Disney May Sell Its Linear Television Channels
Since Bob Iger’s return to Disney in November, he has been doing some major research within the company as he tries to steer Disney into the next 100 years. With the world shifting more towards streaming, linear television is no longer a growth market and continues to decline, year on year.
This is why Disney has been so bullish on going all in on streaming, since it knows it is the future and how it will engage with its audience. However, during a recent interview with CNBC following the announcement of Bob Iger’s contract being extended for two years, the CEO revealed that Disney is looking to make changes to its linear businesses, which include ABC and NBC.
Bob Iger is “very pessimistic,” about his view of linear television and said that it’s worse than he expected. When questioned further, Bob Iger stated that they are assessing the value of their traditional linear business and being “expansive” about what it does next, including leaving the door open to a possible sale of some networks. He wouldn’t go into specifics, but he stated:
“They may not be core to Disney”
Disney owns several television networks, including ABC, FreeForm, FX, National Geographic, and the Disney Channel. It’s unclear if he is referring to completely shutting down their linear business, or specific channels. As it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Disney just scale back how many channels it owns, maybe just focusing on one or more television networks like ABC.
He spoke about how the content created by these studios, such as FX or National Geographic for the linear channels, is core to Disney, but it’s how this content is being distributed that has changed. So it’s not about selling the studios, it’s about selling just the television channels.
Internationally, Disney has already begun to pull away from linear networks, closing down many channels across Europe and Asia, focusing on Disney+. Only this week, it was revealed that Disney was looking into potentially selling some of its Indian business, Star, which includes over 80 television networks. Disney also owns several linear networks in Latin America as well. It does look like Disney could be looking drastically at refocusing its business on streaming, theme parks and theatrical releases.
Do you think Disney will sell its linear networks to focus on Disney+? Let us know on social media!
Roger Palmer
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