It’s no secret that Disney is struggling. …
The entertainment giant’s stock price continues to plummet amid boycotts, negative PR, and broken business models.
Now CEO Bob Iger is mulling over selling many of Disney’s media properties like ABC News and National Geographic. …
Even portions of ESPN may reportedly be sold-off, though Iger stated that ESPN’s situation is different from the other media properties in question and that ESPN will be treated differently.
It bears mentioning that none of this is concrete—Iger and insiders at the corporation are merely thinking about making these moves.
Iger recently sat down with CNBC to explain which media entities were being considered for sale from the entertainment giant’s portfolio:
Bob Iger went on CNBC and floated balloons on restructuring Disney’s ENTIRE MEDIA BUSINESS, with a push to get everything closer to the end-consumer. 💥
• $DIS will buy Hulu from $CMCSA
• Will sell or exit linear networks like ABC
• ESPN is strategic, but $DIS is open to… pic.twitter.com/HIfDigTHPX— Compound248 💰 Absolute Value (@compound248) July 13, 2023
Rasmussen Reports shared this poll indicating that ABC News is the least trusted mainstream news outlet, according to Americans polled.
Update: Since @ABC News is still not commenting on this nasty-gram below that we received late last month, we decided to ask American voters who they trust the most in broadcast network news.
ABC missed last place by a single point.
Note to Bob Iger: Time to sell this 🦃 https://t.co/QFKbSBdvTh pic.twitter.com/MKb9uBsEwv
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) July 13, 2023
Forbes had more on the story:
Iger said the properties “may not be core to Disney” and that the company would be “objective” about their future—though he didn’t explicitly say the networks would be sold.
Iger, who previously worked as a senior ABC executive, said linear TV “clearly is a business that’s going to continue to struggle” and the business model is “definitely broken.”
Front Office Sports noted: “Disney is open to potentially selling an equity stake in ESPN — and is looking for a strategic partner in the business, CEO Bob Iger said Thursday morning.”
Disney is open to potentially selling an equity stake in ESPN — and is looking for a strategic partner in the business, CEO Bob Iger said Thursday morning.
Iger adds Disney is also open to spinning off its legacy cable networks and ABC. pic.twitter.com/2BQMXoh83E
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) July 13, 2023
Variety offered this quote from Iger regarding Marvel IPs: “[Marvel] had not been in the TV business at any significant level. Not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of television series, and frankly, it diluted focus and attention.”
Disney CEO Bob Iger says: "[Marvel] had not been in the TV business at any significant level. Not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of television series, and frankly, it diluted focus and attention." https://t.co/UJiNu9ppUy
— Variety (@Variety) July 13, 2023
ABC News reported that Iger’s contract was recently extended:
The Walt Disney Company has announced that Bob Iger will remain CEO for two additional years, extending his contract through Dec. 31, 2026.
The Walt Disney Company Board of Directors voted “unanimously” to extend Iger’s contract.
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