Bob Iger Lays Out Four Keys For The Walt Disney Company’s Success
After the release of The Walt Disney Company’s Q4 earnings today, Bob Iger addressed investors and laid out his vision for the company’s future.
Photo: Disney
Iger stated that Disney will continue to focus on four key building opportunities for the company:
- Achieving significant and sustained profitability in our streaming business
- Building ESPN into the preeminent digital sports platform
- Improving the output and economics of our film studios
- Turbocharging growth in our Experiences business
Streaming Is Heading Towards Profitability
The best news for Disney investors in the company’s Q4 earnings report was that the company’s streaming services beat the expected number of subscribers by 7 million.
Photo: Getty Images/Ringer illustration
While Bob Iger was happy with the results, he emphasized that the company is more focused on profitability than subscriber count.
Photo: THIERRY CHESNOT/GETTY IMAGES
The company hopes to be profitable by Q4 of 2024. With more and more users opting into the ad-based versions of Disney’s streaming services, that target now seems within reach.
ESPN’s Future in Streaming
The future of ESPN is clearly in streaming. Ahead of Disney’s earnings call, Iger revealed that the direct-to-consumer version of the worldwide leader in sports will be released “no later” than 2025.
Photo: GETTY IMAGES FOR ESPN
While the Disney CEO was unable to give any more insight into potential strategic partners to help bring ESPN to streaming, that appears to still be the company’s plan.
Throughout the earnings call, Bob Iger was adamant that a streaming ESPN will be available both in the Disney Bundle and as a stand-alone service.
Photo: ESPN
The question for an ESPN streaming service will be the price point. To be profitable, such a service would have to cost $30 a month. Will consumers shell out that much? Disney believes they will.
Improving At the Box Office
While 2023 was an uneven year for Disney, it still had its share of home runs.
Photo: Pixar
According to Iger, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Elemental, and The Little Mermaid were successes for Disney. Still, the Disney CEO was adamant that Disney would continue to increase the quality of its content.
Photo: Marvel
In the future, Disney will continue to mine its established IPs to improve its film business. Additionally, it sounds like Iger’s mandate that quality beats quantity is here to stay. Bob Iger wants to see Disney return to its pre-pandemic success.
The Disney Parks Are Thriving
When it comes to the Disney Parks, Disney wants to “turbo-charge” what it was doing.
Disney has committed to spending another $60 billion on its parks. According to the company’s Q4 earnings, revenue was up across the Disney Parks. The company can now lean more into the segment.
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