Disney’s Perfectly Timed Pivot to Streaming
Former employees of The Walt Disney Company recently made some headlines.
As part of a Puck evaluation of Bob Iger’s tenures as CEO, they criticized him.
Photo: The Walt Disney Company
These executives clearly blame Iger for the Bob Chapek era, which makes them a bit biased.
As part of their evaluation, several explicitly mentioned that Disney overpaid for Fox.
Walt Disney Company
I’m on record as saying that’s hogwash, and I’d like to discuss the reasons why today.
So, let’s talk about Disney’s perfectly timed pivot to streaming.
The Argument
Fox
In December 2017, Disney announced that it intended to buy Fox’s assets for $52.4 billion.
Bob Iger correctly anticipated the future of digital entertainment consumption and made his move.
Photo: skillastics.com
As the final movie studio to sell, Fox was in a unique position, controlling all its assets.
Other studios, such as MGM, had famously been pillaged repeatedly, reducing their value.
(Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Disney)
Iger recognized that since Disney had maintained control of its content, Fox was a perfect partner.
That’s where everything went pear-shaped, as Comcast noticed Iger’s interest and tried to steal Fox.
Comcast
Disney ultimately won a protracted bidding war, but Iger had to increase the price to $71.3 billion.
Much of the criticism of this deal overlooks this crucial aspect. Comcast bid Disney up by 36 percent.
Photo: Washington Post
If not for a $19 billion increase in price, nobody would have ever questioned Disney.
Even now, nobody should, as Iger has proven prescient on this topic, and he knows it.
During his final earnings call as Disney CEO, Iger specifically mentioned the deal.
With Paramount begging to pay $108 billion for Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox at $71.3 billion seems like a steal.
Even if we perform an inflation adjustment, Disney paid just $91.2 billion for cleaner, better assets.
Right now, Netflix appears likely to pay $83 billion for the portion of assets WBD isn’t spinning off.
In other words, we can evaluate the proposed WBD acquisitions from either perspective.
One fact remains: Disney got more for Fox for the same money, maybe even less.
Photo: vecteezy.com
That’s why Iger is gloating, and it’s also why we can tell his former employees are just being catty.
The Refutation
Photo: Wikimedia
During the quarter when Disney announced the Fox purchase, its Linear Networks division was still strong.
For that quarter, Linear Networks claimed a profit of $1.193 billion on revenue of $6.243 billion.
This segment was already in decline, losing 12 percent of its profit year-over-year.
During the fiscal fourth quarter of 2025, the last time Disney reported Linear Networks, everything had changed.
Photo:Disneycoupon.jpg
Revenue had fallen to $2.058 billion, with a profit of $391 million.
Folks, that drop happened in just six years! Do you know what word best describes that fall? “TIMBEEEEEER!!!”
I’ll readily acknowledge that Disney’s balance sheet changed in the interim.
So, despite the name, it’s not quite a one-to-one comparison, but the data is clear.
Photo: Getty
Bob Iger knew that his core business was collapsing, and he made a big move to save it.
Enter streaming. Disney+ debuted nine months after Disney swallowed Fox’s assets.
Photo: English Jargon
In a way, you could say that Disney+ was the baby Disney made with Fox.
Of course, Disney gained a stepchild as well, as it bought controlling interest of Hulu in the deal.
Photo: Playbuzz.com
How much do these assets matter to Disney’s bottom line? Well, it’s simple.
Disney’s streaming services’ revenue grew by 11 percent to $5.3 billion, which isn’t the best part.
Streaming turned a $450 million profit, an increase of 72 percent year-over-year.
When Iger returned to Disney, streaming had just lost $1.4 billion in a quarter.
(Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)
During his final quarter, his streaming business out-earned Linear Networks.
Ultimately, Iger found a path to replace Linear Networks, the broadcast system of the past, with digital streaming.
Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Vox Media)
Those current profits wouldn’t be possible without the Fox assets. As proof, let’s discuss ratings.
The Nielsen Streaming Ratings
Photo: Bluey.tv
Here are Disney’s streaming hits for the week of January 12th-18th, 2026:
- Bluey* – 802 million viewer minutes
- Grey’s Anatomy* — 758 million viewer minutes
- Homeland* – 708 million viewer minutes
- Bob’s Burgers* – 693 million viewer minutes
- Law & Order – 647 million viewer minutes
- Family Guy* — 636 million viewer minutes
- Tell Me Lies* – 391 million viewer minutes
- Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story* – 294 million viewer minutes
- Zootopia – 177 million viewer minutes
Photo: Disney
Note that I put an asterisk beside the various titles that Disney acquired in the Fox deal.
I’ve included Tell Me Lies because that’s a Dana Walden project, and Dana Walden came from Fox.
Photo: Disney
All the major Hulu hits of the 2020s, such as The Bear, Only Murders in the Building, and Shogun, aren’t possible without her.
Similarly, the Bluey deal happened on Walden’s watch. So, she gets credit there, too.
Photo: Ludo Studios
As a reminder, Bluey has been THE most popular streaming program for two straight years.
During the year before that, Bluey finished second, which means 2022-2024 has been all Bluey on streaming.
law & order
Then, we have Homeland, which was a 21st Century Fox production, while Grey’s Anatomy is 20th Television.
On this list, the only two Disney programs with no ties to Fox or Walden are Law & Order and Zootopia.
Photo: Getty
In other words, Disney claims only a fraction of its streaming viewership without that deal.
The people who understand this would never decry Disney’s purchase, and that’s before we factor in brands like Avatar and The Simpsons.
Photo: Deadline
Bob Iger perfectly timed Disney’s pivot to streaming…and he knows it.
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