Yesterday was a big day for Disney fans and Disney investors as plenty of information about the upcoming, direct to consumer streaming service, Disney+ was announced. While fans and attendees walked away with many answers, they also had plenty of questions. CNBC’s David Faber sat down with Disney Chairman and CEO, Bob Iger to dive deeper into this new service and what it could mean for the future of Disney’s business.
Changes following the merger:
- Since the acquisition of 20st Century Fox assets, Disney has begun a consolidation process as the two companies merge.
- This means that a hundreds of jobs will be lost, and some restructuring will have to take place.
- During his interview with Faber, Iger indicated that more consolidation changes were in store.
What he’s saying:
- Disney CEO, Bob Iger: “We’re just beginning a consolidation process across the world. And we’ve been candid about that with people in the organization. There’s work to do to get to the synergies that we talked about, which were cost synergies. We have consolidation ahead of us.”
- Iger on future job cuts: “We’re very early into this process and I’ve never second guessed decisions that we’ve made. And I’m certainly not going to second guess this one, not at this point anyway.”
- Iger during the Investor Day presentation: “I’m expecting my contract to expire at the end of 2021. And I was going to say ‘and this time I mean it,’ but I’ve said it before.”
- Iger to CNBC’s David Faber: “The most important thing is that the company get through the transition seamlessly. I believe that two-and-a-half years from now, or roughly two years after we’ve launched this massive initiative, the company — it will be well on its way. That will be the right time for a transition at the CEO level. The Fox acquisition will have been assimilated. We will be off and running on the direct-to-consumer space.”
Netflix and Fox:
- Disney originally announced they’d be offering a DTC streaming service back in 2017.
- Following that announcement, Iger met with then Fox owner, Rupert Murdoch. Iger told CNBC that if the streaming service wasn’t already in the works, the Fox deal wouldn’t have happened.
- A recent article on CNBC compares the value of Disney’s new service to what will likely be their biggest competitor, Netflix.
- CNBC notes, “Disney+ is an immediately appealing option for families looking for affordable content. The aggressive underpricing of Netflix is no accident.”
What he’s saying:
- Iger on streaming options: “If consumers want sports, they can subscribe to ESPN+. If they want adult content, they can subscribe to Hulu, and if they want family, there’s Disney(+).”
- Iger on Disney+ as a global offering: “We’re designing a product that we want to be accessible to as many consumers as possible. We just feel that Disney is loved by so many millions and millions of people around the world.”
- Iger on Netflix: “While I think Netflix has done a good job of creating brand value, and name value, and a product that I think is considered of great value to a lot of people, they’re still building their brand in many respects. Whereas in our case, we start with a customer relationship that, in many respects is visceral.”
- Iger on the Disney brand: “The sheer number of people worldwide that know our brands, that interact with our brands on a daily basis, that spend money on our brands is huge. And no other company has that.”
More from CNBC:
- The past 24 hour have been filled with new information and there’s plenty more to come.
- In the meantime, fans who want to know even more can check out more excerpts from Iger’s interview with CNBC’s David Faber.
Iger on technology and consumer behavior:
Iger on anticipated success of Disney+:
Want to know what original content is coming to Disney+, Hulu, and more? Check out our Disney Streaming Services page.