2ND UPDATE, 5:20 PM: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis today won a victory in his legal skirmishes with the Walt Disney Company — but not for the reasons he wanted to.
16.05.2023 - 15:57 / deadline.com
The CEO of NBCUniversal parent Comcast said it’s “more likely than not” the company will end up selling its third of Hulu to Disney, after his Mouse counterpart indicated clearly last week that this would be Disney’s preferred outcome. There’s been some grandstanding over the past year as the deadline approaches, but both of Hulu’s parents appear to be on or near the same page now.
“The fact is that Bob Iger, on his earnings call last week, said that they’re now back interested in general entertainment, which is no surprise,” Brian Roberts told investors at the MoffettNathanson TMT conference. Earlier this year, Iger was a bit more skeptical on “undifferentiated” general entertainment streaming, versus Disney+ targeted brands.
Comcast can put its stake to Disney, or Disney can call it in, early next year. The Disney chief said that the two sides have had “cordial” and “constructive” conversations about Hulu.
“I think it’s more likely than not that we go through with what we said all along. That … they’ll put, we’ll call at the beginning of next year,” Roberts said today.
“I think Disney recognized as anybody else would recognize that Hulu is really valuable,” Roberts said. The contractual floor valuation is about $9 billion for the stake. He hopes it will be well north of that.
The question is what “a willing buyer in a robust auction” would pay. “And it’s sort of a hypothetical question,” since there’s never been an asset like this for sale — a platform with more than 50 million Hulu domestic streaming subscribers, “all the content from Disney and Fox. And so what’s worth to any buyer, including Disney? We’re including Comcast, we’re including other tech companies, or whomever. And that’s what the job is…to give us
2ND UPDATE, 5:20 PM: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis today won a victory in his legal skirmishes with the Walt Disney Company — but not for the reasons he wanted to.
Writers Guild of America is opening up a new front against the studios as its strike continues, as WGA West President Meredith Stiehm sent an open letter to Netflix and Comcast shareholders calling on them to reject the pay packages for those companies’ top executives that are up for a vote. Netflix is set to have its annual shareholders meeting on June 1, with Comcast, parent company of NBCUniversal, holding its shareholder meeting on June 7.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the two media and entertainment giants want to reach a deal to resolve the ownership of Hulu, but the disagreement over how much the nation’s fifth-largest streaming service is worth is stalling progress. Neither Disney nor Comcast responded to requests for comment.Disney owns two-thirds of Hulu, while Comcast owns one-third, acquired when it took control of one of the streamer’s founding backers, NBCUniversal, in 2011.
If the feud between Disney and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was going to be escalated yet again, parks chief Josh D’Amaro didn’t seem like he would be the one to do it.
If you figured the war between Disney and Gov. Ron DeSantis was going to take a breather for the weekend, think again.
Harrison Ford fought back tears at one of the biggest premieres at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. No expense was spared as Disney jetted its top executives, including CEO Bob Iger, to the South of France for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” the fifth chapter in one of the most celebrated film franchises in movie history. But when the credits rolled on this action epic involving time travel directed by James Mangold, Cannes only mustered a slightly muted five-minute standing ovation for the film. The biggest cheers of the night were reserved for Ford, who was summoned to the stage by festival director Thierry Frémaux to receive a surprise Palme d’Or after a reel of his greatest roles played onscreen.
Just over a week ago, Bob Iger rhetorically asked the adversarial Gov. Ron DeSantis if Florida really wanted Disney’s considerable business and tax revenue, or not. Now, without mentioning the would-be presidential contender nor his attacks on the company, the Mouse House has pulled some of that business and taxes revenues from the Sunshine State.
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney has pegged total cash content spending at around $30 billion for this year — but the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike may drive that down, CFO Christine McCarthy said. “If you haven’t noticed we’re in the middle of a writers strike,” McCarthy said, speaking Wednesday at MoffettNathanson’s Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in New York. The WGA walkout may reduce Disney’s cash spending on content for the balance of the year, she said. At the MoffettNathanson conference, MCarthy appeared alongside Disney president of ad sales Rita Ferro. The two Disney execs spoke a day after the media conglom’s upfront presentation in the Big Apple to ad buyers and brands — which was noticeably light on scripted fare, given the writers strike. Marvel’s Kevin Feige previewed upcoming Disney+ series “Secret Invasion,” featuring Samuel L. Jackson and Don Cheadle, and announced premiere dates for “Loki” Season 2 and “Hawkeye” spinoff “Echo.”
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts addressed the company potentially selling its 33% stake in the streamer. “I think it’s more likely than not,” Roberts said. “I’m pretty certain if and when we sell our Hulu stake, it’ll be for more than what we have, and in fact, that’s contractually certain.”Disney currently owns 67% of Hulu with with Comcast’s NBCUniversal holding a minority stake.
The CEO of NBCUniversal parent Comcast said it’s “more likely than not” the company will end up selling its third of Hulu to Disney, after his Mouse counterpart indicated clearly last week that this would be Disney’s preferred outcome. There’s been some grandstanding over the past year as the deadline approaches, but both of Hulu’s parents appear to be on or near the same page now.
exited the company after more than a decade on Friday to serve as the new chief executive officer of Twitter. “So what was more surprising today, being welcomed by a foul mouthed teddy bear or seeing me up here on stage?,” Lazarus told an audience of advertisers during the company’s Upfront presentation on Monday, referencing a raunchy musical opening from Seth MacFarlane’s Ted.
Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, wasn’t on the production call sheet until very recently for the company’s upfront at Radio City on Monday morning.
Disney is the DJIA’s worst performer today with shares down over 8% after reporting fiscal second quarter earnings that were mixed and a bit messy as the company and industry reset.
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Shares of Disney slipped as much as 9% in trading Thursday after the media conglomerate reported earnings for the first three months of 2023. Disney’s earnings report showed progress on the cost-cutting front — with streaming losses narrowing for the quarter — but analysts cited a weak advertising outlook and uncertainty over when its streaming business can contribute to the bottom line. As of 11:30 a.m. ET, Disney’s stock price was $92.86/share, down 8.2%, and off its 52-week high of $126.48. Disney+ lost 4 million subscribers for the quarter ended April 1, including a loss of 300,000 in the U.S./Canada. But the company narrowed its streaming losses by $400 million, down 26% year over year, and Disney said it would remove content from Disney+ to cut costs while also expecting to raise prices on the ad-free Disney+ tier. In addition, CEO Bob Iger announced that the company would launch an integrated Disney+/Hulu “one-app experience” in the U.S. by the end of 2023 — indicating Disney’s desire to hold on to Hulu.
Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Disney is going on a diet — but Hulu is still on the menu. Disney CEO Bob Iger and chief financial officer Christine McCarthy delivered a clear message on Wednesday to Wall Street and to Hollywood during Disney’s quarterly earnings call. Disney will cut the overall volume of content produced for its streaming platforms — primarily Disney+ and Hulu — as it deals with a much tighter macroeconomic environment, not to mention the uncertain impact of the writers strike that began May 2. After spending just under $30 billion on content in Disney’s 2022 fiscal year (which ends in September), Iger has targeted $3 billion in savings for 2023. Of that $30 billion, about 30% is devoted to sports rights for ESPN and ABC Sports.
combined into one app offering by the end of the year on Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger has suggested that the future of the hybrid subscription/ad-supported streamer remains in the hands of rival Comcast. Under a 2019 put/call agreement, Disney can buy out the NBCUniversal parent’s 33% minority stake in Hulu as early as January 2024 – and Comcast can require that Disney do so.
What many saw as inevitable has finally come to pass. During the company’s annual earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that the Walt Disney Company will roll out a singular streaming app by the end of 2023.
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney is pulling Hulu tighter into the Mouse House. On Disney’s earnings call Wednesday, CEO Bob Iger said the company will soon launch a “one-app experience” in the U.S. that incorporates Hulu content into Disney+. The new combined offering will launch by the end of 2023, he said. “While we will continue to offer Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ as standalone options, this is a logical progression of our [direct-to-consumer] offerings that will provide greater opportunities for advertisers while giving bundle subscribers access to more robust and streamlined content, resulting in greater audience engagement and ultimately leading to a more unified streaming experience,” Iger said.
Disney will roll out a single streaming app with programming from ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+ by the end of this year.
Hadley Gamble, whose complaints led to the firing of ex-NBCUniversal boss Jeff Shell late last month, is leaving CNBC, the network said today.