Blog: Disney - Page 5

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Disney Q3 Earnings: The Painful Transition To Direct-To-Consumer

Tim Mulligan
Yesterday a besieged Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of Walt Disney Co. had to defend his company’s Q3 (calendar Q2) results against the inflated demands of Wall Street. Disney has come out with a bold strategy to compete directly with subscription video on demand (SVOD) services, with the announcement of its intent to launch a direct-to-consumer Disney originals content proposition in 2019, alongside the launch of streaming sports service ESPN+ in April 2018 .
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Corporate Mergers and the Battle for Fandom

Zach Fuller
Back in 1999, the Cluetrain Manifesto appeared across the nascent web as a predictive gospel of what this new technology meant for commerce. Still revered among software entrepreneurs, the ebook outlined the paradigm shift of business in the digital era from a transactional model of one-off payments, to a continuous relationship, pre-empting the subscriptions and software-as-a-service (Saas) craze by over two decades.
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Is the UFC doing a Fox, and cashing in on content?

Alistair Taylor
Last week, Disney-owned ESPN acquired the exclusive rights to show the UFC tournament in the US for $1.5 billion over five years. The deal will see the UFC earn $184 million more each year than the previous deal with Fox, which begs the question; is the UFC mimicking Fox’s strategy and cashing in on its content? While Endeavor (formerly WME-IMG), which purchased the UFC for $4 billion in 2016, was seeking in the region of $450 million per year, UFC president Dana White is ecstatic with the new deal, telling MMAJunkie: “Our last deal was $116 million a year.
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Marvel versus Netflix

Cover image for Marvel versus Netflix
Tim Mulligan
With yesterday’s launch of ESPN+ Disney has begun its direct-to-consumer strategy, which revolves around the introduction of proprietary subscription video on demand (SVOD) services. The move forms part of Disney’s stated aim to reach consumers directly, following on from the creation of a dedicated direct-to-consumer and international business unit last month.
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Disney and Netflix: A Full-Stack Media Dream

Zach Fuller
Previously linked as being one of many suitors for Twitter, Disney additionally emerged this week as a rumoured buyer for video giant Netflix. Only last month, Disney CEO Bob Iger declared his company had ‘cracked the code for keeping moviemaking profitable’, but through this triumphalist narrative, these are uncertain times for content monetisation, especially as ad-dollars both migrate from television or in some cases are blocked completely.
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