DIS Shareholders and Stock Info ONLY

[clarker99]

Netflix is down nearly 5%.

Double ouch.

Bob has a lot of sway BUT I think the job(less) numbers MAYBE (just maybe) had just a little bit more do with it

 

[wabbott]

It isn't exciting enough and isn't a growth business?

Well, then I have no idea why analysts and investors don't demand capex to be through the roof for parks. It isn't a growth business and/or is taken for granted?

Spitballing here - COVID shutdowns too fresh in their memory? When the parks were closed, obviously the only money coming in was TV advertising, sports, etc, and maybe Wall Street got fixated on that. And for that matter, ever since I've been an investor and followed the markets, The Next Big Thing always gets attention and investors fall for it.

In the 90s it was gambling. Then it was dotcom. Then it was real estate and housing in the 00's. And now the bloom is off streaming.

 

[wabbott]

https://www.latimes.com/entertainme...-09/bob-iger-says-disney-price-hikes-too-high​

Bob Iger admits Disney park pricing moves were 'too aggressive' - Los Angeles Times​

By Meg James
3/9/23

---

Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger acknowledges his company goofed on some of its pricing strategies.

Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference on Thursday, Iger admitted that Disney’s pursuit of higher profits at its sprawling theme parks — and its initial bargain-basement subscription fee for streaming service Disney+ — had negative consequences for the Burbank entertainment giant.

In particular, price hikes at Disney’s parks backfired because it made a day at Disneyland and Walt Disney World in Florida a less happy experience for visitors, including some of its most cherished fans. The company has backed off on some of the pricing initiatives that offended visitors.

“In our zeal to grow profits, we may have been a little bit too aggressive about some of our pricing,” Iger said. “I think there’s a way to continue to grow that business, but be smarter about how we price so that we maintain that brand value of accessibility.”

On Thursday, Iger — who returned to lead Disney as CEO last November after his hand-picked successor Bob Chapek was ousted — pledged to “to continue to listen to consumers [and] we’re going to continue to adjust.” Since Iger returned, Disney has scaled back some of its price enhancements at the parks, reorganized the company and announced a plan to find $5.5 billion in cost savings, which will include the elimination of 7,000 jobs.

The company is taking a hard look at whether it should hold onto its general entertainment service, Hulu and even its sports empire, ESPN. Rising sports-rights fees and dwindling cable TV subscriptions have made ESPN less profitable. Iger has previously said “everything is on the table” with regard to Hulu.

He has also said there are no conversations about selling or spinning off ESPN. On Thursday, he said the company has an “open mind” about ESPN’s future, but remains bullish.

Park strategies, in particular, have come under the microscope.

“One of the things that we had to do was we had to improve the guest experience by reducing crowding,” Iger said. “It’s tempting to let more and more people in, but if the guest satisfaction levels are going down because of crowding then that doesn’t work. We have to figure out how we reduce crowding but maintain our profitability. And we did that well.”

On the flip side, Disney went to market with Disney+ in November 2019 with a $6.99-a-month subscription fee but the service has lost billions of dollars for the company. Now, the company charges $10.99 a month for an ad-free version of the service.

“One of the key things that we have to figure out is a pricing strategy that makes sense,” Iger said. “In our zeal to grow global subs[cribers], I think we were off in terms of that pricing strategy. And we’re now starting to learn more about it, and to adjust accordingly.”

 

[clarker99]

https://www.latimes.com/entertainme...-09/bob-iger-says-disney-price-hikes-too-high​

Bob Iger admits Disney park pricing moves were 'too aggressive' - Los Angeles Times​

By Meg James
3/9/23

---

Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger acknowledges his company goofed on some of its pricing strategies.

Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference on Thursday, Iger admitted that Disney’s pursuit of higher profits at its sprawling theme parks — and its initial bargain-basement subscription fee for streaming service Disney+ — had negative consequences for the Burbank entertainment giant.

In particular, price hikes at Disney’s parks backfired because it made a day at Disneyland and Walt Disney World in Florida a less happy experience for visitors, including some of its most cherished fans. The company has backed off on some of the pricing initiatives that offended visitors.

“In our zeal to grow profits, we may have been a little bit too aggressive about some of our pricing,” Iger said. “I think there’s a way to continue to grow that business, but be smarter about how we price so that we maintain that brand value of accessibility.”

On Thursday, Iger — who returned to lead Disney as CEO last November after his hand-picked successor Bob Chapek was ousted — pledged to “to continue to listen to consumers [and] we’re going to continue to adjust.” Since Iger returned, Disney has scaled back some of its price enhancements at the parks, reorganized the company and announced a plan to find $5.5 billion in cost savings, which will include the elimination of 7,000 jobs.

The company is taking a hard look at whether it should hold onto its general entertainment service, Hulu and even its sports empire, ESPN. Rising sports-rights fees and dwindling cable TV subscriptions have made ESPN less profitable. Iger has previously said “everything is on the table” with regard to Hulu.

He has also said there are no conversations about selling or spinning off ESPN. On Thursday, he said the company has an “open mind” about ESPN’s future, but remains bullish.

Park strategies, in particular, have come under the microscope.

“One of the things that we had to do was we had to improve the guest experience by reducing crowding,” Iger said. “It’s tempting to let more and more people in, but if the guest satisfaction levels are going down because of crowding then that doesn’t work. We have to figure out how we reduce crowding but maintain our profitability. And we did that well.”

On the flip side, Disney went to market with Disney+ in November 2019 with a $6.99-a-month subscription fee but the service has lost billions of dollars for the company. Now, the company charges $10.99 a month for an ad-free version of the service.

“One of the key things that we have to figure out is a pricing strategy that makes sense,” Iger said. “In our zeal to grow global subs[cribers], I think we were off in terms of that pricing strategy. And we’re now starting to learn more about it, and to adjust accordingly.”

Park Pricing is a fun one. They are never lowering prices while increased capacity is years away. What do we all think they will do if/when YoY rev/profit is stagnant in 2024 and 2025?

 

[wabbott]

Park Pricing is a fun one. They are never lowering prices while increased capacity is years away. What do we all think they will do if/when YoY rev/profit is stagnant in 2024 and 2025?

Yup. The needle hasn't moved on stock price in almost a year now. We at the same price as May, 2022. Every once in a while stock prices fairly reflect a company's value.

 

[RivShore]

Spitballing here - COVID shutdowns too fresh in their memory? When the parks were closed, obviously the only money coming in was TV advertising, sports, etc, and maybe Wall Street got fixated on that. And for that matter, ever since I've been an investor and followed the markets, The Next Big Thing always gets attention and investors fall for it.

In the 90s it was gambling. Then it was dotcom. Then it was real estate and housing in the 00's. And now the bloom is off streaming.

I think you hit the nails on the heads! The shiny new thing is streaming so it sucked all the air out of the room. That combined with covid shutdowns destroying parks cash flow for so long just moved the focus off them. The parks certainly got some attention pre-covid with ever increasing per quest spend, the street really liked them back then.

Now if we go back in time and properly padlock that lab that let the bug out (JK JK), it would be much different today - D+ would have launched and had much slower growth without lockdowns to juice it, it would not have been as shiny to WS, and the parks would have continued their cash flow growth uninterrupted and probably would have gotten increased love from the Street. We like to think of Covid in the rearview mirror but so much of the wackiness of today's economy comes directly from having shut down the world's economies and all that was done to get them going again.

 

[wabbott]

Park Pricing is a fun one. They are never lowering prices while increased capacity is years away. What do we all think they will do if/when YoY rev/profit is stagnant in 2024 and 2025?

One other point. If we could just get a glimmer of concrete future plans for Parks and Experiences and some follow through, I think investors would respond favorably.

There was this grand plan for EPCOT that went nowhere. It took almost 6 years to build six tenths of a mile of railroad (Tron). Over three years for a restaurant in Toy Story Land. Attractions downtime at historic highs.

 

[wabbott]

Perhaps related to softening demand in the parks. Disclosure: I know very little of how DVC works, but lots of folks are members.

https://www.dvcnews.com/dvc-program.../5537-dvc-direct-sales-slump-in-february-2023

DVC Direct Sales Slump in February 2023​

Written by Wil Lovato. March 09 2023 Posted in Financial News

High prices, the impending sale of points for Villas at Disneyland Hotel and a competitive resale marketplace all contributed to a lackluster month for Disney Vacation Club direct sales in February 2023.

DVCNews has been tracking direct sales of Disney Vacation Club points for almost 13 years. Before the global pandemic and the brief closure of all Disney parks in 2020 point sales for the DVC resorts located at Walt Disney World averaged over 173,000 points a month. The high point came in July 2013 when 364,416 points were sold. Ignoring the months in 2020 and early 2021 when the pandemic had a significant impact the pandemic had on sales, the low point occurred in December 2015 when only 93,235 points were sold.

But now, a new low point has been reached. In February 2023, 88,472 points were sold for the 11 DVC resorts at Walt Disney World. It represents a 33.2% drop compared to sales a year ago in February 2022 and a 47.1% drop compared to the average for the last 12 months.

Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa outsold Disney’s Riviera Resort for the second month in a row but both resorts recorded over 25% declines in their sales over the prior month. Moving into third place with 5,220 points sold in February was Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows. This was the best month for the Polynesian since 6,566 points were sold in April 2018.

The single largest deed sold in February 2023 was for 700 points at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. The next largest deeds were two 600-point deeds, one each for Grand Floridian and Riviera. There were also two new DVC members who each bought 600 Grand Floridian points split into three 200-point deeds.

Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort — Grand Floridian sales continue to benefit from having slightly better price incentives than Disney’s Riviera Resort. In February, for the second month in a row, it led all resorts with 41,549 points sold. February’s sales total the second lowest number of points sold in a month since sales resumed in March 2022.

Disney has now sold 895,414 points, slightly more than half of the 1,779,822 points that have been assigned to the 202 Resort Studios located in the Big Pine Key building. Disney must retain at least 2% of the Grand Floridian’s total points, which means that it still has about 866,000 points it can sell to the general public.

The Big Pine Key building is comprised of two Residential Units, each containing 101 resort studios and the same number of DVC points. Unit 11 was declared for the DVC inventory before sales began and Unit 12 was declared on June 10, 2022. Disney has sold 96.6% of Unit 11’s points and, beginning in February, began selling more points from Unit 12. No points have been sold from the 36 Residential Units in the original Grand Floridian DVC building since August 2021.

No Fixed Week deeds for Grand Floridian were sold in February 2023. So far, Disney has sold 39 Fixed Week deeds for the new Resort Studios. Since sales resumed, Disney has not sold any Fixed Week deeds for the Deluxe Studios or larger accommodations at the original Grand Floridian DVC building.

Disney’s Riviera Resort — In February, Riviera sold only 30,905 points, almost 11,000 points less than the Grand Floridian. It is the fewest number of points sold for the resort since sales began in April 2019, except for the four-month period in 2020 when all DVC sales were depressed by the Covid pandemic.

Disney has now sold 3,541,721 Riviera points, or 52.6%, of the resort’s 6,739,966 points. There are still over 3 million Riviera points that Disney can sell to the general public.

For the fourth consecutive month, no Fixed Week deeds were sold for Riviera. Disney has sold 111 Fixed Week deeds for the resort: 93 Fixed Week deeds have been sold for Deluxe Studios, eight for one-bedroom villas, eight for two-bedroom villas, and two for three-bedroom grand villas.

On December 16, 2022, Disney declared 25 more vacation homes for the DVC inventory, increasing the number of declared vacation homes from 199 to 224. There are still 117 vacation homes that have not yet been declared and are still under the control of Disney. The declared inventory accounts for about 4,458,999 points, or 66.2% of the resort’s total points.

The sales data includes all 11 DVC resorts at Walt Disney World, as well as Disney's Vero Beach Resort, and Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort. Point sales data is not available for the Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel. The data is compiled from deeds filed by Disney Vacation Development and recorded with the Orange County (FL) Comptroller, the Indian River County (FL) Clerk of Court, and the Beaufort County (SC) Register of Deeds. Thanks to Chris for assisting in the compilation of the sales data.


Wil Lovato is a contributor to DVCNews.com and has been a Disney Vacation Club owner since 2009. His DVC Home Resorts include Copper Creek Villas, Bay Lake Tower, Animal Kingdom Villas, and Aulani. He can be found posting on many Disney discussion forums under the username of “wdrl.”

 

[RivShore]

Perhaps related to softening demand in the parks. Disclosure: I know very little of how DVC works, but lots of folks are members.

https://www.dvcnews.com/dvc-program.../5537-dvc-direct-sales-slump-in-february-2023

DVC Direct Sales Slump in February 2023​

Written by Wil Lovato. March 09 2023 Posted in Financial News

High prices, the impending sale of points for Villas at Disneyland Hotel and a competitive resale marketplace all contributed to a lackluster month for Disney Vacation Club direct sales in February 2023.

DVCNews has been tracking direct sales of Disney Vacation Club points for almost 13 years. Before the global pandemic and the brief closure of all Disney parks in 2020 point sales for the DVC resorts located at Walt Disney World averaged over 173,000 points a month. The high point came in July 2013 when 364,416 points were sold. Ignoring the months in 2020 and early 2021 when the pandemic had a significant impact the pandemic had on sales, the low point occurred in December 2015 when only 93,235 points were sold.

But now, a new low point has been reached. In February 2023, 88,472 points were sold for the 11 DVC resorts at Walt Disney World. It represents a 33.2% drop compared to sales a year ago in February 2022 and a 47.1% drop compared to the average for the last 12 months.

Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa outsold Disney’s Riviera Resort for the second month in a row but both resorts recorded over 25% declines in their sales over the prior month. Moving into third place with 5,220 points sold in February was Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows. This was the best month for the Polynesian since 6,566 points were sold in April 2018.

The single largest deed sold in February 2023 was for 700 points at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. The next largest deeds were two 600-point deeds, one each for Grand Floridian and Riviera. There were also two new DVC members who each bought 600 Grand Floridian points split into three 200-point deeds.

Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort — Grand Floridian sales continue to benefit from having slightly better price incentives than Disney’s Riviera Resort. In February, for the second month in a row, it led all resorts with 41,549 points sold. February’s sales total the second lowest number of points sold in a month since sales resumed in March 2022.

Disney has now sold 895,414 points, slightly more than half of the 1,779,822 points that have been assigned to the 202 Resort Studios located in the Big Pine Key building. Disney must retain at least 2% of the Grand Floridian’s total points, which means that it still has about 866,000 points it can sell to the general public.

The Big Pine Key building is comprised of two Residential Units, each containing 101 resort studios and the same number of DVC points. Unit 11 was declared for the DVC inventory before sales began and Unit 12 was declared on June 10, 2022. Disney has sold 96.6% of Unit 11’s points and, beginning in February, began selling more points from Unit 12. No points have been sold from the 36 Residential Units in the original Grand Floridian DVC building since August 2021.

No Fixed Week deeds for Grand Floridian were sold in February 2023. So far, Disney has sold 39 Fixed Week deeds for the new Resort Studios. Since sales resumed, Disney has not sold any Fixed Week deeds for the Deluxe Studios or larger accommodations at the original Grand Floridian DVC building.

Disney’s Riviera Resort — In February, Riviera sold only 30,905 points, almost 11,000 points less than the Grand Floridian. It is the fewest number of points sold for the resort since sales began in April 2019, except for the four-month period in 2020 when all DVC sales were depressed by the Covid pandemic.

Disney has now sold 3,541,721 Riviera points, or 52.6%, of the resort’s 6,739,966 points. There are still over 3 million Riviera points that Disney can sell to the general public.

For the fourth consecutive month, no Fixed Week deeds were sold for Riviera. Disney has sold 111 Fixed Week deeds for the resort: 93 Fixed Week deeds have been sold for Deluxe Studios, eight for one-bedroom villas, eight for two-bedroom villas, and two for three-bedroom grand villas.

On December 16, 2022, Disney declared 25 more vacation homes for the DVC inventory, increasing the number of declared vacation homes from 199 to 224. There are still 117 vacation homes that have not yet been declared and are still under the control of Disney. The declared inventory accounts for about 4,458,999 points, or 66.2% of the resort’s total points.

The sales data includes all 11 DVC resorts at Walt Disney World, as well as Disney's Vero Beach Resort, and Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort. Point sales data is not available for the Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel. The data is compiled from deeds filed by Disney Vacation Development and recorded with the Orange County (FL) Comptroller, the Indian River County (FL) Clerk of Court, and the Beaufort County (SC) Register of Deeds. Thanks to Chris for assisting in the compilation of the sales data.


Wil Lovato is a contributor to DVCNews.com and has been a Disney Vacation Club owner since 2009. His DVC Home Resorts include Copper Creek Villas, Bay Lake Tower, Animal Kingdom Villas, and Aulani. He can be found posting on many Disney discussion forums under the username of “wdrl.”

As with everything, it's probably a combination of causes. I think the most impactful cause is the current economic conditions of rising interest rates, real estate market instability and an almost certain recession coming (or already here). Being this is a discretionary tiny bit of real estate you are buying, it is very interest rate sensitive and sales are dependent on good economic conditions.

Then there is probably some minor impact from the lack of AP's being sold, the feeling of being nickle and dimed, the crowds, etc. etc (see Disboards for long list of current complaints LOL).

I would love to see a comparison to DVC sales from the last time interest rates had more than doubled (and still rising) while heading into a recession...if that ever has happened before??

 

[jade1]

Bob has a lot of sway

This is the sway.

 

[DeeBee3]

Should be an interesting day today...

 

[wabbott]

Wall Street still NOT impressed.

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/DIS?p=DIS

94.67-1.47 (-1.53%)
As of 11:28AM EST. Market open.

 

[clarker99]

So, with $SIVB going under and a couple other banks looking to be headed for the same fate... are we in the thralls of a 2008/09 crash (or worse). I am not one for overreaction but the domino's have started to fall. If anyone has any insight would love to hear your about it.

 

[wabbott]

FWIW, I often watch the VIX index: VIX is the ticker symbol and the popular name for the Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index, a popular measure of the stock market's expectation of volatility based on S&P 500 index options.

Historically, the index can, and I emphasize CAN, indicate market tops and bottoms. It takes real guts to buy at the peak of a panic, but history has shown these to be epic buying opportunities.

https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/.VIX

 

[wabbott]

https://nypost.com/2023/03/10/cnbcs-jim-cramer-touted-silicon-valley-bank-stock/

CNBC’s Jim Cramer urged viewers to buy Silicon Valley Bank stock last month
By Ariel Zilber
March 10, 2023 1:29pm

CNBC analyst Jim Cramer is once again being pilloried on social media after a clip resurfaced showing the “Mad Money” host recommending viewers buy shares of Silicon Valley Bank’s parent company, which owns the tech-driven commercial lender that swiftly collapsed on Friday.

“The ninth-best performer to date has been SVB Financial (the bank’s parent company). Don’t yawn,” Cramer told viewers during a Feb. 8 episode of “Mad Money.”

Cramer listed SVB Financial among his “biggest winners of 2023 … so far” alongside blue-chip stocks such as Meta, Tesla, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Norwegian Cruise Line.

“This company is a merchant bank with a deposit base that Wall Street has mistakenly been concerned by,” Cramer said in the clip.

Cramer touted the fact that the bank was “less dependent upon private equity and venture capital offerings."

He said the stock was the “fourth-worst performer of 2022” though it was worth buying because “being a banker to these immense pools of capital has always been a very good business.”

“The stock is still cheap,” Cramer said. At the time, SVB Financial was trading at $320.40 a share.

The Post has sought comment from CNBC.

On social media, critics of Cramer made sure to remind others of the now-ill-fated stock tip.

“One month ago, Jim Cramer urged investors to buy Silicon Valley Bank stock,” one Twitter user observed, adding: “Today, the bank was closed by California regulators, making it the 2nd largest banking failure in US history.”

Another Twitter user wrote: “At first it was funny that Jim Cramer was always wrong.”

“Now it’s extremely sad how many people and families he’s destroyed by always being wrong.”

“The guy needs to be taken off the air for good.”

Genevieve Roch-Decter wrote on Twitter: “Jim Cramer said a month ago Silicon Valley Bank was a buy.”

“He also said Bear Sterns (the investment firm that collapsed in the subprime mortgage crisis) was fine in 2008. This man deserves an Oscar.”

Cramer is a frequent target of scorn and ridicule on social media, where observers point out some of his market predictions that fail to materialize.

Investment gurus seeking to capitalize on Cramer’s poor forecasting track record introduced a pair of exchange traded funds which are predicated on a strategy that contradicts whatever the CNBC personality recommends.

“If he specifically says either buy, buy, buy a stock, then we’re gonna go short that stock at the next practical moment,” Matthew Tuttle, the CEO of Tuttle Capital Management, which launched the Inverse Cramer Tracker ETF, told Bloomberg News.

Last fall, Cramer appeared on CNBC’s airwaves and offered an emotional apology to viewers for touting Meta stock, the value of which plummeted by some 25% during a single trading session.

Since the apology aired, however, Meta shares have rebounded.

 

[wabbott]

https://www.ft.com/content/2fb816e9...traffic/partner/feed_headline/us_yahoo/auddev

Hollywood strikes back against streaming​

Christopher Grimes, Chris Campbell

3/10/23

---

After three of the worst years on record in the movie business, there was an almost palpable sense of relief in Hollywood when two bona fide blockbusters appeared on this year’s list of best picture nominees for Sunday’s Academy Awards.

The academy has often overlooked big commercial films in favour of recognising capital-C cinema. But the nominations this year of Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water — already two of the highest-grossing pictures ever — appeared to make a point about something more than just quality filmmaking.

The two films had proved that even in the streaming era, movies are still capable of drawing masses of people to a darkened cinema. Tom Cruise, who starred in and co-produced Top Gun, held the film’s release for two years during the pandemic in order to secure a cinematic run instead of releasing the film straight to streaming — a practice many studios had embraced to boost subscriptions to their services. James Cameron, the director and producer of Avatar, also made clear that his 3D film was meant to be seen on the big screen, not in the living room.

Now, in the wake of the films’ success, the major Hollywood studios — most facing intense investor pressure to halt the losses in their streaming businesses by next year — are rediscovering the charms of old-fashioned box office revenue. In Hollywood, where the Netflix model has eaten away at traditional sources of income, this feels like vindication.

“Just about every studio and every streamer has indicated that they’re going to send all of their movies to the theatres first, and then to a streaming service,” says Rich Gelfond, the CEO of Imax. “The fact is that a theatrical run improves the streaming run. The programmers were naive when they thought people would sit on their couches and watch every piece of content. The market has corrected itself.”

Two of Hollywood’s biggest CEOs, Bob Iger of Disney and David Zaslav of Warner Bros Discovery, appear to have turned their backs on the most radical streaming experiments launched during the frenzied race for subscribers. These included releasing films on their streaming services on the same date as in theatres, and sometimes putting feature films on to streaming without a theatrical release at all.

Now they want to go all-in on splashy theatrical releases. Iger, the veteran Disney chief who stepped out of retirement to return to the company in November, says he will “lean into” the company’s most profitable franchises — including Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars — while “aggressively curating” its general entertainment output.

“If you look at the trajectory of Marvel over the next five years, you’ll see a lot of newness,” Iger said this week at an investor conference. “We’re going to turn back to the Avengers [superhero] franchise but with a whole set of different Avengers . . . We still are developing Star Wars films.”

The risk, however, is by doubling down on a handful of potential blockbusters, the studios end up neglecting the mid-market and indie films that some executives believe to be the industry’s lifeblood.

Tom Rothman, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, says studios will have to find a balance between the big “tentpole” pictures and newer work.

“Sequels and superheroes are important — that’s probably half our slate,” he tells the FT. “But also really important: do not give up on originality. There is something that could kill the movie business, and it’s not Covid, it’s not streaming — the real threat to the movie business is if it stops taking risks on original product.”

Focus on franchises​

This year’s Academy Awards arrive as Hollywood studios are suffering from a serious hangover after years of cheap-money investment in their streaming operations. With everyone stuck at home, subscriptions soared — and Wall Street cheered.

But the party ended early last spring, when Netflix said that its 10-year streak of subscriber growth had hit a wall. Suddenly, investors wanted to see a path to streaming profitability — and they became concerned about studios’ debt piles, including at Warner Bros Discovery and Disney. A halting recovery in the box office, where takings were down by $4bn last year from 2019, did not help.

No wonder, then, that the studios are looking to reinvigorate their big franchises, the closest thing to a sure bet as a Hollywood studio executive can find, even with their high production costs. Iger helped usher in a new blockbuster era with his bold acquisitions of Marvel, LucasFilm and Pixar, giving Disney an enviable collection of intellectual property. The result was a string of some of the highest-grossing pictures of all time, including Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015, Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 and Avengers Endgame in 2019.

For the traditional studios, placing the box office back at the top of the food chain also repairs what many saw as one of the most egregious mistakes of the past few years: sacrificing millions of dollars of cinema ticket sales in the interest of attracting new streaming subscribers. Now it is accepted within the studios that this was a flawed premise. Putting marketing muscle behind a theatrical release helps films get noticed once they land on a streaming platform.
This year’s best picture nominees highlight the vast financial chasm between big-budget, money-spinning Hollywood franchises and the mid-budget films that the academy often celebrates. Avatar has grossed about $2.3bn at the global box office, while Top Gun — which didn’t benefit from a China release — brought in $1.5bn.

Compared to those hauls, the $28.8mn that Steven Spielberg’s best picture nominee, The Fabelmans, drew at the box office looks like pocket change. The black comedy Triangle of Sadness brought in the least of the best picture nominees, at $4.5mn, despite critical success. The film with the most nominations — Everything Everywhere All at Once — brought a strong $88mn, according to data group Comscore.

Some analysts have said that Disney has worked the Marvel titles too hard, especially as it sought to create original content for the Disney Plus streaming service.

Iger has indicated he may try to be more judicious about commissioning Marvel spin-offs. “Sequels typically work well for us, but do you need a third or a fourth, for instance?” he said. “Or is it time to turn to other characters? There’s nothing in any way inherently off in terms of the Marvel brand. I think we just have to look at what characters and stories we are mining.”

Zaslav is following a similar trajectory, saying he is eager to restart the Superman and Harry Potter series. “We’re going to have a real focus on franchises,” he told investors last autumn. “The DC movies and the Harry Potter movies provided a lot of profits to Warner Bros motion pictures over the last 25 years.”

An adrenaline shot for indie film​

With the prospect of even more iterations of superhero franchises, some question how much room there will be for low- and middle-budget films. These movie house staples — romantic comedies, courtroom dramas, breakout indies, serious films for adults — may have an even tougher time getting a cinematic release with Hollywood studios in cost-cutting mode having invested billions in their streaming services.

Lia Buman, co-founder of the independent film and TV production company Tango, said that at the recent Sundance Film Festival, “It didn’t feel like there was as much spreading the wealth among the films”.
“It was very centred on maybe one or two films,” she says. “So I feel like that might be a reflection of the cost cutting or of [people] feeling like they did not want to make a mis-step.”

Yet some in the industry hope that the balance will soon shift away from blockbusters. Buman, whose recent films include the critically-acclaimed Aftersun and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, says that people in her corner of the film world are nonetheless feeling optimistic as more people return to the cinemas. What Top Gun: Maverick did for mainstream film, she says, Everything Everywhere All At Once did for indies. Released by New York independent studio A24, Everything Everywhere was the breakout film of the year — a wild story of an ordinary Asian-American family travelling through multiverses.

“I feel like it reinvigorated the audience for a smaller film,” Buman says. “It was an adrenaline shot for our corner of the industry.”

Rothman at Sony, the lone major studio chief who decided to sit out the streaming wars and sell content to the streamers instead, says audiences have already started returning to see mid-budget films. He cited the recent performance of his own studio’s A Man Called Otto, starring Tom Hanks, which has taken in about $100mn. He also noted that Universal’s Cocaine Bear and its schlock horror film M3gan have done well at the box office, along with Paramount’s 80 For Brady.

“There are actually a lot of original medium-budget movies that have been extremely successful even in the last six months,” he says. “It’s not true that audiences only want sequels and superheroes.”

Gelfond says he sees the possibility that the changing economics of the business could actually boost smaller films. He concedes that in the past several years the trend has been dominated by blockbusters “and away from smaller films”. But he thinks that a change in the major studios’ models — where there are fewer films made exclusively for streaming — should free up money to make smaller theatrical films.

“I think the pendulum is going to swing back a little bit from blockbusters now that more of the content makers are going to make films for theatrical release and then put them on the [streaming] service later,” he said. “I think the economics of the streaming services will allow them to make more small theatrical movies.”

Another boost for the movie business this year: more movies. Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst at Comscore, says the disruption in film production caused by the pandemic will start to ease in 2023. Last year there were 41 fewer nationwide releases in the US than in the pre-pandemic year of 2019; he expects an increase of 30 films from last year, to about 100 releases.

This should result in box office revenue of $9bn — up significantly from $7.5bn last year but still well below the all time record of $12bn in 2018, Dergarabedian says.

But Rothman thinks the resurgence in the movies will be stronger than that. He believes that 2023 will come “within spitting distance of” the pre-pandemic levels in 2019, at least in the US.

“Moviegoing is back with a vengeance,” Rothman says. “You’re about to see what’s going to be an explosive summer.”

 

[wabbott]

https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/disney-oscars-commercials-lower-prices-1235549626/

Mar 10, 2023 12:19pm PT
Disney Softens Prices for Oscars Commercials
By Brian Steinberg

To a movie actor, the Oscar statue is worth its weight in gold. To Madison Avenue? Well, maybe a little less.

Disney has declared sell-out of the approximately 60 to 70 commercial slots it sells in each year’s Oscars broadcast on ABC, a little more than 48 hours before the Sunday broadcast. The company sought $1.6M to $2.1M for a 30-second spot, according to a person familiar with the matter, a slightly lower range than in the past, potentially owing to the economy, or the event’s ratings declines in recent years. In 2022, Disney asked for between $1.7 million and $2.2 million for a 30-second ad, according to media buyers and other executives familiar with last year’s negotiations.

“Our sponsors showed up in full force, across every major category with new and custom creative, joining a spectacular evening celebrating the biggest achievements in storytelling and the moments that bring us together,” said Rita Ferro, president, Disney Advertising, in a statement. “The Oscars is a cultural phenomenon at the center of creativity and entertainment — and with Jimmy Kimmel back at the helm as host, our all-star production team is set to bring the magical night to movie fans, everywhere.”

Leading sponsors of the 2023 broadcast in Pfizer; Rolex and Verizon. Other companies that intend to run commericals includd Allstate; Amazon XCM; Applebee’s; Audible; AutoDesk; Booking.com; Carnival; Paramount +; Chase; EJ Gallo; Constellation Brands; GSK; Henkel; Hulu; Hyundai; Intuit Turbo Tax; KDP Dr. Pepper; Liberty Mutual; Lucid Motors; Novartis; Progressive; Rocket Mortgage; Snapchat; Sony; Starbucks; Stellantis; TIAA Cref; Universal; Volvo; Warner Brothers and Walt Disney Motion Pictures, among others.

The 2022 Oscars pulled in $139 million through 70 ads, while the red-carpet pre-show captured $15.8 million across 48 commercials, according to Vivvix, a tracker of ad spending. In the previous year, the extravaganza generated about $129 million across 56 ads, while the red-carpet pre show attracted $16.3 million across 42 spots. The 2021 broadcast was done under pandemic conditions.

ABC’s 2022 broadcast drew 16.6 million viewers, up 58% from the record-low audience of 10.5 million that watched in 2021. Other awards programs have also seen steep declines in viewership in recent years, including the Emmys and Grammys.

Some aspects of Disney’s Oscars sales efforts are changing. The company said it plans to work with VideoAmp, a measurement technology firm, to help Oscars advertisers gauge audiences in new ways that often go beyond sheer numbers.

Disney has also continued to burnish the sale of local Oscars ads across ABC’s TV stations. The company said 14 new advertisers will run local ads during the event, including ELF Cosmetics; Haverty’s; Lexus; The Honest Company; BMW; LAPAM / Israel Tourism; Mazda and Rolex, among others. Ads that run in specific markets cost significantly less than a national spot.

 

[wabbott]

https://wdwnt.com/2023/03/iger-and-...21st-anniversary-of-walt-disney-studios-park/

Bob Iger and Josh D’Amaro Set to Visit Disneyland Paris for Anniversary of Walt Disney Studios, Proposed New Theme Park Land Implications​

March 11, 2023 Shannen Michaelsen

The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro will be visiting Disneyland Paris on March 16, 2023, the 21st anniversary of Walt Disney Studios Park.

Walt Disney Studios Park is the second gate of Disneyland Paris, after their own Disneyland Park. Disneyland Paris has been celebrating the first park’s 30th anniversary for the past year.

It’s possible that with their visit, Iger and D’Amaro will approve or announce the 3rd themed land meant to be included in the expansion of Walt Disney Studios, but this is just speculation at this time.

Construction has been underway for a few years on said major expansion to Walt Disney Studios Park that will include the new Arendelle – World of “Frozen” land. A new central promenade will lead to the land and a lake. This promenade will be home to the “Tangled Round Ride,” a spinner based on the 2010 animated film about Rapunzel. There will also be an updated Toy Story Playland entrance, a new English Gardens area, a floor rosette, and a food truck. We recently got a look at concept art for the East Pavilion which will house a quick-service restaurant and more. There will also be a table-service restaurant next to the lake.

The Disneyland Hotel in Paris is also getting a major refurbishment that might provide hints about the future lobby update for Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort.

 

[wabbott]

For those interested in how TV sells advertising - and (maybe) makes money.

https://www.simulmedia.com/tv-advertising-glossary/upfront-advertising-tv

What is an Upfront in advertising?

In TV advertising, the Upfront is the decades-old practice of buying and selling TV advertising time months in advance. Traditionally, these deals have taken place in the spring of each year, involving ad spots that would air in the coming television broadcast year. The highlight of the period has traditionally been the Network Upfronts, an annual, weeklong event in New York City where media ad placements are bought and sold. Major TV networks gather at the upfronts to pitch their seasonal TV lineup, in order to incentivize the advertisers to bid for an ad slot in their schedule. After the pitch, the networks’ and advertisers’ sales executives meet for negotiation.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/2023-upfronts-schedule-set-dates-times-1235332630/

2023 Upfronts Schedule Set as Fox Plans In-Person Presentation at the Manhattan Center

Fox joins traditional competitors Disney, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery on the schedule, with Netflix and YouTube also hosting events.

By Alex Weprin
February 23, 2023 11:00am

2023’s TV upfront week appears set, with Fox becoming the last major media company to lock in a time and place to hold its annual advertising presentation.

Fox says that it will hold this year’s upfront at New York’s Manhattan Center with a live stage presentation and a new format “showcasing the power of Fox and the company’s concentrated portfolio of Sports, Entertainment, News and Streaming platforms that is 100% accessible to advertisers.”

Fox’s upfront will take place on the afternoon of Monday, May 15, and will be completely in-person, unlike last year’s event, which was held in-person in Lower Manhattan but was comprised largely of a video presentation so remote viewers wouldn’t miss anything.

The 2022 upfronts noticeably de-emphasized broadcast TV, with companies instead promoting networks and streaming services across their portfolios.

With Fox’s upfront set, the week now appears fully booked with both traditional upfront players and two streaming giants vying for advertiser attention and dollars. There will be one upfront stalwart sitting this year out, however, as Paramount opted to forgo the annual event in favor of smaller one-on-one meetings. Paramount, and before that CBS, had long held its upfront at Carnegie Hall.

It also isn’t yet clear if The CW, which was previously owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount and is now owned by Nexstar, will hold a traditional upfront presentation. In the past, The CW has held its event on Thursday.

The 2023 upfront schedule:

Monday, May 15: NBCUniversal kicks off the week at Radio City Music Hall in the morning, with Fox hosting its event in the afternoon, and Telemundo hosting its annual party in the evening.

Tuesday, May 16: TelevisaUnivision hosts its annual upfront at Pier 36, with Disney hosting its upfront in the afternoon at the Javits Center North.

Wednesday, May 17: Warner Bros. Discovery returns to the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden for its morning upfront, with Netflix hosting its first-ever upfront at the Paris Theater in the late afternoon, and YouTube hosting its BrandCast event at Lincoln Center in the evening.

 

[wabbott]

https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/10/23633800/disney-comcast-hulu-buyout-streaming-share-agreement

Why Disney and Comcast still can’t reach an agreement over Hulu
Disney CEO Bob Iger reiterates his hesitancy to buy out Comcast’s 33 percent stake in Hulu.

By Jess Weatherbed
Mar 10, 2023, 10:36 AM CST|

Hulu’s fate still hangs in the balance following statements from Disney CEO Bob Iger this week. Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Tech, Media, and Telecom conference on Thursday, Iger said that Disney is still debating whether it will buy out Comcast’s 33 percent stake in Hulu, alluding to the current economic downturn and the company’s own difficulties with Disney Plus.

“What we’re doing right now, because we own two-thirds of Hulu, and we have an agreement with Comcast that may result in us owning 100 percent, is we’re really studying the business very, very carefully,” Iger said. In an interview with CNBC last month, Iger had similarly refuted assumptions that Disney would buy the remaining stake in Hulu, saying “that that is not necessarily the case,” and that “everything is on the table right now.”

Comcast has a standing agreement to sell its 33 percent share of Hulu to Disney in January 2024
Back in 2019, Comcast and Disney announced an agreement that would eventually give Disney full control of the Hulu streaming service. But that agreement isn’t necessarily a done deal — instead, it simply permits either Disney or Comcast to force a sale of Comcast’s remaining stake in Hulu to Disney starting from January 2024. Hulu’s actual valuation will be independently assessed closer to the sale deadline, but the agreement gives a guaranteed minimum valuation of $27.5 billion — making Comcast’s share worth at least $9 billion. (Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCU division is a minority investor in Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company.)

Even for Disney, that’s a lot of money. And just like many other giant tech and media companies, Disney is a little strapped for cash right now. Iger has announced several cost-cutting measures at Disney since returning as CEO last November, laying off 7,000 workers and restructuring key areas of the business. Disney’s streaming business also lost around $1.5 billion last quarter, with both Disney Plus and Hulu reporting a slowdown in subscribers.

In the face of economic downturn, Disney is hesitant to commit to the purchase
While he expressed that Hulu is a “solid platform” and “very attractive” for advertisers, Iger’s caution isn’t unfounded. “It’s already proven to be valuable for them, and advertising is proven to be valuable for us,” said Iger. “But the environment is very, very tricky right now, and before we make any big decisions about our level of investment, our commitment to that business, we want to understand where it could go.”

Comcast president Mike Cavanagh responded to the hesitancy Iger expressed in February at the same Morgan Stanley media conference, claiming the company is open to other offers for its Hulu stake, albeit at the risk of dissolving its current deal with Disney. “Remember they and we, back in 2019, put together a very clean and good agreement for a put-call that does happen in early 2024,” said Cavanagh, reported by Deadline. “We are very happy with that. But, if there is something different that comes along, we have to consider things.”

As it stands, Comcast can still force Disney to buy its 33 percent stake in Hulu next year per the terms of the put-call agreement. Disney can similarly force Comcast to sell, but given Iger says he’s “targeting $5.5 billion of cost savings across the company,” it’s unlikely that he’ll find enough cash stuffed behind the couches at Disney World in the coming months to pursue such a move.