors TV series that are an hour long v. those that are a half hour. Both series could have the same number of people watching, but the hour show will have twice the amount of minutes watched.​

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2. Having a "Top Ten" leaves out all the shows that have a good number of views, even over a long time, but they never appear on the Top Ten list.​

​

3. People do really dumb things with a Top Ten list like pointing out a show that is "only at #5" and thus claim that "it is doing poorly." But it's still on a Top Ten list!! Being in the Top Ten is a big thing. Or, they look at the Master Top Ten and think every show that didn't make it is doing poorly (see next point).​

​

4. Neilsen breaks out the total Top Ten into three categories: Original series and Made-for-TV Movies; Acquired series and Made-for-TV Movies; and, Movies that had a theatrical run. This helps to better compare apples to apples. Looking at the Master Top Ten combines all three, and a lot of shows with good numbers drop out. And suddenly, a movie that is in the Top Ten for movies is off the Master Top Ten. Because, apparently, "Suits" is the best goddarn TV series ever made because it is constantly in the Top Ten.​

​

5. Nielsen's Top Ten list is a month behind. They sell the current and full range of data to the content companies. They aren't going to give out all the data for free.​

That out of the way:

• Ahsoka appeared in the Top Ten original list for 7 weeks in row for a total of 4 Billion minutes of viewing.
• Loki 1: 8 Weeks. 5.8B minutes
• Loki 2: 4 weeks so far (delayed reporting). 2B minutes so far.
• Andor: 9 weeks. 4.2B minutes
• Obi-Wan: 4 weeks. 3.2B minutes
• Boba Fett: 9 weeks. 5B minutes
• Secret Invasion: 6 weeks. 2.5B
• Mandolorian S3: 11 weeks. 8.4B minutes

 

[MisterPenguin]

Can you link me to the $1 a month for Netflix deal ?

The bargain deals are for the tier with ads. The ads are paying more for that $1 sub, than what Disney is getting from a premium sub with no ads.

 

[MisterPenguin]

The studio needs to remember that they are an animation studio and stay away from "live action." Imo.

Disney has two animation studios (not counting the smaller ones for Disney cable channels): Pixar and Disney Animations Studios.

Disney has five major live-action studios (not counting the smaller TV studios): Walt Disney Studios; Marvel; LucasFilm; 20th Century; and, Spotlight.

Up until the past two decades Disney had two major studios: DAS and WDS. WDS produced such films as Mary Poppins, Old Yeller, Swiss Family Robinson, TRON, Hocus Pocus, The Santa Clause, Mighty Ducks, The Parent Trap (and remakes), The Muppets (et. al), etc....

Disney is most definitely *not* "an animation studio."