The Disney Thread | Iger will be with us until 2026

[Hades]

Disney and EA deserve each other so bad...I trust Take 2 are smart enough to dodge the Disney bullet

[El Squibbonator]

9 minutes ago, AJG said:

 

They already bought Fox, it'll a regulatory nightmare. Have a look the Penguin-Simon&Schuester situation from earlier this week.

How would it be any different from buying Fox? 

[Eric Loves Rey]

3 minutes ago, El Squibbonator said:

How would it be any different from buying Fox? 

Because Disney just barely purchased that whole studio. Buying two major ones in rapid succession would lead to even more red tape, antitrust laws being broken, and so on. So it’ll never happen and thank goodness for that

[El Squibbonator]

I hope you're right. My friend suspects it'll happen because several Spider-Man-related shows have been removed from Netflix, the traditional streaming home of Sony content. 

[AJG]

5 minutes ago, El Squibbonator said:

I hope you're right. My friend suspects it'll happen because several Spider-Man-related shows have been removed from Netflix, the traditional streaming home of Sony content. 

 

Disney made a deal for the Sony back-library to be shared between Disney+ and Hulu a couple years back and they've made specific Spidey related streaming deals too, however, normally Spider-Man content always shift from streamer to streamer so stuff being taken off Netflix is indicative of very little.

Edited November 23, 2022 by AJG

[Macleod]

13 minutes ago, El Squibbonator said:

I hope you're right. My friend suspects it'll happen because several Spider-Man-related shows have been removed from Netflix, the traditional streaming home of Sony content. 

 

Amazon(!) just announced a new deal with SONY for potentially multiple Spider-spin-off shows, starting with SILK.  

Edited November 23, 2022 by Macleod

[El Squibbonator]

I can't picture Disney making any more purchases the size of Marvel or bigger for at least the next two years. 

[JWR]

New WSJ article with some interesting tidbits:

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/disneys-robert-iger-loomed-over-his-successor-as-ceo-creating-tensions-11669165304?mod=hp_lead_pos3

 

Quote

His first major rupture with Mr. Iger came just weeks later. Mr. Iger wanted to delay any Covid-related staff cuts until the Cares Act, a massive spending bill being debated in Congress meant to blunt the pandemic's economic impact, was signed into law. That way, laid-off Disney employees could take advantage of its protections, Mr. Iger argued, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

Mr. Chapek wanted to move more quickly with layoffs, these people said. At the time, many CEOs felt enormous pressure to cut costs and preserve cash.

Mr. Iger overruled Mr. Chapek, these people said, and convinced the board that it was better to wait. Then-President Trump signed the bill into law in late March, and Disney began to furlough tens of thousands of workers in April. Mr. Chapek was infuriated, some of these people said, and complained to deputies he was being undermined from the minute he was promoted.

 

 

Quote

Mr. Iger felt Mr. Chapek, who set ambitious goals for the growth of Disney's streaming business, had given priority to that business at the expense of other parts of Disney, like cable television and the theme parks. Mr. Chapek said in 2020 the number of subscribers was growing fast, and he dramatically boosted initial growth projections. Mr. Iger thought Mr. Chapek's projections went too far, according to people familiar with Mr. Iger's thinking.

 

Mr. Iger also felt that Mr. Chapek was too responsive to changes in Disney's share price, and Mr. Iger was alarmed by increases in prices at Disney theme parks that Mr. Chapek argued would boost revenue and limit overcrowding, these people said. Mr. Iger received calls from creative executives frustrated with Mr. Chapek, people familiar with the matter said.

 

Edited November 23, 2022 by JWR

[AJG]

5 minutes ago, Macleod said:

 

Amazon(!) just announced a new deal with SONY for potentially multiple Spider-spin-off shows, starting with SILK.  

 

IIRC the existing Spidey stuff is in separate deals away from the Amazon situation. Interestingly though, in order to get around certain old contracts, the Amazon shows have to air on linear cable TV in the US before they can be streamed. It'll be interesting to see what this does for the numbers.

[WittyUsername]

Disney needs to be legally barred from ever buying out anything ever again. 

[HouseOfTheSun]

1 hour ago, El Squibbonator said:

I honestly don't think we'll be seeing another big acquisition from Disney fro a very long time. The company is $45 billion in debt, both from the pandemic and from the Fox purchase, and it's going to take years for them to be in pure profit mode again to the point where they can even think about buying another big company.

 

I saw one guy on another forum speculate that their next big acquisition would be Sony Pictures. Given Disney's present state, I'd sooner believe the rumors of them being bought out by Apple. 

Discovery was a worse leveraged company than Disney currently is when it acquired WB. It’s definitely not out of the realm of possibility for them to buy something else. With the introduction of ad supported DTC there is a ton of money to be had from owning a back catalog and running it for years in a service. Not that I’m saying it should or will happen. 

Iger is also taking over at a very very convenient time in terms of DTC. That segment will now rapidly head towards being profitable over the next 2 years based on price increases, ad supported D+, and once the economic headwinds pass - a rejuvenated ad market.
 

Not to mention, a lot of the reason that Disneys streaming showed so much loss this past quarter was because a ton of production that had originally been planned to be spread out was shunted towards the last two fiscal quarters. it was a perfect storm for the sheet to look terrible this Q. 
 

iger is not stupid. He knows that a natural improvement in the economics is coming. The profitability and subsequently share price will climb, and the balance sheet will mostly fix itself. He will get credit for it. They will be in a much better spot within 2 quarters. They could become buyers. 

[JWR]

I think we could catch a glimpse of what his plans are soon. 

 

 

 

 

[El Squibbonator]

Quote

Discovery was a worse leveraged company than Disney currently is when it acquired WB.

Discovery didn't acquire WB, at least not the way Disney acquired Fox. A merger isn't the same thing as an acquisition, because unlike a merger, an acquisition doesn't result in the formation of a new company. Disney and Fox didn't become DisneyFox or something like that; Disney just swallowed Fox up and spit out the parts it didn't want. Warner Bros, and Discovery, on the other hand, became an entirely new entity called Warner Bros. Discovery. 

 

Acquisitions and mergers are both subject to regulatory approval, but the other way WB/Discovery was different from Disney/Fox is that WB and Discovery were, for the most part, working in different areas before they merged, so there was no risk of reducing competition. Disney and Fox, on the other hand, were working in the same area, which is why Disney buying Fox is often seen as a Bad Thing from the perspective of a healthy film industry. And most importantly, mergers don't require money to complete. Which means Discovery, regardless of what financial state it was in, could always afford to do a merger with WB. 

Edited November 23, 2022 by El Squibbonator

[AJG]

7 minutes ago, El Squibbonator said:

Maybe so, but if they do buy out another company, what are the chances it'll be another movie studio? 

 

[Potiki]

3 hours ago, AJG said:

 

Never happening.

 

I can see Iger finally getting one his fear of gaming and get EA or Take2. There's been rumours about both before.

Epic Games I think would be a better buy, a not much talked about aspect of the Pixar and Lucasfilm deals is they got technology as well as franchises/talent. Having Unreal Engine would be a huge asset and probably a gaming equivalent to ILM. 

 

That said might be too pricey as would likely be a $40B+ deal (same with EA) so they might opt for something smaller. 

[AJG]

Comrade Iger: Friend of the Working People?

 

Quote

His first major rupture with Mr. Iger came just weeks later. Mr. Iger wanted to delay any Covid-related staff cuts until the Cares Act, a massive spending bill being debated in Congress meant to blunt the pandemic’s economic impact, was signed into law. That way, laid-off Disney employees could take advantage of its protections, Mr. Iger argued, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

Mr. Chapek wanted to move more quickly with layoffs, these people said. At the time, many CEOs felt enormous pressure to cut costs and preserve cash.

 

Mr. Iger overruled Mr. Chapek, these people said, and convinced the board that it was better to wait. Then-President Trump signed the bill into law in late March, and Disney began to furlough tens of thousands of workers in April. Mr. Chapek was infuriated, some of these people said, and complained to deputies he was being undermined from the minute he was promoted.

 

 

[El Squibbonator]

31 minutes ago, AJG said:

 

You laugh, but the Infinity Gauntlet is an analogy I've made before. See, those purchases Iger made? They weren't random. Each one gave Disney a stake in a part of the market they didn't before. 

 

Think about it. Pixar gave them the ability to make successful animated movies, at a time when their in-house animated movies were struggling with competition. Marvel and Lucasfilm gave them movies that appealed to the teenage male audience, which Disney historically had trouble attracting. And finally, Fox gave them a whole host of R-rated properties, allowing them to make movies aimed at adults for the first time since retiring the Touchstone Pictures label, as well as giving them access to every other Marvel character. 

 

Each of those purchases filled a distinct gap in Disney's output, and now there really aren't as many of those gaps left. They've collected all the Infinity Stones, as it were. It would be redundant for Disney to buy more than one of them. The video shows them with DC, but that makes no sense under Iger's strategy, because they already have Marvel. Sony Pictures doesn't make sense either, because they already have Fox, which is not only bigger than Sony Pictures but has many more lucrative franchises. Literally the only reason I can think of that they would try to buy Sony would be to get the Spider-Man rights, but it's much less expensive to just pay Sony the licensing fee. 

 

So if Disney makes another big purchase, chances are it'll be in an area that they haven't before. A video game company seems most likely, and I've seen some people suggest Electronic Arts, Take2, Epic Games, or even Sega. A toy company like Hasbro or Mattel is another possibility. 

Edited November 23, 2022 by El Squibbonator

[JWR]

29 minutes ago, AJG said:

Comrade Iger: Friend of the Working People?

 

 

 

All CEOs are greedy and narcissistic to some degree. But compared to Chapek, Iger at least seemed more human and personable. 

Edited November 23, 2022 by JWR

[dudalb]

1 hour ago, El Squibbonator said:

You laugh, but the Infinity Gauntlet is an analogy I've made before. See, those purchases Iger made? They weren't random. Each one gave Disney a stake in a part of the market they didn't before. 

 

Think about it. Pixar gave them the ability to make successful animated movies, at a time when their in-house animated movies were struggling with competition. Marvel and Lucasfilm gave them movies that appealed to the teenage male audience, which Disney historically had trouble attracting. And finally, Fox gave them a whole host of R-rated properties, allowing them to make movies aimed at adults for the first time since retiring the Touchstone Pictures label, as well as giving them access to every other Marvel character. 

 

Each of those purchases filled a distinct gap in Disney's output, and now there really aren't as many of those gaps left. They've collected all the Infinity Stones, as it were. It would be redundant for Disney to buy more than one of them. The video shows them with DC, but that makes no sense under Iger's strategy, because they already have Marvel. Sony Pictures doesn't make sense either, because they already have Fox, which is not only bigger than Sony Pictures but has many more lucrative franchises. Literally the only reason I can think of that they would try to buy Sony would be to get the Spider-Man rights, but it's much less expensive to just pay Sony the licensing fee. 

 

So if Disney makes another big purchase, chances are it'll be in an area that they haven't before. A video game company seems most likely, and I've seen some people suggest Electronic Arts, Take2, Epic Games, or even Sega. A toy company like Hasbro or Mattel is another possibility. 

A video game company purchase would not trigger "Restraint Of Trade" concerns the way another major studio acquistion would. ithink regulators would think another Disney acquistion of a major studio would give it too much power and dominence n the film industry. Disney is a minor player in the video game industry and purchasing a game company would not trigger those concerns.

[El Squibbonator]

That's exactly what I said. If Disney makes another big purchase-- which isn't certain at this point-- it'll almost certainly be in an area they haven't done one in before.