On layoffs, very bad attendance, and Iger's legacy being one of disgrace

[Model3 McQueen]

What exactly would you be looking for in a backup plan? Decisions made that make the Walt Disney Company overall less reliant on theme parks for income, such as buying Pixar, Marvel, FOX or building out Disney+, are usually the kind of decisions derided by parks fans.

It is beyond absurdist to try to pin the current failings on Iger's leadership. Unless you have some evidence he created the virus in his basement, that is.

Park fans are derided rightfully so, because IP finds its way into the parks and has successfully pushed out anything even remotely original.

 

[WDW Pro]

WDWPro believes it was made by scientists in a bunker below the TRON coaster at SDL and spread within the Treasure Cove fish market.

I heard him say it, immediately after writing Frozen 2 was authored by the CCP.

 

[tirian]

Then sell it.

And I shall.

They date back to options, btw. It’s not as if anyone is holding onto them to wring their hands.

 

[Brer Oswald]

What exactly would you be looking for in a backup plan? Decisions made that make the Walt Disney Company overall less reliant on theme parks for income, such as buying Pixar, Marvel, FOX or building out Disney+, are usually the kind of decisions derided by parks fans.

It is beyond absurdist to try to pin the current failings on Iger's leadership. Unless you have some evidence he created the virus in his basement, that is.

Fox acquisition. Years of undercutting frontline employees to bolster his own bonus and “legacy”. Proposing a rushed opening of the parks instead of Chapek’s staggered opening. The failings shouldn’t solely be put on him, but there are definitely some miscalculations on his part.

 

[J4546]

i think buying fox was a smart move long term. it was expensive, but they got a lot for the money

 

[mkt]

Going to rearrange this post.

As an employer, how many of these is Disney known for?

Let's see.

Wages that cover basic living expenses.

Nope.

After that, there’s also flexible scheduling

Disney would be firmly average on this.

benefits

Yes

empowerment...

YES!

...to make decisions

Oh, no. No no.

resources needed for personal safety

Used to be good at this, now it's mostly safety theatre.

and general encouragement.

HELL NO.

 

[Brer Oswald]

i think buying fox was a smart move long term. it was expensive, but they got a lot for the money

The only thing I can think of from FOX that is remotely as marketable as Marvel, Star Wars And Pixar is the Simpsons. But the Simpsons doesn’t 100% Fit their brand image and theme park rights are tied up with Uni.

Disney’s current strategy is “characters” and “franchises”. The returns from FOX will be slow until they start changing up their strategy.

 

[lazyboy97o]

i think buying fox was a smart move long term. it was expensive, but they got a lot for the money

Or Iger could have not shut down Disney's other labels and would have had a decade of content.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

The only thing I can think of from FOX that is remotely as marketable as Marvel, Star Wars And Pixar is the Simpsons. But the Simpsons doesn’t 100% Fit their brand image and theme park rights are tied up with Uni.

Disney’s current strategy is “characters” and “franchises”. The returns from FOX will be slow until they start changing up their strategy.

Disney has the data obviously... I wonder how the viewing is for simpsons on Disney+.

I also think it’s a bad idea to mix in films like Ice Age into Disney+ branding wise.

The Disney company has spent decades making their films valuable by “keeping them in the vault” - and now its like they have dumped everything into the bargain bin that is Disney+.

 

[Disstevefan1]

As a shareholder, I’m more concerned than I already was. It’s one thing to be unhappy with creative decisions; it’s another thing to realize the company’s business side has been mismanaged. There was no backup plan, just spend, spend, spend. Of course nobody could predict this year’s events, but anyone who passed Biz 101 would know you can’t spend forever and chalk it all up to “IP investments.” Iger was more foolish than I thought.



“Earnings are expected to be awful, with virtually every part of Disney severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic except for Disney+/Hulu, which have been notable beneficiaries,” LightShed Partners analysts led by Richard Greenfield wrote in a note Tuesday morning. “What will be far more important to investors is how management discusses their plans to deal with the unprecedented challenges facing Disney over the coming year(s).”

Disney earnings: Disney 3Q adjusted EPS top expectations, even as pandemic slams theme parks

Disney (DIS) is set to deliver its fiscal third-quarter report after market close on Tuesday. The results are expected to be ugly, after the coronavirus pandemic hit the company in its most lucrative theme parks, media networks and studio film businesses.

finance.yahoo.com

Its so easy to criticize TWDC after the fact. Before the virus, TWDC was making money hand over fist. I was at EPCOT F&W in November (who knows the virus was already in the US) and it was so MOBBED I could not get near a food booth to buy my $7 sample.

In the past I was critical about WDW raising prices on everything, but folks (including me) still showed up and spent our cash.

If before the virus, if Iger went into a stockholders meeting and announced, “We are not going to grow our business, instead we are going to stock pile all our cash in case we are hit by a 100 year event like, I don’t know, the Spanish flu.”

He would have been laughed out of the place.....

 

[JenniferS]

If only more businesses followed the Costco way things would be much better. They treat their employees well and pay them well too. Top wage at Costco in Canada is $27.65 plus $3500 bonus every 6 months.

Let’s be fair though - the cost of living in Canada is huge. I work for a Builder in the GTA, and sell new townhomes in the $700-$800K range, with detached well over a mill.

I live in a modest 44 year old semi detached home, an hour west of TO, valued at just under $500K.

I have 24 and 25 year old sons still at home because rent is $1500-$1800/month plus utilities.

Wages in Canada NEED to be higher.

 

[Model3 McQueen]

Me patiently waiting for the sequel thread like..

 

[flynnibus]

ESPN sinking the company was also nonsensical talk because all indications are it remained one of the (and possibly the) most profitable sections of the entire company. It just wasn't as insanely profitable as it was 10 years ago.

It's not non-sense if it didn't happen. And the ESPN golden goose narrative held the stock back and was the top of analyst minds for over 2 years. If you believed the risk was as big as the concern was is another discussion... but ESPN talk did have a actual impact on the company.. and poof.. all the problems went away with some big D+ subscriber numbers

 

[el_super]

Park fans are derided rightfully so, because IP finds its way into the parks and has successfully pushed out anything even remotely original.

So what would you do instead, to make the company less reliant on the parks?

 

[J4546]

fox had fantastic 4 and xmen (includes deadpool) and with what disney has done with the marvel stuff they already owned...i think they will make billions on those 2 franchises alone. merging them into the already established avengers universe... gonna make a lot of money. then you have avatar...a moneymaker. all of foxs vault like home alone and alien franchise and simpsons, and bobs burgers and family guy and die hard and many more will add to disney+ and hulu...and speaking of hulu they now own fox 33% cut to give disney a 66% stake on hulu. plus all the overseas stuff like star india and others i cant remember which is a realy big deal as india is quickly becoming a major player and star india serves like 9/10 households with cable....theres so many pieces of this puzzle, id recommend checking out the wiki page for the buyout, its fascinating.

 

[flynnibus]

Very interesting you talk a lot of young ones needing to make smarter decisions in life which I agree. Your oldest kid and fiance having employment impacted by covid then getting out of an apartment then moving into their first house. Doesn't seem like sound decision making in these uncertain times?

Their monthly house expenses will be less than their rental expense. They made a sacrifice of location to reduce expenses and get the elements they wanted. Want change?... drive it.

 

[el_super]

Fox acquisition.

Exactly my point. Parks fans are quick to point to things like the Fox acquisition as bad business decisions, but since that decision was important for combating the same thing people are blaming Iger for now: diversifying their business. The Fox acquisition is going to play heavily into how well Disney+ is doing on today's call.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Exactly my point. Parks fans are quick to point to things like the Fox acquisition as bad business decisions, but since that decision was important for combating the same thing people are blaming Iger for now: diversifying their business. The Fox acquisition is going to play heavily into how well Disney+ is doing on today's call.

Like I stated, you need to diversify your business strategy in order to diversify the business.

 

[el_super]

Like I stated, you need to diversify your business strategy in order to diversify the business.

How? Are we going to blame Iger for not having the foresight to start a Disney Pharmaceuticals division? For not buying Johnson and Johnson? They already put Disney characters on Band-Aids so there has to be SOME synergy prospects there right?

Maybe if go.com took off, we wouldn't need to be having this discussion...

 

[Miss Bella]

Not a huge percentage. About a 1/4 of your pay goes to taxes. The majority of Canadians get money back from income tax. It evens out in the end. The U.S. Costco top wage is $26. Its not that much less then ours.

26 is about 35 cad. Your 27 in cad is about 20 here.