News Bob Iger is back! Chapek is out!!

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Here’s the list of “demands”

Not much translation needed…
(Figment for effect)

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

I was a young buck then…

But I seemed to remember the dot.com consensus…like the real estate bubble…was there was never any “there” there.

Brokers were allowed to make money unregulated based on what they made up that day.

Gee…what could go wrong?

So just so I am tracking…

-The Chapek ouster wasn’t reactive to fudging D+ numbers or guest discontent, but rather because the board realized they needed a wartime consigliere
-The streaming bubble has popped/is popping, dragging Disney down with it
-Parks and Resorts have been strong, but now heading into a post-stimulus world where a recession is likely, which tends to stifle luxuries like vacations, cruises, and travel
-To the previous point, a bevy of discounts and cost cutting has been implemented, suggesting a softening of current/future bookings
-Appreciating TWDC has gotten a little over its skis on streaming, an activist investor with some major wins has been circling for the last 7 months.

I now get your gloom and doom.

 

[LSLS]

Here’s the list of “demands”

Not much translation needed…
(Figment for effect)

LOL, "Ensuring customers get real value." Yeah, I'm sure an activist investment firm is definitely concerned with this.

 

[SpectreJordan]

I'd be surprised if they weren't. What I can see happening is them renewing them with major budget constraints. They need to feed the D+ beast. I could see she hulk getting the same treatment.

With how Marvel does things TV wise, even if we do get more She-Hulk it'll probably be in like 4 years lmao. But hopefully that means they'd have to get a completely different creative team for it.

They really need to go back to a "less is more" approach. Just gives us like 3 continuous shows over a couple seasons & then start new ones.

 

[NotCalledBob]

LOL, "Ensuring customers get real value." Yeah, I'm sure an activist investment firm is definitely concerned with this.

Yes. The charm offensive.

Quick chaps. Write a list of things the people want to hear. Don't forget to add pixie dust. They like that.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

LOL, "Ensuring customers get real value." Yeah, I'm sure an activist investment firm is definitely concerned with this.

They’ve gotten so lazy they don’t even bother trying to be clever in the pretenses anymore…

If you’re a park fan…you should be wearing black after reading this

 

[MisterPenguin]

Sell ABC, ESPN,

These are large profit centers. They kept Disney buoyed up during the lockdowns.

So, tell me, *why* selling them is a good idea.

merge Hulu and D+(?),

It's planned to happen. Just gotta let the contract with Comcast play out for one more year.

rollback some park changes made post Covid,

The semi-hostile takeover has nothing to do with parks. It's about either jacking up the stock or paying out dividends. You can be darned sure that Peltz will be on the side of squeezing more 'yield' from each park-goer.

invest in park expansion or a 5th gate which would be restocking the money printing machine. Stock will rise that day.

This is exactly why Disney is under attack from Peltz -- for large up-front spending that creates a lot of debt and short term losses on financial sheets. The several billion dollars needed for a 5th gate will increase debt for the next 5 years, during which there will be no dividends. Peltz would never be for that.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So just so I am tracking…

-The Chapek ouster wasn’t reactive to fudging D+ numbers or guest discontent, but rather because the board realized they needed a wartime consigliere
-The streaming bubble has popped/is popping, dragging Disney down with it
-Parks and Resorts have been strong, but now heading into a post-stimulus world where a recession is likely, which tends to stifle luxuries like vacations, cruises, and travel
-To the previous point, a bevy of discounts and cost cutting has been implemented, suggesting a softening of current/future bookings
-Appreciating TWDC has gotten a little over its skis on streaming, an activist investor with some major wins has been circling for the last 7 months.

I now get your gloom and doom.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Meanwhile Uni is sitting back with their feet propped up with popcorn and laughing

What's the Universal equivalent of "pixie duster"? Just curious...

 

[MisterPenguin]

I say turn over the parks and resorts to the WDWMAGIC premium members lol

I accept your nomination to Chair of the Board of Directors and CEO.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

These are large profit centers. They kept Disney buoyed up during the lockdowns.

So, tell me, *why* selling them is a good idea.

And yet…that’s exactly what the analysts are pushing today

It's planned to happen. Just gotta let the contract with Comcast play out for one more year.

And yet…the analysts are calling for a “resolution”…right now

The semi-hostile takeover has nothing to do with parks. It's about either jacking up the stock or paying out dividends. You can be darned sure that Peltz will be on the side of squeezing more 'yield' from each park-goer.

It’s about dismantling the company as it stands…there is a very thin veil here
Problem is parks are both a high overhead cost and the easiest profit center to strip and drain. Not goodz

This is exactly why Disney is under attack from Peltz -- for large up-front spending that creates a lot of debt and short term losses on financial sheets. The several billion dollars needed for a 5th gate will increase debt for the next 5 years, during which there will be no dividends. Peltz would never be for that.

Agreed

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

What's the Universal equivalent of "pixie duster"? Just curious...

Reasonable annual passes and express pass with a room that cost the equivalent of Dixie landings?

 

[LSLS]

-The Chapek ouster wasn’t reactive to fudging D+ numbers or guest discontent, but rather because the board realized they needed a wartime consigliere

The one question I have on this is that it really sounded like at the time Iger made this all happen. Did he get wind of a breakup due to streaming and want to come in for his legacy? Or was he really out of that loop and we were wrong assuming he orchestrated it?

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

What's the Universal equivalent of "pixie duster"? Just curious...

Toretto Family Member

 

[jpeden]

Has anyone seen this promoted tweet by Trian? They are doing a full court press to get on the board. Presentation is very interesting:

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

Has anyone seen this promoted tweet by Trian? They are doing a full court press to get on the board. Presentation is very interesting:

I keep thinking this is a movement spurred on by ITM. Like, I keep thinking it would have strong thoughts on Johnny Depp.

 

[NotCalledBob]

The name of the campaign and hashtag are PR genius.

 

[Ayla]

But it blames the parks solely for the fall of Chapek, which isn't true.

Yes, there are troubles with the parks, but one doesn't have to inflate those troubles into things that they're not in order to express displeasure at them.

One can legitimately complain about price increases without passing along false intimations that large swaths of people are going into long-term debt or bankruptcy over it (they're not).

When people are angry about stuff -- an anger that is justified -- they still have a tendency to way overstate their case when there is no need to. That hyperbole actually undercuts their stance since now the discussion is about those outrageous claims.

You don't believe there are people who will do almost anything to get their Disney fix? People on Disney message boards have talked openly for years about what they do to pay for Disney, including going into long-term debt.

 

[MisterPenguin]

So just so I am tracking…

-The Chapek ouster wasn’t reactive to fudging D+ numbers or guest discontent, but rather because the board realized they needed a wartime consigliere

Sort of.

As Disney+ was surprisingly catching up to Netflix and was poised to be one of the winners of the Streaming War, Chapek kept up the unprecedented spending on Content, which, after the pandemic lockdowns were over and the economy was lurching around, wasn't the wisest thing to do. It led to Streaming throwing higher losses than anticipated for the year and Chapek's public response was a cheery "full stream ahead"!

When the Netflix bubble popped (BTW, you can have a successful streamer that makes a profit as Netflix has shown) for two quarters, Wall Street panicked over all streamers recognizing they weren't going to get huge profits off of them. So, all the streamers' stocks plummeted, including Netflix.

Disney needed someone who can talk Wall Street down from their panicked flight. And thus, Iger.

-The streaming bubble has popped/is popping, dragging Disney down with it

The stock valuation has popped. But Netflix is still profitable and Disney+ is on track to profitability. There will be some winners, but, there will definitely be losers in the Streaming Wars.

-Parks and Resorts have been strong, but now heading into a post-stimulus world where a recession is likely, which tends to stifle luxuries like vacations, cruises, and travel

The post-stimulus world began over a year ago. And luxury spending has rebounded already to near pre-pandemic levels. The recession everyone has been predicting for years still hasn't arrived. Unemployment is very low. That only real economic headwind now is inflation and it's started to trend downward.

-To the previous point, a bevy of discounts and cost cutting has been implemented, suggesting a softening of current/future bookings

There's always a softening of bookings after Christmas. This year there hasn't even been the usual round of park lay-offs going into the off-peak season.

And even when there isn't a softening of bookings, Disney has always had a variety of discount programs running.

As both Bobs have said, they have a bunch of 'levers' to adjust attendance levels. Just bring back 'free dining' and they can fill the vacancies up. Or remove some AP black out dates. Or start reselling APs.

Disneyland is making this time of year the cheapest prices for park tickets as a way to make things affordable for some guests. The various WDW discounts do the same for WDW. It offers people on a tighter budget the opportunity to go to the parks, which is the response to the complaints that Disney has become too expensive.

If Disney wasn't concerned about those people, they wouldn't have built budget motels or have a campground.

 

[Jrb1979]

Here’s the list of “demands”

Not much translation needed…
(Figment for effect)

The one thing that stands out and doesn't fit is the "ensure customers get good value" line