Disney Elevates Streaming Business in Major Reorganization -- Update
October 12 2020 - 5:37PM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Flint
Walt Disney Co. said it is reorganizing its operations to
prioritize streaming video, creating new units that will produce
content for digital and traditional platforms, in a shift that
echoes similar moves by other entertainment giants.
Under the new structure, Disney is creating content groups for
its major film franchises, general entertainment and sports, as
well as a distribution arm that will determine the best platform
for a movie or television show.
"Our creative teams will concentrate on what they do best --
making world-class, franchise-based content -- while our newly
centralized global distribution team will focus on delivering and
monetizing that content in the most optimal way across all
platforms, Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek said in a
statement.
The new alignment pushes Disney's streaming platforms, including
Disney+ and Hulu, even closer to the center of the company. The
various programming arms, including movie and television studios,
will be focusing their efforts on feeding those streaming services,
not just movie theaters and TV networks.
Disney is the latest entertainment giant to attempt to reorient
its businesses to separate decisions about what content is being
made from which platform is best suited to run them. Comcast
Corp.'s NBCUniversal has restructured much of its content business
with this goal in mind and AT&T's WarnerMedia is also
centralizing its creative operations. Both those companies are also
giving priority to their new streaming services, Peacock and HBO
Max, respectively.
The current heads of Disney's studio division, Alan Horn and
Alan Bergman, will oversee the movie content arm. Peter Rice, who
oversees TV production for Disney, will become chairman of general
entertainment content, while ESPN head Jimmy Pitaro will head the
sports unit.
The distribution and business side of Disney's operations --
covering areas such as sales, advertising and technology -- will be
overseen by Kareen Daniel, who most recently was president of
consumer products, games and publishing. The heads of the content
units and Mr. Daniel will all report to Mr. Chapek.
A Disney veteran, Mr. Daniel has also had stints in Disney's
strategy and business development unit and its motion picture
distribution business.
Mr. Chapek said Mr. Daniels is "an exceptionally talented,
innovative and forward-looking leader, with a strong track record
for developing and implementing successful global content
distribution and commercialization strategies."
Rebecca Campbell, who was brought in to oversee Disney+ last
May, will continue in that role but now reports to Mr. Daniel. She
will also head international operations and report to Mr. Chapek on
that front.
Disney Chairman and former Chief Executive Robert Iger will
continue to have an active role in content creation, the company
said.
The changes at Disney come as the entertainment industry
continues to be slammed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Disney, in
particular, has been hit hard as its Disneyland theme park in
Southern California is still closed and attendance at parks that
have reopened hasn't returned to normal. In addition, many movie
theaters around the nation remain closed or at limited
capacity.
Streaming services have been among the bright spots for Disney
and other media companies during the coronavirus crisis, as
consumers who are working from home and skipping vacations watch
more content. Disney+, which said in August it had over 60 million
subscribers world-wide, has been a big beneficiary of the
pandemic's streaming surge.
Like other movie producers, Disney has moved some big releases
to its own platforms. It shifted its big summer release "Mulan" to
Disney+ at aan extra charge of $30. Last week, the company said it
was shifting the Pixar release "Soul" to Disney+ as well.
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 12, 2020 17:22 ET (21:22 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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