Bob Iger Bans Top Analyst and His Firm

[Filby61]

You can say that about a lot of industry. Restaurants used to serve a loaded baked potatoe. Now they serve a plain potatoe and you have to pay for toppings. Some airlines charge for carry ons or extra for seats with more leg room. Heck we just this week used a fishing guide service that charged extra for using live bait which has always been included in the base cost in the past. Disney is not the only entity up charging.

It's fascinating how, when Disney theme parks are criticized for declining quality and increasing prices, the first line of defense is to compare Disney to airlines, banks, sporting events, rock concerts, chain restaurants, Six Flags amusement parks, movie theater chains and sundry other generic, faceless businesses... and then to proclaim Disney superior.

The "everybody else is doing it too" defense.

 

[Matt_Black]

Which is something you are seeing now with the Sanders and Trump phenomenon, The political parties establishment HATE their respective base(s) and consider them 'Useful Idiots' until of course like now they are not 'Useful Idiots'.

The dyamic is fascinating.

If Bernie's supporters really represented the base, he'd have won the nomination.

 

[Hakunamatata]

It's fascinating how, when Disney theme parks are criticized for declining quality and increasing prices, the first line of defense is to compare Disney to airlines, banks, sporting events, rock concerts, chain restaurants, Six Flags amusement parks, movie theater chains and sundry other generic, faceless businesses... and then to proclaim Disney superior.

The "everybody else is doing it too" defense.

Generally speaking my first line of defense, and most of the time it's after I take a big drag off my pixie dust vape (yes us upper 1%er Disney apologists have those) is that Disney is a business and they can run their business how they see fit, however I tried to tie this in to other businesses that up charge.

It's amazing how Disney antagonists tend to say you can't compare Disney to anything else because....Iger and ..... greed and.....stuff.

 

[ford91exploder]

If Bernie's supporters really represented the base, he'd have won the nomination.

Without the 'Superdelegates' a creation of the establishment to ensure their 'preferred' candidate win Sanders would have, Please note that the putative Dem nominee has not secured the requisite number of 'regular' delegates to have an uncontested convention even with the win in CA the 'nominee' is 100 'regular' delegates short.

So yes I'd say that the D establishment hates and distrusts their base and has installed mechanisms to override the 'unenlightened' voter.

And in the OTHER corner - the establishment is going to rewrite the rules so that they can run their 'chosen' candidate the one with the 'ethnically correct' wife. I believe his statement in the beginng of the process was on the order of 'Lose in the Primary, Win in the General election'... Along with statements like 'The PARTY chooses the candidate, not the (dirty, unwashed) VOTERS' from the party leadership...

I think the current US election is an excellent example of what happens when the BRAND turns against the fans.

 

[Matt_Black]

Without the 'Superdelegates' a creation of the establishment to ensure their 'preferred' candidate win Sanders would have, Please note that the putative Dem nominee has not secured the requisite number of 'regular' delegates to have an uncontested convention even with the win in CA the 'nominee' is 100 'regular' delegates short.

So yes I'd say that the D establishment hates and distrusts their base and has installed mechanisms to override the 'unenlightened' voter.

And in the OTHER corner - the establishment is going to rewrite the rules so that they can run their 'chosen' candidate the one with the 'ethnically correct' wife. I believe his statement in the beginng of the process was on the order of 'Lose in the Primary, Win in the General election'... Along with statements like 'The PARTY chooses the candidate, not the (dirty, unwashed) VOTERS' from the party leadership...

I think the current US election is an excellent example of what happens when the BRAND turns against the fans.

Disregarding the superdelegates, Bernie would need unanimous victories, or close to it, in every single primary that's left, which is extraordinarily unlikely. The maligned superdelegates were his last shot.

 

[wdisney9000]

Oh Lord....politics...pleas No. That's worse than the Marvel comics debates

 

[Matt_Black]

Oh Lord....politics...pleas No. That's worse than the Marvel comics debates

If only there were a way to combine the two...

 

[ford91exploder]

Oh Lord....politics...pleas No. That's worse than the Marvel comics debates

Ouch Agree absolutely

I think this just validated @Filby61 's article where people are compelled to 'defend' that which is central to their belief system,

I was using the current US election as an exemplar of what happens when an organization turns against it's fans and the US election seemed reasonable as most of the non-Brit's here have endured this 24x7 . You noticed that I avoided mentioning names but merely described behaviors. But the 'must defend belief system behavior' kicked in immediately.

 

[rael ramone]

I had forgotten about the pre TFA BTIG downgrade. But what I do remember BTIG doing (and I wonder if this is what upsets The Weatherman more then the downgrade) was the ESPN survey they did.

Basically BTIG said that only 44% of people who have the ESPN/ESPN2 2-fer would keep it if it cost $8 - and only 6% would be willing to pay $20 for it.

Prior to 'Bundlegate', the word was it didn't matter if P&R fluctuated due to the economy, or films did. There was the 'Full Faith And Credit' of the ESPN funds always coming in. No matter what. People had to have their sports, and they had to watch it live. And it had to be in all bundles, so those who could care less for live sports (or the live sports ESPN had to offer) had to help pay for it.

Now with 'bundles' under threat, the mantra is 'It doesn't matter. People need their Sports. And ESPN is the (self-declared) Worldwide Leader. They will pay anything to keep their Sports.

The BTIG survey suggests otherwise. That people DO have a price. And that price isn't sufficient for them to maintain their margins. And since $DIS is neither a Value stock (with that high P/E) or an Income stock (with that small divvy), then it has to sell itself as a Growth stock. And it's hard to see a "Growth" stock grow when it's largest, most stable source of funds is looking at a margin contraction.

(And it needs to be said that the only place ESPN is the 'Worldwide Leader' is College Football. In some parts of the country it is the unquestioned most popular sport. That affluent part of the country north of Blacksburg and east of Happy Valley? Not so much. Up there it's all about the NFL, and they have by far the worst Sunday to Monday package - and that would be true even if they weren't overpaying for it by a laughable margin).

Even if $DIS has far bigger problems, ESPN is still front and center as far as the investment community is concerned. And it's the investors who ultimately decide the value of The Weatherman's stock options...

 

[ford91exploder]

I had forgotten about the pre TFA BTIG downgrade. But what I do remember BTIG doing (and I wonder if this is what upsets The Weatherman more then the downgrade) was the ESPN survey they did.

Basically BTIG said that only 44% of people who have the ESPN/ESPN2 2-fer would keep it if it cost $8 - and only 6% would be willing to pay $20 for it.

Prior to 'Bundlegate', the word was it didn't matter if P&R fluctuated due to the economy, or films did. There was the 'Full Faith And Credit' of the ESPN funds always coming in. No matter what. People had to have their sports, and they had to watch it live. And it had to be in all bundles, so those who could care less for live sports (or the live sports ESPN had to offer) had to help pay for it.

Now with 'bundles' under threat, the mantra is 'It doesn't matter. People need their Sports. And ESPN is the (self-declared) Worldwide Leader. They will pay anything to keep their Sports.

The BTIG survey suggests otherwise. That people DO have a price. And that price isn't sufficient for them to maintain their margins. And since $DIS is neither a Value stock (with that high P/E) or an Income stock (with that small divvy), then it has to sell itself as a Growth stock. And it's hard to see a "Growth" stock grow when it's largest, most stable source of funds is looking at a margin contraction.

(And it needs to be said that the only place ESPN is the 'Worldwide Leader' is College Football. In some parts of the country it is the unquestioned most popular sport. That affluent part of the country north of Blacksburg and east of Happy Valley? Not so much. Up there it's all about the NFL, and they have by far the worst Sunday to Monday package - and that would be true even if they weren't overpaying for it by a laughable margin).

Even if $DIS has far bigger problems, ESPN is still front and center as far as the investment community is concerned. And it's the investors who ultimately decide the value of The Weatherman's stock options...

The thing in that BTIG report which probably really angered 'The Bob' that ESPN products as an aggregate ranked behind 'The Weather Channel' as a product the average household would consider paying for and the other Disney media products trailed far behind as well, Even on college TV systems ESPN rarely is in the top 10 most viewed TV channels.

Disney with the sole exception of ESPN college football does not have a compelling media package especially with ABC at #4 in the ratings of OTA networks.

 

[wdwhoneymooner]

Thanks for adding a unique and important first-hand perspective.

No problem. Admittedly, when still learning the ropes I fell victim to intimidation techniques used by a superior. Then again, I'm certain I'm not the only one who's been the target of this in a profession. I always had a conscience that dictated my actions.

 

[ford91exploder]

If only there were a way to combine the two...

If only Captain America were running, There's a candidate I could get behind.

 

[Matt_Black]

If only Captain America were running, There's a candidate I could get behind.

You might want to hold that vote!

 

[ford91exploder]

You might want to hold that vote!

Hey my candidate is this guy

 

[Mike S]

i just want to say @WDW1974 @wdwmagic that threads like this really put into prospective how much better wdwmagic is than the web of disney fan sites.....sure we discuss the regular stuff like anyone else but threads like this the deep thought and discussion that simply isnt available anywhere else. it is a really good community.

Fully agree. When I joined some two years ago I didn't really think I would be involved in topics like this. I guess I expanded my horizons a bit. More to the topic Iger is acting like that kid who shouts, "I'm taking my ball and going home!!!" This isn't how such a big name CEO should act.

And in less than 10 years, and without having to shoehorn them in, and the attractions and shows were actually worthy of the hype,

Was about to post the same thing. Spot on.

You can say that about a lot of industry. Restaurants used to serve a loaded baked potatoe. Now they serve a plain potatoe and you have to pay for toppings. Some airlines charge for carry ons or extra for seats with more leg room. Heck we just this week used a fishing guide service that charged extra for using live bait which has always been included in the base cost in the past. Disney is not the only entity up charging.

You're right but since Disney is the company this site mostly focuses on...

Generally speaking my first line of defense, and most of the time it's after I take a big drag off my pixie dust vape (yes us upper 1%er Disney apologists have those) is that Disney is a business and they can run their business how they see fit, however I tried to tie this in to other businesses that up charge.

It's amazing how Disney antagonists tend to say you can't compare Disney to anything else because....Iger and ..... greed and.....stuff.

News flash: they were always a business. They just used to focus a lot more on the guest experience rather than viewing us as sheep to be fleeced. Thankfully I don't fall for their up charge nonsense.

 

[AEfx]

Actually they DO, He's an ANALYST not a reporter, If you want to be a public company analysts are part of the price of being a public company. Don't want to deal with them well take your company private. Analysts are part of the currently inadequate system of checks and balances on the equities market.

Can you point to me what rule, statute, law, or regulation specifies that Disney must bow down and give free stuff to anyone who has the title of "analyst"?

I keep hearing hyperbole about how this (the more you look into him, the more of a joke you realize he is) person is being denied something that some folks are acting like he has some constitutional right to.

If it's just "how it's done" - that's not a good enough reason. As I said, no one needs a free trip to Shanghai to schmooze and vacation to analyze the financials.

 

[AEfx]

It's fascinating how, when Disney theme parks are criticized for declining quality and increasing prices, the first line of defense is to compare Disney to airlines, banks, sporting events, rock concerts, chain restaurants, Six Flags amusement parks, movie theater chains and sundry other generic, faceless businesses... and then to proclaim Disney superior.

The "everybody else is doing it too" defense.

It also doesn't take into account that a lot of those industries have had to dial back. For example, chain restaurants are largely surviving on "meal deals". Concert ticket prices actually peaked several years ago, they have been going down - people were willing to pay $300 to sit in nosebleed seats to see Madonna or the Stones when they only toured once a decade, now that they go off and tour every other or every third year, people just aren't spending so prices had to come down if they wanted the fans to keep coming back.

 

[wdwhoneymooner]

Can you point to me what rule, statute, law, or regulation specifies that Disney must bow down and give free stuff to anyone who has the title of "analyst"?

I keep hearing hyperbole about how this (the more you look into him, the more of a joke you realize he is) person is being denied something that some folks are acting like he has some constitutional right to.

If it's just "how it's done" - that's not a good enough reason. As I said, no one needs a free trip to Shanghai to schmooze and vacation to analyze the financials.

Am I misinformed if I said that there exist an article where the analyst stated he uses these invites to get more face-to-face with Disney higher-ups to do his job better? I don't buy it. Certainly "pressing the flesh" and networking when possible may help, but if he believes that producing an accurate analysis mandates casual conversations with execs during a promotion like Shanghai's opening then he's just looking for a freebie. Even if he were to speak with someone over drinks and cocktails, who's to say the info he gathers would be legit? Or perhaps the Disney folks would intentionally leak false data to send him away? Happens a lot in the corporate world. No, an analysis is a constantly moving target that is full of speculation UNLESS the data used is confirmed. That usually means a corporation needs to officially "Green Light" a project(s) for a proper forecast is to be done. If his reports uses statements like "from my sources", then it's most likely garbage.

A company doesn't have to provide any info to any group until an official announcement is made along with reports made to shareholders along with any required documentations to government agencies for the process(es) to move along. Once that happens, then analysts have a clearer vision of what's going to happen. It's akin to a doctor providing a diagnosis and care plan without performing a full and thorough screening of the patient.

 

[draybook]

You can say that about a lot of industry. Restaurants used to serve a loaded baked potatoe. Now they serve a plain potatoe and you have to pay for toppings. Some airlines charge for carry ons or extra for seats with more leg room. Heck we just this week used a fishing guide service that charged extra for using live bait which has always been included in the base cost in the past. Disney is not the only entity up charging.

Disney set themselves as the bar to reach. Are we now okay with lowering that bar by saying, "well, others do it too"?

 

[flynnibus]

Thread police. GO AWAY! This has everything to do with WDW and Disney leadership ...

There is a forum for Disney business topics...
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/forums/disney-co-news-discussion.31/