A lot has changed at the Walt Disney Company recently.
As the Company looks back and celebrates their 100th anniversary, they’re also looking ahead to what the next era will look like. The most pivotal piece in that puzzle came in November, when Disney stunned everyone by ousting CEO Bob Chapek to bring back Bob Iger to the role. Iger, who previously had served as CEO from 2005 through 2020 and oversaw a period of remarkable growth and success, now faces new challenges as he tries to stabilize a ship that has been rocked in recent years.
CNBC recently sat down for an interview with Iger, asking him about these matters, including Iger’s comments about how in order to be profitable they’ll need to cut some costs. But, in case there was any doubt about what that would mean from a content side, Iger reiterated that they will be leaning heavily into their established brands.
“We are going to lean even more into Disney and Marvel and Pixar and Star Wars and Avatar, of course, and we’ve had higher returns on those businesses over the years anyway so that makes a lot of sense. Adding to that, augmenting that, with some form of more curated general entertainment is what we would likely do.”
That probably sounds obvious to most of us, because those five brands that he mentioned present the overwhelming majority of Disney’s current success. Marvel and Star Wars in particular have risen to the top of Disney+’s efforts, and that’s why this is an important comment to note. The streaming service is not yet profitable, which is one of the challenges Iger faces, but he noted in the interview that the goal was always for it to be profitable by the end of 2024.
In order to do that, Iger is talking about cuts that will be made and figuring out pricing, but this would indicate the the philosophical direction remains unchanged. Disney has leaned heavily into Marvel and Star Wars in particular to help grow the platform, and rather than changing course now, they’re going to keep leaning into them all the more heavily. There are plenty of details that will need to be figured out, such as how many shows to do and how much money to pour into them and the like, but this at least indicates that the company will continue to look to these brands to drive it.
That’s good news for fans of these brands, as it means we’ll keep getting plenty of content from them in the years ahead. Which, again, is obvious when you think about it, but always good to hear more concretely.
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