A Simple Solution

fw1987

Member
Original Poster
I am sure someone has already thought this one up somewhere, but since I haven't seen it, here is my solution to this whole Eisner/Comcast mess.

Comcast buys the Disney broadcast assets: ABC, ABC Family Channel, ESPN, Disney Channel, other cable assets. Company name: Comcast ABC

The other Disney creative/content assets get merged with Pixar:
Feature Animation, Disney Theme Parks, Disney Cruise Line, Disney Studios. Company name: Disney

King Mikey Eisner gets the boot, with Steve Jobs serving as the new CEO, John Lassiter head of Disney Studios. Disney would once again invest heavily in its creative assets.

Cross licensing agreements between Comcast ABC and Disney for XX number of years so Comcast ABC has certain rights to Disney content.

The three shall become two. The resulting companies are pure plays, as opposed to the mess that the current Disney company is.


BTW, I have lurked on these boards for 2 years and never written a post. But this whole Ei$ner thing and the Comcast bid has finally gotten me scribing.
 

Tim G

Well-Known Member
Originally posted by fw1987
I am sure someone has already thought this one up somewhere, but since I haven't seen it, here is my solution to this whole Eisner/Comcast mess.

Comcast buys the Disney broadcast assets: ABC, ABC Family Channel, ESPN, Disney Channel, other cable assets. Company name: Comcast ABC

The other Disney creative/content assets get merged with Pixar:
Feature Animation, Disney Theme Parks, Disney Cruise Line, Disney Studios. Company name: Disney

King Mikey Eisner gets the boot, with Steve Jobs serving as the new CEO, John Lassiter head of Disney Studios. Disney would once again invest heavily in its creative assets.

Cross licensing agreements between Comcast ABC and Disney for XX number of years so Comcast ABC has certain rights to Disney content.

The three shall become two. The resulting companies are pure plays, as opposed to the mess that the current Disney company is.
Bad idea...
(No offence :D )
 

BwanaBob

Well-Known Member
You forgot about the film studios.

Pixar won't because they can gain so much more alone and can ask for more with the past success.
 

fw1987

Member
Original Poster
"You forgot about the film studios. "


By Disney Studios, I meant the film studios.

Pixar may be giving something up, but they would be gaining a lot, as it would be a merger. Both companies would gain.

And Corrus, no "offence" taken.
 

Shaman

Well-Known Member
Originally posted by fw1987
BTW, I have lurked on these boards for 2 years and never written a post. But this whole Ei$ner thing and the Comcast bid has finally gotten me scribing.

Nice to see you've changed your lurking ways...

:wave:
 

fw1987

Member
Original Poster
The simple solution that I suggested two weeks ago was to have Comcast buy the network and cable properties, and for the remaining creative content components of Disney (parks, animation, movie studios, cruise lines, etc.) to merge with Pixar.

Jim Hill has an interesting article today that offers that up as a potential solution.

http://www.jimhillmedia.com/main/index.htm

I still think this is the best pure play. My hope is that Disney stays independent, gets a new CEO and Mikey Ei$ner sails away on a yacht. However, history shows that once targeted companies are put "in play" for a takeover, they usually end up getting acquired.

IMHO, the Disney company changed for the worse when Cap Cities ABC was acquired and the company lost focus on its core brand and assets. I believe unloading ABC, ESPN and all cable channels (other than Disney channels) would refocus the company back to creating content. Of course, this would only be successful if ME leaves in the deal (and Jobs would never stand for Eisner staying).

This thing is far from over.
 

Pat X

New Member
I was a lurker too until the whole Comcast mess....I really just want Disney to stay independent.

I can see the reasons to get rid of ABC, but on the other hand, it provides great "distribution" for Disney shows and specials. If Disney loses ABC, they won't have a guarunteed outlet for their programming like the WDW Christmas parade, tv shows, etc. For example, would NBC, which now owns the Universal Parks have specials featuring WDW? Probably not. :)
 

JBSLJames

New Member
I think networks, regardless of their affiliations, would air whatever will bring in the viewer, hence all these reality shows with scantilly dressed people.
 

fw1987

Member
Original Poster
Originally posted by cloudboy
But do you reallywant Steve Jobs running Disney?

Compared to who? Eisner? YES. I'll take Jobs.

Let's see. Steve Jobs runs Pixar and allows his creative people to do what they do best. Has that been successful? Every movie Pixar has made has been extremely successful. Apple products? You can argue that Apple hasn't made the most money, but their products are very innovative. They are trend setting. He's not afraid to go against the grain, away from the status quo, from convention. I think that is what Disney needs right now.

Is he perfect? No. He has a huge ego, and a strong personality. Then again, show me any successful mogul that doesn't have those traits.

Would I rather have Walt Disney himself run the corporation? Of course. But that ain't gonna happen.

Everybody bashes Eisner, myself included. The real question is, who is the right person to run Disney? If not Jobs, who?
 

cloudboy

Well-Known Member
Let's see...

Jobs starts Apple with Wozniak, but essentially comes to consider it his own, and barely mentions Wozniak now. He got kicked out of Apple because they were going downhill so bad, because they were not providing what the customer wanted. Agreed, Amillio ir whoever he was wasn't the greatest, but at least he got people interested in Apple again. The Jobs comes back, ailienates all his partnership companies, and a lot of his customers. You can hardly find Apples now because no one wants to sell them, they don't have what people want to buy, and as far as what the mainstream user wants, they are lacking in features.

Sure, Apple has a small contingent of fanatical devotes, but the rest of the people have been completely driven away. And feel unwelcome.

Disney is primarily a service company. I don't feel that Jobs has the right attitude and understanding to run something like the theme parks - all that will happen is that they will become out of sync with the guests and drive them away.

Perhaps Terry Semel of Yahoo!? He was originally with Warner Bros.
 

fw1987

Member
Original Poster
First let me say that I am not a Steve Jobs apologist. I don't think that he is perfect for the role of CEO of Disney. And I don't want to turn this into a Steve Jobs debate. Being in the computer industry for 15 years though, I think there is more to the history of Steve Jobs and Apple than can be given justice here. The real mistake of Apple was that they thought they were a hardware company, and failed to realize the money was in being a software company. Anyway, back to the main topic...

I would far prefer to have Disney remain an independent company with a brand new CEO who "gets it".

However, given that they are now in play, I would far prefer that they part ways with ABC, ESPN (which I by the way love) and their other broadcast and cable properties (save the Disney Channels). I also think that Pixar has done a remarkable job and would fit in nicely with Disney Animation, Disney Studios and the Parks (along with the cruise line, DVC, etc.)

The current Disney company has two main components: Creative content (including the Parks and associated hospitality) and distribution (networks and cable). The component everyone loves is the creative side. They should cash in the distribution side and invest it into the animation, film making, parks and hospitality, IMHO.
 

Disneyland1970

New Member
Originally posted by cloudboy
Let's see...


Sure, Apple has a small contingent of fanatical devotes, but the rest of the people have been completely driven away. And feel unwelcome.


I'm sorry but couldn't help myself! It's also a good description of Eisner....
 

cloudboy

Well-Known Member
You know, I was thinking about that. At first I too thought they should dump ABC and ESPN, but I started to think...

The one think that disney has that is keeping them from being EVERYONE'S target is the fact that they are so big, and to be honest ABC and ESPN play into that. ESPN is making them money, so that in itself is a good thing.

The ABC bit is a different story, and something needs to be done about it. I am not sure what, though. At this point I would even support them selling it off for a cheap price - it is not doing a whole lot of good to them. Then maybe look at other cable content companies like ESPN.

What I also think they need to consider is selling stations. I think that they are too much for Disney to handle at this point.
 

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