Is ABC Killing Walt Disney's Dream??

[wed050499]

Originally posted by prberk


Walt would use TV -- he was a master of it.

Well, just this line got me thinking about something. If Walt were around now, how would his use of TV be different than what the Walt Disney Company actually has now? Well, simply, you would see a fourth network, the WED channel (or something to that affect). The studio for it actually existed already, Walt was just using ABC as a distributor for his shows. From a historical standpoint, like what Walt did when he didn't like how his animated productions were being shown by the distribution companies he was working with, he would have merely started distributing anything TV related for himself. I can see very legitimate evidence in the past practices of Walt to see him building his own network channel or doing what the company did some 25 years after his death, buy ABC, the company he had the strongest ties to.

Just a thought,
Brian

 

[MrPromey]

Originally posted by 10021982
Is it just me, or does it seem to anyone that ABC is draining the lifeblood out of Walt Disney's dream.

ABC is in deep financial trouble right now. Meanwhile, Disney keeps sinking profits that come from the "Disney" brand into ABC to try and prop it up and keep it alive.

I believe that money made from the "Disney" brand should STAY within the "Disney" brand and that side of the company. It should NOT cross over to ABC. If ABC can't survive on it's own merrit, it needs to be sold.

Could you imagine how nice the parks would be today if the profits they generated were invested BACK into the parks?

Instead, the "Disney" brand is being forced to lug around this GIANT dying TV company on it's back. This gorilla weighs a TON and is really hurting Disney.

Everything Walt built, had something "magical" to it. Where is the "magic" in anything ABC? (I don't mind ESPN so much. At least it carries it's own weight and it not a real burden.)

The "Disney" brand is a VERY strong one. But this name has been leveraged far too much and spread too thin in recent years. The brand is NOT all powerfull and indestructable. (Some executive board members seem to throw it around like it is.)

I say cut the dead weight and let the company RUN agian. I'm sick and tired of seeing it "crawl" for no reason. ( executive greed?? )

CT : - )

Peter Jennings should end every nightly news broadcast with: "Thank you Disney park goers for making my paychecks possible."


:brick:

I think it was a good purchase at the time. Everyone spoke of what a bad deal it was and how it was going to bring the company down and so on and so on. Well Disney bought it and for a time did well with it. It’s Disney’s fault that ABC is in the shape it is at present. The company wasn’t doing stupendouse before Disney bought it but the mere fact that it had a high point while under Disney ownership is evidence that it wasn’t a totally down and out thing… It should also be remembered that Disney did acquire some profitable business such as ESPN with the purchase of ABC. Selling off ABC today would be cutting off an arm because you didn’t take care of it and it experienced atrophy.

Anyway, if they sell it now they are going to have to do so at a price that is well below it’s value. I think they are doing the right thing at the moment by finally trying to do something to correct the problems with ABC. They have a chance to turn things around and make it profitable while at the same time, guaranteeing themselves potentially direct access to all American homes.

I saw the Happy Hour preview thing at MGM a few weeks back. Normally, were I not such a Disney fan, I wouldn’t have subjected myself to what was an obvious commercial plug for their TV network but the funny thing is it wasn’t really at all bad and once inside, they made no attempts at masking what it was. As a matter of fact, Jimmy Kimbell opened by telling the kids in the audience that their parents had just tricked them into watching 20 minutes of regular old non-cable television so that they could get 20 minutes of air conditioned rest. I think they could and should do more cross-promotion work with ABC. Anybody remember the Home Improvement part of the Soundstage Tour? Ok, it wasn’t that great but they have several shows now that they could build attractions of some sort around and at the same time, I think they should be locking those actors into contracts that require some sort of participation in the development of attractions (like filmed sequences) or into making guest appearances. Does anybody remember back in the beginning when it was actually possible to see someone famous at MGM and Universal Studios without it being Super Soaps Weekend or something like that?...

For that matter, I don’t understand why they don’t lock actors from their movie divisions into these kinds of contracts as well. Now having a studios park in Paris and a park in California that could also benefit from such attractions, I think they should push for more of that. I mean, we have the remade thing at the beginning of the Back Lot Tour that now is about Pearl Harbor and they have Mr. Bay on video but what about somebody that fans can recognize like the stars? I understand that these kinds of things cost money but we have someone else down the street that should have less of an ability to do this kind of thing that can.

 

[Cliff]

Yeah, I'm not really upset that they bought it when they did. I just HATE seeing this thing drag the company down.

Now we have this talk about a new CNN connection with ABC news. Seems they are just getting deeper and deeper into quicksand with this.

Anyone know more about this?

CT : - ) :brick: :brick: :brick: