This post was originally published on this site
“‘Everything’s on the table right now.’”
That’s Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger, who faces some big decisions when it comes to streaming service Hulu.
Iger told CNBC Thursday that executives will be “open-minded” as they evaluate what to do with the streaming service, which is jointly owned by Disney
DIS,
and Comcast Corp.
CMCSA,
Disney has the option to buy out Comcast’s one-third stake in Hulu as soon as January 2024, but that’s not guaranteed to happen.
“I’m not going to speculate on whether we’re going to buy it or sell it,” Iger told CNBC. But when asked about prevailing assumptions that Disney would indeed buy out Comcast, Iger replied, “I think I’m suggesting that isn’t necessarily the case.”
Hulu is a “very successful” platform, in Iger’s view, but upon his return to Disney leadership in November, he’s been thinking hard about the company’s position in general-entertainment content.
Disney has seen success with franchises like Marvel and Avatar, as well as with its Pixar movies. Meanwhile, Iger is “concerned about undifferentiated general entertainment,” which is where Hulu’s content largely fits in.
See more: Disney is undergoing a ‘drastic evolution’ in streaming, and more changes could be afoot
The CNBC interview came a morning after Disney hosted its December-quarter earnings call — Iger’s first since returning to the CEO post upon Bob Chapek’s ouster last fall. Iger seemed to strike the right chord with Wall Street on that call as he announced plans to cut 7,000 jobs and reorganize the business.
A key issue for Disney investors is the performance of the Disney+ streaming service. After seeing roaring growth early in the pandemic, Disney+ has come back down to earth with its subscriber performance, and the company is looking at the business in a more measured way.
“We got maybe a little bit intoxicated by our own sub growth,” Iger admitted to CNBC.
The company has since stopped giving long-term streaming subscriber targets as it focuses more on profitability than on pure growth, and management has reiterated the goal for Disney+ to be profitable by the end of fiscal 2024.
“Profitability is inevitable” in streaming, Iger said Thursday. “It will work.”
Opinion: Disney’s Iger returns, and gives Wall Street what it wants.
He further discussed a broader change he brought about at Disney, which gives creative leaders more say in how content is monetized and distributed, reversing a move made by his predecessor.
“The distance that was created by that structure I don’t think was healthy for the company,” Iger said of Disney’s prior format, in which creatives weren’t involved in this way. Leaders now will “make choices because they’re accountable for delivering that profitability.”
The new approach resonated with Wall Street analysts, with Morgan Stanley’s Benjamin Swinburne writing that it “may be that without accountability for financial returns, studio costs ballooned.”
Iger’s CNBC interview was expansive, but it may not have been the star of the hour. Shortly after Iger’s appearance, activist investor Nelson Peltz of Trian Fund Management came on to share that he was ending his proxy fight with the company due to Iger’s changes.
Also read: ‘No one is immune’: Activist investors target tech companies after stocks dive
“We will be watching, we will be rooting, and the proxy fight is over,” Peltz said.
