A New Disney Could Be Soon Upon Us
Issue #127 — Disney has decided that its future will be without its linear TV business with the exception of ESPN.
A New Disney Could Be Soon Upon Us
“They may not be core.”
With those words, Bob Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Co., set the media world into massive speculation as he disclosed that the company’s linear TV business is no longer vital to the company’s success.
He made these comments while speaking to CNBC's David Faber from the Allen &Co. conference this past week in Sun Valley, Idaho.
The linear TV business comprising ABC and its local TV stations, ABC News, the Disney Channel, FX Networks, FreeForm, National Geographic, and ESPN have been steadily losing money as they fall victim to cord-cutters rendering the Pay-TV business unattractive.
Iger further elaborated on his position, saying, “Yeah, there’s clearly creativity and content that they create that is core to Disney, but the distribution model, the business model that forms the underpinning of that business, and that has delivered great profits over the years, is definitely broken,” he said. “And we have to call it like it is, and that’s part of the transformative work we’re doing.”
The focus of these comments was mainly aimed at the entertainment channels, as Iger still views ESPN as an asset. Regarding the worldwide leader in sports, Iger believes its future lies as a stand-alone, direct-to-consumer version, but to get there, it will be looking for a strategic partner to help with content or distribution.
Who that partner will be is yet to be determined. Still, Iger’s repositioning of Disney minus the linear channels is not welcoming news, especially to the folks at ABC News, who must now ponder what a future minus the financial support of the House of Mickey might look like.
As for Hulu, the streaming service’s future looks to be with Disney, as the media conglomerate is scheduled to buy Comcast's stake in the streamer in 2024. According to Iger, he believes that they are “better off having Hulu than not having Hulu.”
Including it within Disney Plus at the end of the year moves it much closer to becoming one combined service.
Iger has a lot of unfinished business at Disney, he extended his contract through 2026 to finish what he has been working on, but certain things are starting to percolate about Disney’s future, and the linear TV business might not be part of it.
(Broadcasting+Cable, IGN)
RECAP
BBC News’ Huw Edwards Embroiled In Sex Scandal
When Queen Elizabeth passed away in 2022Huw Edwards was responsible for breaking that news to the UK audience. Edwards has been BBC News’ go-to person during monumental events, a respected anchor revered by many throughout the industry. Edwards being named as the person involved in a sex scandal sent shockwaves within the network and stunned a nation. Edwards allegedly sent over $45,000 for explicit pictures from a young person, which led to more people coming out with their allegations against Edwards. Making all this more chaotic was the fact it was Edwards’ wife, Vicky Flind, who outed him as the person at the center of the scandal and thus putting a massive stain on his legacy and credibility. According to Flind, Edwards is “suffering from serious mental health issues” and has put himself in hospital and has now put the BBC in another crisis. (The Guardian )
Fox News Is Facing Another Defamation Lawsuit
Once again, Fox News is dealing with another defamation lawsuit — this time from a Fox News viewer. Ray Epps, an Arizona man, is suing the network and its former primetime host Tucker Carlson for an unspecified amount because they promoted a lie that he was a federal agent who incited the insurrection on January 6, 2021. According to the lawsuit, Epps described himself and his wife as loyal Fox News viewers and attended the protests in Washington, DC, on that fateful day but denied that they were part of the insurrection. Epps said his role that day was to try and “diffuse the situation.” In the lawsuit, Epps says, “Fox and specifically Mr. Carlson decided that Epps was the villain they needed to distract from the Dominion lawsuit and their culpability for stoking the fire that led to the events of January 6th.” Interstingly, Epps has retained the same lawyer that Dominion Voting Systems also used in its case against Fox News. (The New York Times, TVNewser)
Vice Employees Are Upset At Executive Bonuses
Vice Media declared bankruptcy in May and let go of mats employees and freelancers. Sincthenme, these former staffers have not received their remaining wages or severance and have resorted to a GoFundMe to help fill the gap. So it was rather vexing for them to find out that many of the company’s executives received a bonus right before the company filed for bankruptcy. Included in that list of executives receiving a bonus was Vice’s head of news, Subrata De, who was paid an additional $201,000. De oversaw the cancellation of the Emmy-winning show Vice News Tonight, which resulted in the laying off of staff. Vice Union has sent a letter signed by 158 former and present VICE employees calling out the executives for receiving such hefty bonuses. At the same time, many of their colleagues struggled to “find new jobs in a depressed job market and would have a hard time paying rent or important medical bills.” The letter concluded with the union telling the executives, “We see you.” (HuffPost, Vice Union/Twitter)
QUICK RECAP
Awards: CNN nabs seven primetime Emmy® nominations. (CNN Press Room)
Public relations executive Amy Philips is out at ESPN. (Amy Phillips/Twitter)
TV executive Leopold Gómez leaves Univision. (TVNewser).
Jo Ling Kent joins CBS News as senior business and technology correspondent. (Paramount Press Express)
ABC News Radio names Steven Portnoy as a national correspondent. (Broadcasting+Cable)
Fox News announces its 2024 presidential campaign embeds. (TVNewser)
Former CNN executive Alex MacCallum joins The Washington Post. (The Wall Street Journal)
Marissa Parra moves from Washington, DC, to Miami as an NBC News correspondent. (Marissa Parra/Twitter)
Former NFL player Kyle Rudolph to join NBC Sports as a Big Ten football play caller. (Awful Announcing)
Sky News’ Sophy Ridge moves to anchor a new daily political show. (Press Gazette)
Tucker Carlson to launch a new media company. (The Wall Street Journal)
AppleTV Plus puts up a billboard in Miami welcoming Lionel Messi to Inter Miami. (AdAge)
Fox Sports reveals its Sydney, Australia studios for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. (Fox Sports Press Pass)
Victor Wembanyama’s NBA Summer League debut is a top draw on ESPN. (Sports Media Watch)
NBC News launches a “lite” version of its website for people in areas of low connectivity. (Press Gazette)
Former NFL player Richard Sherman could replace Shannon Sharpe on FS1's Undisputed. (New York Post)
Telemundo to launch FAST streaming sports channel. (Awful Announcing)
Jeff Zucker is not looking to acquire CNN. (Variety)
How the sale of the FIFA Women’s World Cup TV rights did not go as planned. (Wall Street Journal)
Stephen A. Smith was valued more than Skip Bayliss, according to former ESPN president. (Awful Announcing)
DAZN to begin selling tickets and hospitality packages. (Sports Pro Media)
TV viewership for the WNBA is up midway through the season. (Front Office Sports)
The New York Jets will be featured on HBO's Hard Knocks. (Sports Illustrated)
BBC News’ World Service global reach has declined in 2023. (PressGazette)
Why are streaming shows removing fan favorites and losing subscribers’ trust? (Consequence TV)
CNN's The Source with Kaitlan Collins makes its debut. (NewscastStudio)
Jon Champion joins NBC Sports as Premier League play-by-play commentator. (NBC Sports Group Press Box)
Netflix now allows the transfer of profiles between existing accounts. (The Streamable)
NBC Sports to air golf’s American Century Championship for an additional six years. (NBC Sports Group Press Box)
Al-Jazeera English ends broadcasts originating out of London. (Suzanne Lentini/Twitter)
ESPN’s SportsCenter is seeing a viewership resurgence. (Sports Business Journal)
CNN's Jake Tapper defends the network’s Trump town hall during his book tour. (Mediaite)
Fox News’ drop in viewership causes a downgrade in Fox Corp on Wall Street. (Broadcasting+Cable)
Former CNN International anchor Saima Mohsin sues the network over job injury, racial discrimination, and unfair dismissal. (The Guardian)
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A MarkHenry Media LLC publication - Issue #127 - 2023