News Josh D’Amaro Named Next CEO of The Walt Disney Company

[aladdin2007]

I think many of you doubters will be pleasantly surprised in the future by Josh’s balanced approach. I have a close mutual friend and feel optimistic that he will do well. He isn’t egotistical like Bob Iger and he is a well liked leader and has been his whole life. His career success has been the product of showing up and doing his job well. He understands there is a balance needed between shareholders and consumers. That balance was completely gone when Bob Chapek took over.

He knows he has to present himself a certain way as many have pointed out in this thread. The Josh you see isn’t necessarily how he is privately but part of his job is to connect with all of the fans/consumers. Give him a chance, he’s going to be a competent leader that will be more approachable by his employees than Bob was. He is financially literate but also recognizes the weight that he has to run a creative company that people genuinely love in a way most companies can’t relate to.

I hope so. I'm not as worried about Josh as I am Vahle getting his current position, that one is more of a concern and a scary one at that.

 

[ChrisFL]

It's interesting to see the wildly diverse set of reactions...as for me I have no idea what will happen, just going to wait and see.

 

[JoeCamel]

After a modest 90% cut for “the company”?

…who says no?!?

Nah they start putting 95% to the CMs with an ad campaign lauding the act then over time make cuts to the rate. Like clockwork

 

[TsWade2]

This isn't an outsider coming into to "save" a company. It is someone handpicked by the team that has led the company to where they sit today. I hope I am wrong for how this is going to pan out...and maybe he will get me back into the parks one day.

I didn't say he's an outsider! I never said that! I just suggest we give him a chance first before we become judge mental! I'm surprise the people of X.com are more supportive than some people here in this forum!

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I didn't say he's an outsider! I never said that! I just suggest we give him a chance first before we become judge mental! I'm surprise the people of X.com are more supportive than some people here in this forum!

…new to this neighborhood, huh?

 

[flynnibus]

I think this could be viewed 2 ways: it shows the parks are doing amazing or it shows just how badly the other divisions are doing. A few years ago Marvel was making bank, Pixar was making bank, LucasFilm was making bank, ESPN was making bank… I’d argue the parks are doing what they’ve always done, which is being a steady source of reliable profit, while everything is stumbling.

'stumbling' is harsh tho.

The other divisions are basically expected to be behaving like this
1 - Broadcast and traditional media are being turned on their head by generational shifts in the market. Entire segments will die never to return. The next generation for media is still an active battleground and no one really knows what the way forward truly is -- it's still being defined. While Disney's ROI on dollars is horrible, and they were slow to start which drove up their costs considerably.. now that they've started playing, they are actually doing quite well and have transitioned consumption (except for ESPN) quite well. They could be FAR FAR worse.. or mostly dead. But Disney had deep enough pockets, and willingness to spend, to pound through the early tough part. Where will they end up? We don't know... but they aren't Kodak right now, and that's a win.

2 - The movie studio business has always been a rollercoaster... plenty of studios have simply folded or sold out simply because they couldn't weather the down swings. What you can hang on Disney management is the insistence of the tent pole model vs arguments for peanut butter models to try to soften the swings... and their management of the theater model. IMHO their strategy here is killing this part of the business, but the low ROI is still pretty intrinsic to the line of business. You simply can't have everything be a hit.

All that said, both lines of business are facing industry wide armeggedon like scenarios - This isn't just a Disney thing.. this is 'how do these kinds of businesses need to change to exist in 10yrs?'. Disney is fighting.. but they aren't really winning the long game.. but almost no one is. So as the big guy, it's not so uncommon to move slow and look for successful disruptors.. instead of risking running too fast yourself in any one direction.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

YouTube has been very impressive in how they’ve navigated uncharted waters

Smartest guys in the room

I think they’re just bitter Gen Xers who remember when Tv was free and you paid money for cable so you didn’t have to see ads.

One of the biggest scams Hollywood ever pulled off was charging for cable because there wasn’t ads and then putting ads on it and keeping the payment scheme anyway. Paying $100-200 a month to watch commercials is still one of my biggest pet peeves in life, which probably explains why I’m now on the most basic cable plan and 90% of my tv viewing is YouTube.

I have no problem spending thousands on a vacation but I draw the line on paying to watch commercials.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The only other interesting attractions at the park are the Nintendo ones, and they're all bad. MK is trash, Yoshi is a joke, and DK is just single coaster elements split apart by brake zones.

Donkey Kong is the most inadequate ride system ever built in Orlando. I don’t knack what hourly capacity they claim?…but it handles less that would he required for a coaster on an average day at Six Flags over McMurdo Station

 

[HMF]

No CEO is without their criticisms. But Eisner had a pretty good track record.

I agree and even during his "Bad" period he did greenlight some ideas that the Bobs never would have taken pen to paper. Hunchback of Notre Dame, Epcot Millenium Celebration Non-descript mountain themed to India or something the list goes on.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think they’re just bitter Gen Xers who remember when Tv was free and you paid money for cable so you didn’t have to see ads.

One of the biggest scams Hollywood ever pulled off was charging for cable because there wasn’t ads and then putting ads on it and keeping the payment scheme anyway. Paying $100-200 a month to watch commercials is still one of my biggest pet peeves in life, which probably explains why I’m now on the most basic cable plan and 90% of my tv viewing is YouTube.

I have no problem spending thousands on a vacation but I draw the line on paying to watch commercials.

I totally agree…prolly cause we’re both angry Gen Xers, huh?

 

[HMF]

There are varying levels of fear amongst all of us here that Peltz could be right…

We just won’t talk about it/admit it

He might be right about some things. I just don't' trust his motivations.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

He might be right about some things. I just don't' trust his motivations.

He’s a scumbag…that’s not the disqualifier
If he was a DUMB scumbag…that would disqualify

Besides…he busy fighting with Posh and Bend It anyway…

But that doesn’t blunt the message really at all

 

[flynnibus]

This is why I think D+ would be smart to offer a free (ad based) version, they could keep their paid versions also, YouTube offers a paid (ad free) version that continues to grow, I view the free version like the dealer giving someone a free sample to get them hooked so they buy more. Even if they never pay for the paid version as long as they keep watching the ads will make up for lost revenue.

This is kinda apples and oranges though. YT's premium model really isn't anything core to the business model. It's nice f simply a way to offer some people a buy-out - and a nice free boost to YT revenue which helps them out in the cash flow department. Revenue from subs is not even a flea on the dog compared to ad revenue.

And that's the big difference... YT has so many eyes and so many views.. that is what the ad market wants. Networks trying to play professional long form content are never going to have that kind of demo that a platform like YT or any of the video upstarts have. And while platforms can buy content creators output.. a walled garden like a D+ is never going to get the influx of content (or cheap content) something like a YT or Instagram have.

Fundamentally these businesses are so different -- even tho both are video entertainment at the end of the day. D+, etc are not platforms who monetize what moves through them.. they are distribution and consumption models for the company's content.

 

[HMF]

The NEW Disney Dark Age begins.............. I hope the Parks can still float the boat.

To be honest I am not sure the first one ended. The first 10 Iger Years were okay on paper but that was mostly others doing such as Matt Ouimet for DL's 50th Most of Bobs' work with WDI has been loaded with IP and the one thing he actually got right during this period The DCA re-Imagineering taught him the complete wrong lesson. People hated DCA 1.0 because it was cheaply designed and built not because Mickey's face was not slapped on the Ferris wheel and Cars Land was not just successful because it increased toy sales. Thus, why we now have virtually all the parks losing their identities or at least their ability to have their own identity outside of the concept of schilling plastic.

 

[HMF]

YouTube, TikTok and Netflix are putting Hollywood out of business.

That's largely because Hollywood has run out of ideas.

 

[HMF]

RIP Hollywood I guess then.
OR
Could Hollywood and friends of Hollywood that are in the government kill YouTube, TikTok and Netflix???

I was under the delusion that having government telling media companies what to do was a bad thing.

 

[HMF]

I think its more likely to see Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room going away from Magic Kingdom. My reasoning with Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room going away is due to rumors earlier this decade about Moana replacing it. Don't be shock if Walt's classic attraction goes away at some point.

They already tried that. I am hoping that knowing history will keep them in shape, but I don't know how long the average management level CM's spend in the company today so we shall see.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

Valhe is in the running for Josh former role as Chairman. He’s going to brown nose.

Yep and people should be very concern if he becomes Chairman of the parks. What some of his moves did at Walt Disney World is not going to be looked at in a good way decades from now.

He is capable of doing moves that can't be undone in a bad way. He's capable of wanting stuff like Disneyland's Rivers of America be completely gone and think what that could from an atmosphere standpoint at Disneyland.

 

[HauntedPirate]

They can. Just institute 180 days before streaming industry wide.

That goes against the more recent “instant gratification” generations. You expect people to… *gasp!* wait for something???

(For the record, I’m fully in favor of some kind of tiered release schedule for movies post-theatrical run)

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

This is kinda apples and oranges though. YT's premium model really isn't anything core to the business model. It's nice f simply a way to offer some people a buy-out - and a nice free boost to YT revenue which helps them out in the cash flow department. Revenue from subs is not even a flea on the dog compared to ad revenue.

And that's the big difference... YT has so many eyes and so many views.. that is what the ad market wants. Networks trying to play professional long form content are never going to have that kind of demo that a platform like YT or any of the video upstarts have. And while platforms can buy content creators output.. a walled garden like a D+ is never going to get the influx of content (or cheap content) something like a YT or Instagram have.

Fundamentally these businesses are so different -- even tho both are video entertainment at the end of the day. D+, etc are not platforms who monetize what moves through them.. they are distribution and consumption models for the company's content.

Can’t really argue against any of your points, my only counter would be that I believe if they did make it free there would be enough eyeballs to justify companies paying a lot more for ads.