Disney Parks Revenue up

[ford91exploder]

These are the type of posts that make me wonder ... why ... just why.

ESPN is an albatross. Sure. Yup.

TV is going away. Total streaming on demand on iPhones is the future. ... And no one wants to shop in a brick and mortar shopping location. People hate malls and lifestyle centers (like Disney just built in the swamps). They want Amazon drones to deliver everything.

BTW, if Sears (especially), J.C. Penny and Macy's cease to exist, it won't be because time passed them by. It will be because of management not evolving and investing and venture capitalists (the Sears guy is the worst) who let profitable stores fall into disrepair, so he could close them and sell the real estate. But I digressed.

Yup. Apple needs to buy Disney. Every Millennial fanboi's wet dream with absolutely no thought given beyond they love both BRANDS.

As to retail I prefer to buy local if I can, But amazon's great for what is not available locally, And SEARS Could have been Amazon if they had not stupidly closed down their catalog division which had everything but the WWW front end for success in that space, But Sears management was too stupid to grasp the opportunity, Just as ESPN's management is too stupid to renegotiate their deals and join the digital age, Sports in 5 years will be Amazon,Akamai, Google and AT&T with ESPN begging for crumbs.

Around the same time I had clients in the mailorder and retail business and I encouraged them to get on the web and start selling the ones that listened to me prospered and grew, The ones that did not well... What I said at the time is the internet is going to be the greatest mail order tool in history because it drives the publishing costs to zero and the catalog can ALWAYS be the very latest edition.

Early sales were online form submissions with the final transaction done over the phone because SSL/TLS did not exist then but it got my clients OUT THERE and many of them kept the first mover advantage.

If Apple buys Disney the milennial fanboi's and fangurls will HATE both brands with a passion, Apple wants to be a complete content ecosystem, Purchasing Disney or Viacom would accomplish that, That said Apple would dump the parks in a new york minute to help PAY for the deal.

Apple does not care HOW it locks your eyeballs down just as long as your eyeballs are either locked onto content purchased from Apple or viewed on a device manufactured by apple and preferably both conditions are true.

I use apple stuff but I'm not a fanboi, Of course I use the anti-apple stuff as well i.e. Panasonic Toughbook ugly and indestructable.

 

[RustySpork]

ESPN has negatively impacted DIS stock. So yes it has been an albatross. An albatross that has led to a substantial amount of layoffs. And probably more to come. ESPN has under performed and you can make excuses for it, you can be in denial about it...but it is fact.

Sears, Penney, Macy's failures have very little to do with stores falling into disrepair. Faltering Malls all over the country aren't faltering because they haven't been kept up or because of bad management. They are faltering because of the online retailer, the convenience, the better price point, and because of ever changing consumer habits. It's the same reason you can't get into your car anymore and drive to your neighborhood Blockbuster. It's evolution and you need to come to grips with that.

I've stated I wouldn't be a big proponent of Apple acquiring Disney (If you read my post). But to ignore the possibility, considering it has been talked about for the past several months on every financial media outlet and substantial financial blog, is laughable.

Not a millennial by the way. Just a GenX'er who doesn't fight change every step of the way. You can either embrace change and adapt to it, or go back to posting about your "inside connections" and break the news about what color they are painting the rooms at the CBR refurb.

Bob needs to take a page from Frozen and Let It Go.

 

[ford91exploder]

ESPN isn't a reseller... it's a producer, content creator AND broadcaster. What did Macy's create again??

The whole bundling thing is Disney's past sins coming to a head... the years of bullying providers and packaging wasn't going to last forever.

It's amazing how people seem to forget... a broadcast doesn't make itself.

The problem is that DIS/ESPN are STILL not adapting to the digital world, They seem to think that 'ala carte' is a passing fad, The fact that cable as a conduit for video entertainment is dying seems to go unrealized while cable as internet dialtone is growing daily.

 

[ford91exploder]

Bob needs to take a page from Frozen and Let It Go.

He can't he's making the same mistakes the railroad industry did in the 60-70's they thought they were in the RAILROAD business, not the TRANSPORTATION business. Disney thinks it's in the NETWORK business, It's not it's in the home entertainment business. So Disney is focused on bundling and the cable/broadcast model of distribution, rather than selling their products in all the formats customers want to buy them in one of which will always be cable/OTA/Satellite but in the future will overwhelmingly be on demand digital and downloadable content.

My TV service comes from my phone company and it's entirely TCP/IP based so everything we watch is being streamed in HD from my telco's servers.

My little rural phone company was smart enough to realize that they were in the 'communications' business not the 'Phone' business. And as a result everything including phones is delivered over a fiber connection.

As a result customers have a LOT more services available to them and the telco since they no longer have copper on the poles, thunderstorms dont do nearly as much damage to infrastructure as they once did. A win win for customers and service provider.

 

[Thanks phoenicians]

Disney expects to invest more in the parks.

That sounds promising. Is this just a generic statement that's always said though?

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

He can't he's making the same mistakes the railroad industry did in the 60-70's they thought they were in the RAILROAD business, not the TRANSPORTATION business. Disney thinks it's in the NETWORK business, It's not it's in the home entertainment business. So Disney is focused on bundling and the cable/broadcast model of distribution, rather than selling their products in all the formats customers want to buy them in one of which will always be cable/OTA/Satellite but in the future will overwhelmingly be on demand digital and downloadable content.

You make a good point. ESPN's Achilles heel is that it doesn't own the most profitable part of its business. Sure it owns the production, but it doesn't own the product. If the NFL, NBA, MLB ever decided to create their own "on demand" service, it would negate the importance of ESPN. The leagues won't do that right now because frankly they are getting too much by licensing the rights. But then again, all the leagues do have their own networks...the minute they believe they can monetize it better than the current model, well then you will see some type of change.

I do think that soon you'll see a bidding war for sports broadcasting rights that just may be too steep for even Disney. Especially, if the competition is Amazon, Google, and Apple.

 

[Rteetz]

That sounds promising. Is this just a generic statement that's always said though?

Probably. Iger also noted they want more IP in the parks so that could be more allusion to that.

 

[flynnibus]

You apparently didn't read Craig Moffet's report that absolutely crushed media stock last week. It caused DIS to drop over 2% before the earnings were released today.

ESPN is a content creator. But 5 years ago the competition (think Twitter and Amazon) weren't streaming NFL games. They are now.

Hulu, Google (via YouTube), Netflix, Amazon, Apple and others are all making major investments in content creation. Like I told you a year ago. And a year ago you simply dismissed that statement. Your pithy response was "never gonna happen". Well it is happening and its happening right now.

So tell me again how your retailer example applies?

Twitter/etc represent new competition- but they aren't changing the landscape. It's still licensed content, it's still produced, and still relies on advertising to fund it. The broadcast path is a commodity that is easily interchangeable. Espn could broadcast through YouTube live tomorrow if they cared to... and have a world class broadcast. But they don't... because it's not the streaming itself that is the business differentiator. It's the contracts and how you monetize it. Twitter/yahoo aren't competitors there or anytime soon.

Broadcast like espn is not about captive audiences and trying to prevent people from escaping to greener pastures. It's about selling advertisers that you are worth the premium you charge for airtime. They still charge consumers because they know they can... so no reason to give up that revenue stream.

What is happening now isn't a change in the sports model... it's not a shift in consumption... it's about the breakdown of cable having a monopoly and the loss of "easy money" and how that changes expectations of how much excess cash is in the system. The contract inflation will adjust with the market next time around. Espn's biggest issue with the new competition is if they keep contract bidding up... verse letting it shrink.

Your pithy response was "never gonna happen". Well it is happening and its happening right now.

Cite it.. because I'd love to see how you've distorted it.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Hmm Okay. Let's start with the NFL and the NCAAF. The two biggest sports audiences in the US. I hope the sources are good enough for you.

https://www.si.com/college-football/2017/05/08/power-five-tv-rights-deals-amazon-google
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-amazon-nfl-20170405-story.html

 

[flynnibus]

The problem is that DIS/ESPN are STILL not adapting to the digital world, They seem to think that 'ala carte' is a passing fad, The fact that cable as a conduit for video entertainment is dying seems to go unrealized while cable as internet dialtone is growing daily.

You kept acting like it's ESPN that has kept these things locked to the traditional cable broadcast... and it's their fault. It's not ESPN! It's the license holder that has kept streaming a separate commodity... not the broadcaster.

You are beating on the wrong door as usual. In the case of the NFL they have sliced it up and been slowly dribbling it out... with the Verizon exclusive being the biggie. But even the TNF deal the NFL just signed with Amazon is peanuts to the tv deals. The NFL is the one holding back here so they can shape it.

ESPN/abc need to own the blunder that has become MNF and the overpaying that has been happening of late... but the lack of streaming is not an ESPN internal choice. Mnf vs snf is a colossal blunder on their relationship with the league

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

You kept acting like it's ESPN that has kept these things locked to the traditional cable broadcast... and it's their fault. It's not ESPN! It's the license holder that has kept streaming a separate commodity... not the broadcaster.

You are beating on the wrong door as usual. In the case of the NFL they have sliced it up and been slowly dribbling it out... with the Verizon exclusive being the biggie. But even the TNF deal the NFL just signed with Amazon is peanuts to the tv deals. The NFL is the one holding back here so they can shape it.

ESPN/abc need to own the blunder that has become MNF and the overpaying that has been happening of late... but the lack of streaming is not an ESPN internal choice.

It is not the league's fault. ESPN has had their "Watch ESPN" app out for years. They have been able to stream 25+ college football games on ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN 3, and ESPNU every Saturday during the season.. They had every opportunity to bid on the same type of deals Twitter had, and Amazon currently has.

This has nothing to do with the NFL holding back. If the TNF deal makes sense to Amazon, they will outbid Disney once the contract is up for bid. It's that simple. ESPN (Disney for that matter) just can't monetize it the way an Amazon can. ESPN hasn't been able to monetize anything outside of ad revenue and subscription cost.

Amazon, Google, Apple, Facebook all have ecosystems ESPN (and Disney for that matter) can't compete with. Not that they don't want to. They just can't.

If Amazon gets exclusive NFL rights at some point, they'll get the ad revenue, they'll get revenue by making you subscribe to Amazon Prime to watch, but then they'll market to you every product imaginable that is available to buy in their ecosystem: Movies, Videos, Music, Household Items, Automotive parts, Furniture, Electronics, on and on and on. On top of that - all of your data: your preferences, searches, purchase history , on and on and on gets sent to that big cloud and guess what....they then monetize your data by selling it to third parties. They'll pay a king's ransom for NFL rights and the league will be very happy but they'll be happy too. Because they will make money from it.

There are things that Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple can do to offset a high licensing fee that ESPN (Disney) can't capitalize on.

 

[flynnibus]

The point being is the lack of streaming is not ESPN being some dinosaur... its not their choice to make. They have to license that separately and the NFL has only been throwing out crumbs at a time.

There proposition for a twitter is very different than another competitor. Every network has the ability to stream. Espn has been on non cable boxes for ages... and has been aggressive in the fantasy+app space as well. They are on virtually every iptv platform.

What someone like a twitter has to gain fromTNF is very different from someone like ESPN. Walking away from something is not always a bad thing. Especially when the NFL is playing micromanager.

 

[No Name]

Is there a link to this, where I can listen or watch?

 

[Mouse Trap]

Another solid quarter and another round of Disney forum CEO's and analysts who claim how Disney is operating isn't sustainable. I swear I've been reading the same comments by the same people for years.

When are you guys going to give it up and just come to terms with the fact that Iger knows how to run a company better than you, me or anyone registered on this forum. When someone with a well documented and proven business acumen says Iger is driving the company to the ground, then I'll believe the company is in trouble.

 

[larryz]

Not surprised a former TV weatherman-turned-CEO is having trouble visualizing and adapting to the new methods people are using to watch sports. ESPN is, buy-n-large, a sports middleman, providing a platform for fans to watch their favorite teams on. But the teams are getting smart enough to realize that THEY can reap both direct fan sales (for tickets and streaming services) AND the ad money being siphoned off by ESPN. I don't see much of a future for ESPN when the current crop of contracts starts running out...

 

[Rteetz]

Not surprised a former TV weatherman-turned-CEO is having trouble visualizing and adapting to the new methods people are using to watch sports. ESPN is, buy-n-large, a sports middleman, providing a platform for fans to watch their favorite teams on. But the teams are getting smart enough to realize that THEY can reap both direct fan sales (for tickets and streaming services) AND the ad money being siphoned off by ESPN. I don't see much of a future for ESPN when the current crop of contracts starts running out...

Look I get we all hate on Iger, I am not fond of everything he has done and yes he was a weatherman but not for very long. The man was an ABC executive for quite some time then became part of the Disney company during that acquisition. He then moved his way up to COO and eventually CEO/Chairman. ESPN isn't the only property suffering from cable cutting, it might be the biggest one in the spotlight tho. I don't see ESPN going away altogether anytime soon but it will see significant changes because it has too. Disney is just being slow to react to those changes.

 

[larryz]

Look I get we all hate on Iger, I am not fond of everything he has done and yes he was a weatherman but not for very long. The man was an ABC executive for quite some time then became part of the Disney company during that acquisition. He then moved his way up to COO and eventually CEO/Chairman. ESPN isn't the only property suffering from cable cutting, it might be the biggest one in the spotlight tho. I don't see ESPN going away altogether anytime soon but it will see significant changes because it has too. Disney is just being slow to react to those changes.

I can't deny the value Iger's philosophy has brought to shareholders. I just don't like the effects his total focus on the shareholders have had on the parks.

I like the movies, and I like the parks... I just wish they were run to the same standards I experienced back in the 80's and 90's.

And I still think ESPN is coming to the digital device party just a bit too late.

 

[Rteetz]

I can't deny the value Iger's philosophy has brought to shareholders. I just don't like the effects his total focus on the shareholders have had on the parks.

I like the movies, and I like the parks... I just wish they were run to the same standards I experienced back in the 80's and 90's.

And I still think ESPN is coming to the digital device party just a bit too late.

I agree with you on the parks however I am not sure you can say the movies are not at those same standards. Disney has been producing some high quality films as of late at least in the animation department.

 

[Mouse Trap]

I can't deny the value Iger's philosophy has brought to shareholders. I just don't like the effects his total focus on the shareholders have had on the parks.

I like the movies, and I like the parks... I just wish they were run to the same standards I experienced back in the 80's and 90's.

And I still think ESPN is coming to the digital device party just a bit too late.

Disney's film division is lightyears ahead of anyone else in the space. There is no way you can claim the studios are not being run as well or better than previous decades.

 

[jakeman]

Disney's film division is lightyears ahead of anyone else in the space. There is no way you can claim the studios are not being run as well or better than previous decades.

For shame! Are you implying that Avenger franchise is somehow more successful than Air Bud's?