Disney won't bid for AOL; sees boost from Blu-ray high-def DVDs

[crazy4wdw]

CEO says Disney won't bid for AOL; sees boost from Blu-ray high-def DVDs, other new tech

By SETH SUTEL,AP
Posted: 2008-03-12 16:31:16

NEW YORK (AP) - Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger detailed several ways on Wednesday that Disney hopes to benefit from high-tech - but one of them isn't buying AOL, which many expect to be for sale soon.

Iger said the company was still looking for new ways to adapt as people make greater use of technology to get entertainment, such as using searches on Google Inc. or downloading movies and TV shows from Apple Inc.'s iTunes service.

Speaking to a media conference in New York hosted by The McGraw-Hill Cos., which owns BusinessWeek magazine and Standard & Poor's, he left open the possibility of making acquisitions. But he ruled out Time Warner Inc.'s AOL as a purchase target.

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes has said AOL will separate its rapidly declining dial-up Internet service from its online portal and advertising platform, setting the stage for a sale of some or all of AOL, something investors have been clamoring for.

Iger steered clear of the other hot merger topic in the technology world, Microsoft Corp.'s unsolicited overture of lagging Internet pioneer Yahoo Inc.

"We watch these things from afar," he said.

Iger said Disney had done fairly well in DVD sales despite the market "flattening," and he expects some lift from the emergence of Sony's Blu-ray format as the winner in a contest for next-generation DVDs formats, beating out a rival called HD-DVD.

Iger said the company has sold some 4 million movies and 40 to 50 million TV shows from its ABC network over iTunes in the arrangement's first 18 months - without eating into the viewership of those programs on other channels.

 

[Another Voice]

Dear Mr. Iger:

Thank you for your recent comments about how you see “high technology” as increasing the revenues for The Walt Disney Company. As you can see by even a quick glance at these boards, there are many here who are passionate about The Company, its products and have a deep emotional investment in future of Disney in all its many forms.

That is why I feel compelled to write you.

I have lost count of the number different ways I can watch ‘Desperate Housewives’. I can watch it during its initial broadcast on ABC. I can watch the streaming video at ABC.com. I can download episodes at iTunes or onto my Xbox 360. I can watch it “on demand” through my local cable supplier. I can catch it during its many repeats; soon I’m sure I’ll be able to watch it on ABC Family and/or Lifetime and/or my local ABC station and/or in syndication. I can buy the DVDs and soon I can buy the Blu Ray versions as well. I could spend every waking hour watching the show over the dozens of distribution platforms you’ve put it on.

And this goes to the heart of issues I have with Disney’s “high technology” initiatives. Getting access to Disney product isn’t a problem. The problem is there aren’t many Disney products that I actually want to see these days.

I don’t care for ‘Desperate Housewives’. I don’t care for shows where barely known celebrities twirl with each other. I don’t care for a houseful of desperate single women chasing after a bachelor. I don’t want cavemen to sell me auto insurance and I’m even less interested in them as sitcom characters.

Instead I want to see things that only Disney can provide. I want to see elephants fly; I want the princess to fall in love with the beast. I want cheer on a lonely robot finding meaning after 700 years and a puppet that wants to become a real boy. I want to watch determination overcome obstacles; I want to know that I can achieve my dreams if I work hard enough for them. I want to see joy, to see imagination, and yes – to see magic.

Give me a show with those qualities and I will find it now matter where you present it. Spend your time and effort making new shows we desperately want to see, rather than trying to find new ways of selling us the same product over and over and over again. I would rather have a single hour of brilliant programming (and pay for that privilege) than have access to hundreds of hours of low quality television even if it costs just pennies.

Your company has a saying that “you can’t top pigs with pigs”. Perhaps there should be a second line: a pig is still a pig even if it’s streamed to my cell phone.

Sincerely,
A.V.

 

[DisOrBust]

P.S. Please return my chicken fingers.

 

[SarahandPaul]

P.S.S. I also want my chicken fingers back.