Eisner sees 50-50 odds of news deal
By Jon Friedman
10:14 AM ET Nov. 13, 2002
NEW YORK (CBS Marketwatch) -- Walt Disney Chairman Michael Eisner said Wednesday that he sees "50-50" odds that his company's ABC News unit would reach an agreement to merge with CNN.
Additionally, brushing aside recent published reports to the contrary, Eisner flatly denied he's under pressure from Disney's board of directors to accelerate his retirement plans or clarify his position on designating a successor.
He said ABC News wouldn't be weakened by remaining independent, and he stressed that ABC would continue to be a top newsgathering operation on television.
Cost savings
At the same time, Eisner said that a news merger would allow Disney and AOL-Time Warner, the owner of CNN, to save money and compete more effectively against Fox News and NBC, which is part of General Electric.
Eisner's comments were made at breakfast discussion held at Syracuse University's Newhouse School in New York.
He said ABC, which has had a big problem in prime time programming in recent seasons, has had informal discussions about possibly airing reruns of "The Sopranos," the hit series on cable television's Home Box Office.
While the idea was appealing in theory, he said, the prospect of selling ads on networks like ABC would be very difficult due to abundance of ______ and violence on the show.
Writer Ken Auletta of the New Yorker, who posed the questions to Eisner in a freewheeling one-hour interview, asked Eisner why ABC and the other major broadcast networks rejected an opportunity to air "The Sopranos" before it landed on HBO.
Eisner, himself a former programming executive at ABC in the 1970s, shrugged and suggested that the programmers "didn't get it." He indicated that the violent, ______-filled show wouldn't be an easy sell to family audiences.
Disney's shares fell 2.2 percent to $17.16 on Wednesday.
Succession
Eisner also took pains to emphasize that he isn't under any pressure to name his successor. According to several recent media reports, some Disney board members and large investors have been pushing him into making some sort of transition announcement.
He said he would only do so one year -- "not five" years -- before he intends to step down.
Eisner also made clear he has no plans to leave his position in then near future.
Further, trying to soften criticism of Disney President Robert Iger, Eisner asserted that Iger "is well regarded" by the Disney board and on Wall Street.
By Jon Friedman
10:14 AM ET Nov. 13, 2002
NEW YORK (CBS Marketwatch) -- Walt Disney Chairman Michael Eisner said Wednesday that he sees "50-50" odds that his company's ABC News unit would reach an agreement to merge with CNN.
Additionally, brushing aside recent published reports to the contrary, Eisner flatly denied he's under pressure from Disney's board of directors to accelerate his retirement plans or clarify his position on designating a successor.
He said ABC News wouldn't be weakened by remaining independent, and he stressed that ABC would continue to be a top newsgathering operation on television.
Cost savings
At the same time, Eisner said that a news merger would allow Disney and AOL-Time Warner, the owner of CNN, to save money and compete more effectively against Fox News and NBC, which is part of General Electric.
Eisner's comments were made at breakfast discussion held at Syracuse University's Newhouse School in New York.
He said ABC, which has had a big problem in prime time programming in recent seasons, has had informal discussions about possibly airing reruns of "The Sopranos," the hit series on cable television's Home Box Office.
While the idea was appealing in theory, he said, the prospect of selling ads on networks like ABC would be very difficult due to abundance of ______ and violence on the show.
Writer Ken Auletta of the New Yorker, who posed the questions to Eisner in a freewheeling one-hour interview, asked Eisner why ABC and the other major broadcast networks rejected an opportunity to air "The Sopranos" before it landed on HBO.
Eisner, himself a former programming executive at ABC in the 1970s, shrugged and suggested that the programmers "didn't get it." He indicated that the violent, ______-filled show wouldn't be an easy sell to family audiences.
Disney's shares fell 2.2 percent to $17.16 on Wednesday.
Succession
Eisner also took pains to emphasize that he isn't under any pressure to name his successor. According to several recent media reports, some Disney board members and large investors have been pushing him into making some sort of transition announcement.
He said he would only do so one year -- "not five" years -- before he intends to step down.
Eisner also made clear he has no plans to leave his position in then near future.
Further, trying to soften criticism of Disney President Robert Iger, Eisner asserted that Iger "is well regarded" by the Disney board and on Wall Street.
