Disney Headlines for October 10th, 2023
This week, Disney may take the money and run with Star India. Also, a former cast member has revealed the challenges of working at sea.
This week’s Disney Headlines will make you view the company in a new light.
The Power of Home Field Advantage
For all the Headlines publishers post about Disney, they miss the obvious one.
While critics assail The Walt Disney Company for any number of perceived slights and mistakes, they mostly ignore a legitimate failure.
When Disney purchased Fox’s assets in 2019, one of the vital ones was Star India.
At the time, this corporation in India owned the streaming and linear television rights to IPL Cricket.
The sport hasn’t crossed over in North America for the most part, but it is to India what hockey is to Canada.
So, Disney executives felt confident that they could leverage IPL cricket as a trojan horse to gain a foothold in India, the country with the world’s largest population.
That strategy…hasn’t worked at all. Elon Musk has had more success with Twitter or X or Failbot or whatever he’s calling his disastrous project now.
Okay, I’m joking, as Disney hasn’t wrecked the value of Star India to that degree…yet. But it’s trending that way.
Last year, the streaming and linear television rights for IPL cricket came up for renewal.
Mukesh Ambani, the richest person in Asia, surprised Disney by outbidding it for the streaming rights.
Disney kept the linear network broadcasting rights, but those are diminishing in value.
Meanwhile, Ambani’s company, Viacom 18’s JioCinema, turned around and gave away IPL cricket for free to its smartphone subscribers.
Ambani basically paid $3 billion for something he’d later allow his customers to watch at no charge.
As a business, Disney cannot possibly compete with that sort of financial recklessness, but it has anyway.
Disney turned around and started offering its IPL cricket rights for free to some potential customers as well.
The shameless copycat maneuver doubled as a confession that Ambani had bested Disney.
Disney Bought a Lemon
Disney now finds itself with a lemon in the form of Star India.
The seemingly valuable asset has collapsed in revenue due to several factors, most notably the pandemic.
However, the IPL cricket misfire escalated the losses for this alleged kingmaker asset.
India has proven a challenging market for most American companies to penetrate. In fact, here’s an article pointing out similar failures by Netflix.
Netflix only claims 6.5 million subscribers in India. For all Disney’s struggles, it has held 40 million.
Those numbers will likely go down a bit more. Most users have signed up for the annual plan.
So, Disney is losing a few million per quarter due to the IPL cricket setback.
I realize few Americans care about the story, but it’s harming Disney’s bottom line.
Recently, I speculated that Disney might sell Star India, an asset of some value.
As is true of Disney’s linear networks, the value of Star India varies wildly depending on whom you ask.
Some analysts peg its worth as $3 billion, while others suggest a range of $15-$18 billion. These numbers are not at all alike.
Understandably, Disney is now trying to get the lay of the land. Recent reports suggest that Disney could unload Star India.
The company could approach this transaction from several angles, selling either small pieces or the entire business.
Amusingly, one of the parties involved in the discussions is Mukesh Ambani.
Making Lemonade from Lemons
Should the entrepreneur pull off this move, he’d be one of the few people on the planet who could honestly say he got the best of Bob Iger.
Still, Disney may have no choice here. Star India lost money last year, and its 2023 mishaps are glaring.
As I previously suggested, Disney would be smart to take the money now and try to gain a foothold in India at a later date.
In the short term, Disney could effectively trade Star India for Hulu. As I’ve mentioned, Disney still owes Comcast at least $9.4 billion.
Should Ambani or some other investors pay that amount for Star India, it’s a tidy bit of business.
Disney exchanges a problematic asset for a different kingmaker asset that helps more in the short term.
I’m not saying that this Star India sale will definitely happen, as Disney might not get the price it wants.
However, if someone is offering at least the cost of the Hulu payment, I feel like Disney pretty much has to do this.
In a perfect world, Disney would have done the same thing with Star India that it had with the regional sports networks (RSNs), though.
Disney should have offloaded this asset the instant it gained control. Thus far, its attempts to monetize in India have been comically inept.
Below Deck: Disney Cruise Line Edition
I recently shared an anecdote about why a job at Blockbuster hadn’t worked out in the 1990s.
A story at Business Insider reminded me of that brief time in my life, as it sounds like the interview subject similarly struggled.
According to the article, a 24-year-old woman named Gianna Alexis briefly worked for Disney Cruise Line.
Ultimately, the cast member quit after four months on the job, and it sounds like the right decision.
Based on her description, working on a cruise ship took a mental and, later, physical toll on her.
The former Disney employee recounts the difference between taking a cruise as a tourist versus being on the job. In a huge, shocking twist, it’s a lot different!
I’m being snarky, but this does sound like a problematic set of circumstances.
When the cast member came on board the first time, a dog sniffed the luggage, which established a negative tone.
Over time, the cast member realized she was working plenty of unpaid overtime. Also, she couldn’t hang out or eat in the same areas as guests.
Finally, lingering pain from a foot injury forced Alexis to quit her cruise job and return to shore.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t highlight a story like this, as it’s one-sided. But I realize that Below Deck is a popular television franchise.
You may enjoy comparing Disney Cruise Line to some of the other ships you’ve watched on the Bravo series.
Long story short, this person was working the wrong job, and it’s probably better for everybody that she recognized this truth and quit.
Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below, and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon!
Feature Photo: X (formerly twitter) @starindia