News Round Up

[lockedoutlogic]

ESPNs troubles spawn from people switching from cable to things like Netflix and Hulu. I could very well see Disney looking into their own Netflix type programming of sorts. A la carte seems the way the future of TV will be.

Which is not gonna reverse course and why Disney will continue to slide in the stock market. Espn is free, easy money that isn't coming back.

That's also the "buyback " program...they're trying to hedge their bets and backstop money that just can't be replaced.

Iger didnt spend all this time trying to crank profits to see his stock portfolio slide now so close to the end...

Which is what happened to Eisner. Say what you want...but even at his worst, craziest, cheapest days he wasnt afraid to spend money/try to push forward. He just lost his edge.

Ironically...one was a creative background and one was a cheap MBA type. It shows in retrospect.

 

[DDLand]

ESPNs troubles spawn from people switching from cable to things like Netflix and Hulu. I could very well see Disney looking into their own Netflix type programming of sorts. A la carte seems the way the future of TV will be.

It's really being squeezed on both ends. On one side costs for content are rising to frankly sickening sizes. The NFL and NBA are playing them against one another, and ESPN is getting pinched hard. The other side is the more flashy side, cable cutters.

I can only imagine Bob Iger in that audience yesterday when Tim Cook started talking about how TV is standing still. (Fellow Apple Watch user here...)

The future is apps.

I'm honestly starting to get more and more worried for ESPN. I think the entire cable networks division is going to slow, probably irreversibly. What makes me upset is for all the grief Disney gets for their franchises or remakes, bad consumer products, or their theme parks, they're still some really great offerings. Now they're going to be dragged down by the comparatively larger media networks division.

I still wish they had spun it off...

Tom's wrong though. Everyone should be very worried.

 

[rteetz]

It's really being squeezed on both ends. On one side costs for content are rising to frankly sickening sizes. The NFL and NBA are playing them against one another, and ESPN is getting pinched hard. The other side is the more flashy side, cable cutters.

I can only imagine Bob Iger in that audience yesterday when Tim Cook started talking about how TV is standing still. (Fellow Apple Watch user here...)

The future is apps.

I'm honestly starting to get more and more worried for ESPN. I think the entire cable networks division is going to slow, probably irreversibly. What makes me upset is for all the grief Disney gets for their franchises or remakes, bad consumer products, or their theme parks, they're still some really great offerings. Now they're going to be dragged down by the comparatively larger media networks division.

I still wish they had spun it off...

Tom's wrong though. Everyone should be very worried.

I agree completely. This new Apple TV (which I plan on getting) is really going to change things. I think new versions of roku and chrome stick will come out sooner than later following suit. Televisions may even start having these things built in them soon. We haven't cut cable (we have directv) yet and don't currently have Netflix but it may eventually get to that point.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

It's really being squeezed on both ends. On one side costs for content are rising to frankly sickening sizes. The NFL and NBA are playing them against one another, and ESPN is getting pinched hard. The other side is the more flashy side, cable cutters.

I can only imagine Bob Iger in that audience yesterday when Tim Cook started talking about how TV is standing still. (Fellow Apple Watch user here...)

The future is apps.

I'm honestly starting to get more and more worried for ESPN. I think the entire cable networks division is going to slow, probably irreversibly. What makes me upset is for all the grief Disney gets for their franchises or remakes, bad consumer products, or their theme parks, they're still some really great offerings. Now they're going to be dragged down by the comparatively larger media networks division.

I still wish they had spun it off...

Tom's wrong though. Everyone should be very worried.

I think we're in total agreement.

Espn was "free money" that drove the disney stock price and profit train.

Like wdw... Some of their easiest, most profitable, highly dependable money.

Now they are gonna lose it. Because not only is cable going to go...and likely fast...but espn is terrible content that had been overpriced for years. Real sports fans... Who like games and arent only into chump bets...are happy with the regional sports and maybe an independent game package.

They are going down... And Iger, Staggs...can say " we expect strong performance " all they want. This doesn't take warren Buffett to predict...it's almost common sense.

And did anyone notice what Comcast has been doing?

Getting approval for "charge by usage" Internet. AT&T and Verizon will follow shortly...

So that's the answer for "app TV"...we don't care what you watch - but the meter is running.

More money for expansion at universal - I say.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I agree completely. This new Apple TV (which I plan on getting) is really going to change things. I think new versions of roku and chrome stick will come out sooner than later following suit. Televisions may even start having these things built in them soon. We haven't cut cable (we have directv) yet and don't currently have Netflix but it may eventually get to that point.

Disagree here...the new Apple TV is pretty much a minor improvement over the old one and roku...

That apple event is the only thing more canned than disney PR...

... Well...maybe the nfl

The big move(s) have already started...
HBO decoupling...showtime...look for the sports networks to start to go...

I think espn is left behind. Honestly...they just have awful content...and the games will be blacked out on apps.

 

[rteetz]

Disagree here...the new Apple TV is pretty much a minor improvement over the old one and roku...

That apple event is the only thing more canned than disney PR...

... Well...maybe the nfl

The big move(s) have already started...
HBO decoupling...showtime...look for the sports networks to start to go...

I think espn is left behind. Honestly...they just have awful content...and the games will be blacked out on apps.

The new Apple TV basically turns your TV into an iPad or iPhone. I think that's a huge improvement. It has its own App Store and operating system.

I believe the NFL announced that one or two games would be streamed online for the first time or something along those lines. This is going to be the future. I think ESPN has the longest chance of surviving because of its size compared to NBC, fox sports etc. but eventually it will fall.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

The new Apple TV basically turns your TV into an iPad or iPhone. I think that's a huge improvement. It has its own App Store and operating system.

I believe the NFL announced that one or two games would be streamed online for the first time or something along those lines. This is going to be the future. I think ESPN has the longest chance of surviving because of its size compared to NBC, fox sports etc. but eventually it will fall.

We'll have to wait and see...

I think all the bluster about Apple TV...like the bluster about the iPhone update...seems like classic apple smoke.

They have a "whole new operating system" and "a new store"?

Great...but I think that's an overestimation of how much people care about os and a HUGE Overstatement of how much people want to pay $1.50 for everything they turn on in realtime...

... At least - after their parents find out and cancel their discover

 

[jcnewton]

The new Apple TV basically turns your TV into an iPad or iPhone. I think that's a huge improvement. It has its own App Store and operating system.

I believe the NFL announced that one or two games would be streamed online for the first time or something along those lines. This is going to be the future. I think ESPN has the longest chance of surviving because of its size compared to NBC, fox sports etc. but eventually it will fall.

I know the Jacksonville-Buffalo game played in London will be streamed this fall on Yahoo. Not exactly big viewership (no offense to those fanbases) but they're definitely testing the waters as far as streaming goes. I have DirecTV as well and NFL Sunday Ticket is great for watching every game. If they offered that as a standalone service like HBO Now to streaming devices...I might consider ditching the dish. As far as Disney goes....seems like they've started to buddy up to Netflix with some of their content...and I've read a few rumors that a live action Star Wars series (or two) might be in the works for Netflix to distribute. Time will tell if that pans out.

 

[Clockwork]

I know the Jacksonville-Buffalo game played in London will be streamed this fall on Yahoo. Not exactly big viewership (no offense to those fanbases) but they're definitely testing the waters as far as streaming goes. I have DirecTV as well and NFL Sunday Ticket is great for watching every game. If they offered that as a standalone service like HBO Now to streaming devices...I might consider ditching the dish. As far as Disney goes....seems like they've started to buddy up to Netflix with some of their content...and I've read a few rumors that a live action Star Wars series (or two) might be in the works for Netflix to distribute. Time will tell if that pans out.

Last year I was able to get Sunday ticket on the PS4 I think this year they are doing it with the Xbox 1 also

 

[notnothin]

This will be the final year for the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...a-delightful-holiday-tradition-one-more-time/

 

[minnie-apple-mouse]

This will be the final year for the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...a-delightful-holiday-tradition-one-more-time/

Said that on June 15.

This is the last year for Osborne Lights.

Rumored not confirmed

 

[notnothin]

Said that on June 15.

OK ... ? That has been a rumor for years but now it has been officially confirmed.

More from Jennings' son-in-law, Tristan Wingfield:

Hey gang, Tristan here, yes sadly the lights will be coming to an end after the 2015 Holiday Season. My family sat down with the directors of the lights last night, and we were told that this year is going to be the biggest and best year for the lights as a final blow-out and the 20th year celebration. There are currently no plans to move the lights to any portion of HS or any other park on Disney property. (In fact we were given and inventory sheet of the items in the lights that belong to our family, which further cements the fact that they will never again be displayed on Disney property.)

While the family is sad that the lights will be leaving Disney, we are so very happy that we had the chance to spend 20 years lighting up HS and the many, many people we were able to meet and make their lives brighter after seeing the lights.

We hope you'll join us for one last hurrah, before the streets go dark. And don't worry I'm sure Disney will fill the void with something equally as magical as the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights was for the last 20 years!

-Tris

 

[rteetz]

Said that on June 15.

Ok but it wasn't official from Disney at that point. It's been on and off again leaving for like three years now.

 

[adam.adbe]

I think espn is left behind. Honestly...they just have awful content...and the games will be blacked out on apps.

Their problems run deeper that that, IMHO. ESPN was the package bundle that allowed Disney to force the Disney Channel etc on to cable packages whether the operator wanted them or no, and ESPN itself is subsidized by those people who don't watch sports, or wouldn't pay to watch sports. If the US moves to something akin to ala carte TV, regardless of quality, a number of households will simply not subscribe, which jacks up the price for actual subscribers, which causes some of them to drop the service, which jacks up the ... It's impossible to guess where that cut off point lies, but regardless, ESPN's ability to drive sales of other Disney Channels, and its basic clout of number-of-TVs-reachable will both be greatly diminished.

Disney got fat and lazy on the back of this particular cash cow. The share buy backs just prove that they know it.

[edit] typos

 

[twebber55]

This will be the final year for the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...a-delightful-holiday-tradition-one-more-time/

its pretty obvious something that has not been announced yet will be going back there
TSL 2017
Star Wars 2019
New land 2021

feel pretty good about it

 

[rteetz]

its pretty obvious something that has not been announced yet will be going back there
TSL 2017
Star Wars 2019
New land 2021

feel pretty good about it

 

[minnie-apple-mouse]

Ok but it wasn't official from Disney at that point. It's been on and off again leaving for like three years now.

Only confirmed by me-I'll give you that.

It was only in response to what "might" be expanding into other areas of DHS.

We love the lights-but DHS needs the year around space IMO-hope they can replicate them somewhere else. But also the projections nowadays can come pretty close.

 

[DDLand]

its pretty obvious something that has not been announced yet will be going back there
TSL 2017
Star Wars 2019
New land 2021

feel pretty good about it

"In order to prepare for some incredible experiences coming to the park, including the recently announced Toy Story Land and a Star Wars-themed land..."

Yep, that was perhaps my biggest takeaway from the whole post. Something else is coming, Toy Story Land and SW Land aren't everything. "Including"

I'm going to be down there from like the 19th to the 23rd. Maybe I'll drop in and see them. I've never gotten to.

 

[rteetz]

Some baseball games coming to WWoS

http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2015/09/baseball-event-at-espn-wide-world-of.html?m=1

 

[rteetz]

Disney springs update

http://savepleasureisland.blogspot.com/2015/09/dtd-update-yellow-ants-vs-orange-ants.html?m=1