Last year, Disney CEO Bob Iger took part in an interview with CNBC where he revealed that linear TV assets “may not be core” to the company, where he explained that:

“We have to be open-minded and strategic about the future of those businesses.  They may not be core to Disney. The creativity and content they create is core to Disney, but the distribution model, the business model that forms the underpinning of that business, and that has delivered great profits over the years, is definitely broken. And we have to call it like it is. That’s part of the transformative work that we’re doing.”

As you might expect, these words sent not just a shockwave across the entertainment industry, but his comments also caused major problems within the company, as employees for those linear channels began panicking about their jobs.

Recently, during an interview on Let’s Talk Off Camera With Kelly Ripa, Bob Iger was asked about what was one of his biggest mistakes at Disney and Kelly hinted at the problems caused when Bob said that during the interview.

“I wasn’t wrong about my observation, but it wasn’t necessary for me to utter those words publicly, because it caused an incredible amount of anxiety. I should have been more sensitive to how those words would be not just interpreted, but how they would be felt by people who are really important to me, who are even Disney legends.”

Bob Iger went onto explain how what he was thinking of at the time, with an eye on focusing on building streaming, however, he revealed that his response about selling assets caused a lot of panic amongst cast members within the entertainment division.

“I was intent on communicating to Wall Street an open-mindedness in general about our business in the future, and I wanted them to know – this was after I came back to Disney – that my head was not in the sand,”

He said he was aiming to show he was “a realist” and “not in denial,” but he confirmed that saying that “everything’s on the table. … That was a mistake, it turns out.”

Roger’s Take: Its easy to see how Disney’s employees were panicked by Bob Iger’s comments, as the entire industry is going through some major changes, with channels closing around the world, as more audiences shift to streaming services like Disney+.   Linear Television is shrinking, but there is no doubt lots of value to the existing viewers and customers, which still makes Disney billions of dollars a year; however, hopefully, these comments might put many within Disney at ease, for now, because let’s be honest, it might not be too long until Disney close more linear channels.

Do you think Bob Iger was right in saying linear television is no longer core to Disney?  Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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