DIS Shareholders and Stock Info ONLY

[New Mouse]

Hulu certainly has some content diversity so once they take full ownership of it and flesh out their strategy for D+/Hulu, they solve for that problem. Also, I believe that many Fox titles are slowing being brought back in house from other streamers which should also push up the overall content available. I think all this rapidly moves them closer to Netflix in breadth of content more so than any other streamer.

I'm curious if the other companies let Hulu tank once Disney owns it completely.

 

[RivShore]

I'm curious if the other companies let Hulu tank once Disney owns it completely.

I think Comcast is the only other partner and they will certainly be pulling their stuff over to Peacock once Disney completes the buyout. Not sure who else feeds content there that would pull it just because Comcast is no longer an owner.

There were rumors a while back that Disney was letting Hulu wither on the vine to lower the Comcast buyout cost. Haven't heard much on the buyout, really since Covid turned things upside down. Anyone recall the deadline? Was it supposed to happen by end of next year?

 

[Jrb1979]

Thought people here would be interested in this.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1534921007282069506

 

[wabbott]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-disney-takes-rivals-middle-113411372.html

Disney+ takes on rivals in Middle East streaming market

Yousef Saba
Thu, June 9, 2022 at 6:34 AM

DUBAI, June 9 (Reuters) - Disney+ launched its streaming service in the Middle East and North Africa on Wednesday, vying for market share in a region where the population is young but few people so far use such services.

Disney+ said it had gone live in 16 Arab countries and was tailoring content for the region, including offering Arabic subtitles on most offerings, particularly popular content.

Netflix currently leads in the region, with more than 6.8 million subscribers, according to Digital TV Research. Starzplay, an Abu Dhabi-based competitor, ranks second with just under 2 million, followed by Amazon with 1.4 million.

 

[wabbott]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/b...usted-in-major-executive-shake-up-1235161999/

Disney’s Peter Rice Ousted In Major Executive Shake-Up
The move marks the latest strategic shift in the Bob Chapek era at the entertainment giant.
June 9, 2022 8:19am

In a major executive shake-up, Peter Rice, chairman of Disney’s entertainment and programming, is exiting the company, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.
Sources say embattled Disney CEO Bob Chapek summoned Rice to his office Monday and relieved the former Fox exec of his duties. The CEO, who took over for Bob Iger last year, is said to have felt that Rice was no longer a fit.

This dismissal took place in a seven-minute meeting Monday evening, according to sources. Chapek told Rice that he was not a fit in “the new Disney culture,” to which Rice said words to the effect that he thought they were in the midst of building the new Disney culture. He asked in what way he did not fit and Chapek responded, “Now is not the time” and dismissed him.

Industry insiders believe Rice was perceived as angling to replace the embattled Chapek.

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

Thought people here would be interested in this.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1534921007282069506

Don't worry my fellow DisBoarders. I have successfully wiped the sweat from Bob C.'s forehead. This type of news will generate 1000s of more negative posts. It's like Covid-19 masking threads. Bob C. is the gift that keeps on giving post after post.

Sincerely,

The Unofficial Bob Chapek Apologist.

 

[wabbott]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/09/business/disney-peter-rice.html

 

[wabbott]

https://www.latimes.com/entertainme...ce-ousted-as-disney-tv-chief-in-major-shakeup

Rice’s ouster is the latest shake-up for Disney. Disney’s top communications executive Geoff Morrell was pushed out in April amid the Florida scandal.

Rice, who was blindsided but the decision to fire him, didn’t mesh well with the company’s new regime, according to insiders. Chapek took over as CEO from Bob Iger in 2020 and reorganized the company, separating content businesses from decisions about distribution, which ruffled feathers within the organization, especially among high-powered executives used to having relative autonomy.

Distribution decisions — whether to send shows to Disney’s traditional channels or put them on streaming services — were handed to Kareem Daniel, who runs a division called Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution. Rice and Daniel, a longtime Chapek deputy at Disney, clashed, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly.

 

[RivShore]

Wow, this whole short but very intriguing Bob 2.0 era is going to make for a great book! Hopefully soon.

It looks like such a mess for those of us on the outside, there was this supposedly insider story from just a few months ago that made it sound like Bob was a goner...

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/b...e-crisis-1235122002/?utm_source=pocket_mylist

 

[wabbott]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-ousts-top-tv-executive-peter-rice-11654790861?siteid=yhoof2

outside the paywall, for now.

 

[RivShore]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-ousts-top-tv-executive-peter-rice-11654790861?siteid=yhoof2

outside the paywall, for now.

not any more.

Anything new in it?

 

[wabbott]

not any more.

Anything new in it?

Notes that Rice was hired by Iger in 2019 when the Fox deal went through. So maybe Chapek thought he was a spy for Iger.

"There has been speculation for more than a year about Mr. Rice’s future, after Mr. Chapek restructured Disney’s chain of command in a way that reduced some of his power. In October 2020, Mr. Chapek installed Kareem Daniel as chair of the company’s media and entertainment distribution unit."

"In that role, Mr. Daniel controls the purse strings for spending on content, a task that used to be handled by programming heads such as Mr. Rice. In conversations with colleagues, Mr. Rice said he didn’t mind giving up the financial side of his job to focus solely on the creative aspects, people close to him said."

 

[wabbott]

not any more.

Anything new in it?

Here's a story with alleged "insider" gossip.

https://www.indiewire.com/2022/06/peter-rice-fired-dana-walden-bob-chapek-disney-1234732216/

 

[wabbott]

Bios here.

https://wmleader.com/entertainment/...den-and-peter-rice-inside-the-disney-shakeup/

 

[wabbott]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-ousts-top-tv-executive-peter-rice-11654790861

update

"Mr. Rice was viewed by Mr. Chapek as operating his division as an independent fiefdom instead of as a piece of the broader Disney machine, according to people familiar with Mr. Chapek’s thinking."

 

[wabbott]

If I were DIS CEO, I would get shed of ABC before sundown on the first day. Eisner's rationale for buying ABC was that they needed a distribution outlet for content. Not no more, they don't. With ABC, you have all the histrionic drama of the news division and another entire set of headaches with TV producers, directors, actors, etc. Fooling with that mess for the past 20 years hasn't added a dime to stockholder value at all.

TV networks were a necessary thing in prehistoric times when broadcast spectrum was limited. Those days have come and gone.

 

[wabbott]

https://laist.com/news/arts-and-ent...ible-heir-apparent-is-fired-by-ceo-bob-chapek

Analysis: What May Be Behind The Ouster Of Peter Rice At Disney
By John Horn
Published Jun 9, 2022 4:02 PM

 

[RivShore]

If I were DIS CEO, I would get shed of ABC before sundown on the first day. Eisner's rationale for buying ABC was that they needed a distribution outlet for content. Not no more, they don't. With ABC, you have all the histrionic drama of the news division and another entire set of headaches with TV producers, directors, actors, etc. Fooling with that mess for the past 20 years hasn't added a dime to stockholder value at all.

TV networks were a necessary thing in prehistoric times when broadcast spectrum was limited. Those days have come and gone.

I don't know about that, ABC still brings profit to the bottom line and those advertising dollars directly fund content that makes it's way to D+/Hulu eventually. They are a great in-house, no cost advertising arm for the parks and movies. And it still reaches millions everyday
.
Who do you think would be a buyer? Under the current admin, i think they would block any other large media company from buying it.

 

[wabbott]

You could sell the parts. I think all the drama of operating an integrated television network is just not worth the candle. It requires a huge investment of management's time that could be better spent on movie making and park operations.

Here's more on Peter Rice.

https://www.thestreet.com/investing/disney-executive-shakeup-makes-waves?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO

Did Disney+ Battles Lead to Disney Executive Shakeup?
TV content executive reportedly ousted over cultural fit issues.

 

[wabbott]

Here's the UK Daily Mail

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...et-new-CEO-didnt-like-breathing-shoulder.html

Ousted Disney content chief Peter Rice, a 'sharp-elbowed' exec with close ties to Rupert Murdoch, was abruptly FIRED in a seven-minute meeting by embattled CEO Bob Chapek who didn't like Rice 'breathing over his shoulder'