Disney+ And Hulu Programming To Be Combined Into One App By Year’s End, Bob Iger Says

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.

EXCLUSIVE: The layoffs impacting thousands of Disney staff in the U.S. have spread to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

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.

backing previous statements made by her co-host Scarborough saying, “Mickey Mouse has brass knuckles because he’s taking on Bob Iger… You don’t do that.”“This is politically such a rookie move to do these gesture politics, to try and own the libs and maybe get in a small subset of the Tampa area,” Brzezinski said Friday. “In the end, you end up costing Florida jobs.”The MSNBC host added that the Florida governor “can’t see one foot in front of his face.” “I don’t know how that plays on the big stage, and I think it gives Trump a lot of material.”On Thursday, Disney announced it had pulled the plug on an employee campus that was expected to come to Florida, citing “changing business conditions.” The complex was a $1 billion investment that would have brought an estimated 2,000 white-collar jobs to the state.

Cannes took audiences back to their childhoods with the first screening of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” The film’s splashy premiere saw stars Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen walk the red carpet, alongside Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger and director James Mangold. The first reactions were slow to drop but were filled with enthusiasm.

first reported, comes just a week after the entertainment giant announced during its quarterly earnings call its plans to remove “certain content” from its streaming platforms in a cost-cutting move.“We are in the process of reviewing the content on our DTC services to align with the strategic changes in our approach to content curation,” Disney Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said during the call.McCarthy also unveiled Disney’s plans to “produce lower volumes of content,” marking a strategic shift from the company’s original goal to flood “the so-called digital shelves” when Disney+ launched three and a half years ago. While Bob Iger explained this plan’s intent to push along subscriber growth, the Disney boss noted during the earnings call that the company “realized that we made a lot of content that is not necessarily driving sub growth.”The former strategic plan also left marketing spending to be “spread so thin,” according to the Disney head, who noted that the company would be more “surgical” in content decisions rather than “spending a lot of money marketing things that are not going to have an impact on the bottom line.” Instead, Iger noted that freeing up these budgetary constraints would enable Disney to focus on tentpole projects that are “great” subscription drivers, including “Avatar,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.

It was a great night for Disney as Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny had a smash debut in its World Premiere Thursday evening at the Cannes Film Festival where the June 30th release received a warm 5 minute standing ovation, especially for Harrison Ford in his swan song in the title role he started playing 40 + years ago. There noticeably to witness the French love and affection was none other than Disney boss Bob Iger attending his first-ever Cannes Festival (believe it or not) and even taking his own photos during the ovation for the movie. At the Carlton Beach after party I told him Deadline had just been the first to post its review, a rave (from our colleague Stephanie Bunbury) and you could see the absolute relief on his face. “You have made me very happy to hear that, ” he told me, and he meant it. All this came on the same day Disney took another shot at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis by announcing the cancellation of a plan to move several thousand California employees to Florida. The Cannes respite must have been nice.

Following its out-of-competition world premiere this evening at the Cannes Film Festival, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was treated to a five-minute standing ovation as the audience inside the festival’s Grand Théâtre Lumière.

Harrison Ford returned to the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, picking up an honorary Palme d’Or before the world-premiere screening of Disney/Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Walt Disney CFO Christine McCarthy nudged investors to discard a few narratives that emerged from the latest earnings: that Disney parks growth may be unsustainable and that the company is shedding subscribers and slashing streaming content.

It was a tale of two coasts today, as WGA picketers and their allies targeted Disney’s upfront presentation in New York and also the company’s Burbank lot in Los Angeles. And the two scenes were very different.

Rita Ferro, Disney’s ad sales and partnerships chief, urged media buyers at the company’s New York upfront Tuesday to “lean into all aspects of diversity” with their marketing commitments.

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.

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.

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.

Disney is making some big changes to their streaming services – Just Jared Jr President Biden weighs in on the writer’s strike – Celebitchy Melissa McCarthy reveals the social media advice she gave her daughters – Popsugar New couple alert! – Just Jared Jr

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.

second fiscal quarter of 2023, CEO Bob Iger addressed the artificial intelligence elephant in the room, making it clear that Disney isn’t shying away from the technological frontier — quite the opposite, in fact.“AI developments represent some pretty interesting opportunities for us,” Iger said. “In fact, we’re already starting to use AI to create some efficiencies and ultimately to better serve consumers.”Beyond confirming that AI has already found a home within the house of the mouse, Iger addressed the natural challenges that come with any new, disruptive technology, including the managerial complexities.“It could be extremely difficult to manage, particularly from an IT management perspective,” Iger said, referring to the tech’s advanced nature.

Disney chief executive Bob Iger weighed in on AI today, staying general but calling the battleground technology good for Disney’s business, but disruptive.