Disney Considering Sale Of ABC, Other TV Networks Except For ESPN

[Elim Garak]

I hope they sell off Lucasfilm so Star Wars can actually be good again.

You ain't lying they also deluding it imo and doing a bunch of retcon.

 

[Thavoiceofthevoiceless]

Kids don’t even watch tv or movies anymore. I ask kids what they watch and it’s always “YouTube”

Yup, which is why you've seen stations such as Cartoon Network and PBS cut back on hours of kids programming because of it.

 

[David_TheMan]

All those are forms of driving attention away from watching TV.

Like Tiktok does.

I know all of them drive views away that's why I wrote that they draw eyes away.

Tiktok isn't a tv competitor, it's short form.

 

[K-Apps]

John Ourand of Sports Business Journal weigh in on potential ESPN and/or ABC partners:

I spoke to a half-dozen high-ranking media executives to see if I could find a consensus on the type of company that would do this deal. Several of these execs are familiar with Iger’s thinking.



■ The most popular answer centered on private equity investors like KKR, Apollo or Candle Media, the Blackstone-backed media company run by former Disney executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs.

By going the private equity route, Iger would have cover to manage the business more aggressively and move more quickly into sports gaming and streaming.

This would let Iger take ESPN’s financials — which are likely to be hampered by the continued shrinking of the cable bundle — off Disney’s balance sheet, while also allowing him to keep his hand in the sports business.
Iger could find this move attractive because private equity does not represent a long-term play. Five years from now, when ESPN has diversified its business and is growing through streaming and gaming, Disney could buy back that stake.

Essentially, a private equity move could amount to a five-year loan — albeit at a high price.

■ A lot of conjecture immediately after Iger’s comments focused on big digital companies, like Amazon, Apple, Google and Netflix.

My sources were pessimistic about Iger’s willingness to cut any kind of ESPN deal with companies that compete directly with the Disney+ streaming service.

They also were negative on the idea that these companies — all of which are public — would be interested in taking an ESPN stake as the cable bundle continues to shrink.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has started to question some of the company’s programming expenses — especially as Amazon is in the process of cutting 27,000 jobs.

Bloomberg’s report focused on entertainment programming. But the digital companies are taking a second look at all expenses, including sports.

Of all the digital companies, Apple is the most likely to do a deal. Years ago, Apple and Disney had talks. And top Apple executive Eddy Cue is a big sports fan. But consensus among my sources is that this type of deal is unlikely.
■ Sports gambling is a big potential growth area for ESPN, and my sources brought up the possibility of DraftKings, FanDuel, Flutter and MGM as possible investors.

 

[K-Apps]

Continued

My sources were divided on this point. The skeptics pointed out that even as Iger has warmed to the idea of cutting sports gambling deals, it still represents a leap for Disney to sell a stake in ESPN to that kind of company.

Other sources disagreed, maintaining that sports gambling represents one of ESPN’s biggest growth opportunities. Iger has had several conversations with the top gaming companies since his return. It’s not known whether strategic partnerships around ESPN were discussed. But Iger told CNBC, “We’re going to be open minded.”

■ Iger previously had talks with companies like Fanatics and EA. Both companies have been mentioned as companies that could become a strategic partner in ESPN.
My sources were pessimistic on these two companies. Fanatics could make sense if Iger decides that he wants to lean into sports gambling.
Fanatics certainly could afford to take a stake. And its CEO Michael Rubin has talked about wanting to branch out into media eventually.But Rubin and Iger have not had recent conversations about the business, and Rubin has talked about his desire to focus on three businesses: merchandising, trading cards and sports gambling.

 

[CarltonJunior]

Kids don’t even watch tv or movies anymore. I ask kids what they watch and it’s always “YouTube”

I think that's bad parenting btw

I also think it's invasive that youtube is on nearly every smart TV and can't be deleted

 

[Piff Perkins]

Those 18-49 demographics

Only old folks really be watching tv like that

Which is why CBS is doing well, and their streaming platform is more of a compliment/support option than a primary one. Streaming isn't really good business, nobody is really making money. Companies waste millions on shows most people have no interest in watching. None of these streaming shows are Game Of Thrones, yet multiple streaming shows have similar or (far) higher budgets than Game Of Thrones.

This isn't about Tiktok. People clearly want to binge watch television shows and films. How do you offer that without wasting money on #content that isn't driving subscriptions or retention? That's the question and no one is really answering it right now.

Also I feel like ABC could be lucrative if Disney approached it less like an ordinary channel and more like a premium channel that happens to be on Network tv. If ABC was constantly running classic Disney films alongside sports and some smart TV show attempts, it could be a success.

 

[David_TheMan]

John Ourand of Sports Business Journal weigh in on potential ESPN and/or ABC partners

Only a dumb ass like Iger would think this is smart.

There was supposedly talk of Lucas buying lucasfilms back at a discount and also a Saudi offer to buy it because they hate what Disney did

They should probably close Pixar and merge that into Disney animation.

Sell Disneyland and Disneyland Shanghai, use those funds to renovate current parks and resorts. Bring in one of the Disney heirs to restore good feeling and a return to tradition. Stop remaking old properties just release them from the vault like usual.

I wouldn't kill abc as the tv units at abc could be used to provide content for Disney+ Hulu , but merge all the fx infrastructure and Disney abc developedment into. Single silo.

They could improve a great deal in increasing efficidncy and qa/qc of product than trying to sell assets on the low to buddies.

 

[David_TheMan]

Which is why CBS is doing well, and their streaming platform is more of a compliment/support option than a primary one. Streaming isn't really good business, nobody is really making money. Companies waste millions on shows most people have no interest in watching. None of these streaming shows are Game Of Thrones, yet multiple streaming shows have similar or (far) higher budgets than Game Of Thrones.

This isn't about Tiktok. People clearly want to binge watch television shows and films. How do you offer that without wasting money on #content that isn't driving subscriptions or retention? That's the question and no one is really answering it right now.

Also I feel like ABC could be lucrative if Disney approached it less like an ordinary channel and more like a premium channel that happens to be on Network tv. If ABC was constantly running classic Disney films alongside sports and some smart TV show attempts, it could be a success.

The only streamer making money is the Murdoch's Tubi. Disney paid that family 71 billy for fox, minis fox news, fox sports and Fox TV, and they spent 4 bil made tubi and make profit off a fukking ad supported streamer.

 

[Thavoiceofthevoiceless]

Which is why CBS is doing well, and their streaming platform is more of a compliment/support option than a primary one. Streaming isn't really good business, nobody is really making money. Companies waste millions on shows most people have no interest in watching. None of these streaming shows are Game Of Thrones, yet multiple streaming shows have similar or (far) higher budgets than Game Of Thrones.

This isn't about Tiktok. People clearly want to binge watch television shows and films. How do you offer that without wasting money on #content that isn't driving subscriptions or retention? That's the question and no one is really answering it right now.

Also I feel like ABC could be lucrative if Disney approached it less like an ordinary channel and more like a premium channel that happens to be on Network tv. If ABC was constantly running classic Disney films alongside sports and some smart TV show attempts, it could be a success.

There’s an easy answer to that question and Disney tried it and people balked at it. It’s only a matter of time before someone tries it against as the current model isn’t sustainable.

 

[tremonthustler1]

This feels like something the NBA would do. Adam is trying to make the NBA bigger than just basketball. How many Netflix deals, tech deals, movie deals, etc does Adam seek?

Adam Silver gotta tread softly when it comes to streaming because those companies aren't gonna wanna share shyt, and based on how streaming has gone in baseball, when some streaming sites get exclusives, it causes the fan to need 5 services just to get through a season (for the Yankees you need YES, Peacock, Apple and Amazon Prime and if you're out of market, probably the MLB app)

 

[KidJSoul]

@David_TheMan

There have been articles alluding some of TV ratings declines to social media, starting from the mid 2010s.

Award show ratings were still very healthy in the early 2010s. They fell off big time during the mid 2010s as Twitter and IG starting having more support for video, and then TikTok exacerbated this.

 

[IIVI]

I know all of them drive views away that's why I wrote that they draw eyes away.

Tiktok isn't a tv competitor, it's short form.

No tiktok has nothing to do with tv.
Video gaming, dvr, streaming(Netflix, peacock, paramount, Disney+, max, Tubi), internet long form streaming( YouTube/rumble/Odyssey ) have had more to do with ratinfs decline, and esg programming alienating half of the market. Are what drives tv ratings decline, but that's mainly for scripted shows not live sports programming.

Breh if you're saying youtube drives viewership away from broadcast TV and studies show Tiktok drives viewership away from Youtube, then how does that not affect broadcast TV?

Kids and teens spend more time on TikTok than YouTube

Kids and teens are now spending more time watching videos on TikTok than on YouTube.

techcrunch.com

TikTok is fastest growing news source for UK adults, Ofcom finds

App is used by 7% of adults for news with nearly half turning to TikTokers rather than conventional outlets for updates

www.theguardian.com

Young people watch more TikTok than broadcast TV

Ofcom found the age group now spend less than an hour (53 minutes) a day watching traditional TV channels, down two-thirds in ten years.

www.dailymail.co.uk

The TikTok iceberg is headed for big media

Facebook knows it has a TikTok problem. But it’s coming for TV and streamers like Netflix, too.

www.vox.com

The people who bring you video entertainment could be in for a rough time: A looming recession could hurt their advertising revenue and consumer spending on subscription TV streaming services. But they’re also facing a foe that has nothing to do with the economic cycle: TikTok is coming for their eyeballs.

The free, Chinese-owned video-sharing service sometimes gets described as a social network, but that description masks what it really is: a colossally powerful entertainment app that keeps viewers glued to an endless stream of clips.

And TikTok is getting bigger every day: It now says it has 1 billion monthly users, but even that number likely understates its importance, because TikTok users spend a lot of time on TikTok — a year ago, the company was telling advertisers its users were spending nearly 90 minutes a day on the app. By contrast, US TV and streaming watchers were spending nearly five hours a day watching their shows and movies — but TV skews very old, and TikTok is very young. You can’t ascribe TV’s long-running viewer losses to a new app, but it’s very easy to see how it’s going to make it harder than ever to train young would-be viewers to watch traditional TV or even streaming.

“It is safe to say that TikTok has rapidly grown to be one of — if not the — largest social/communication/video apps in America in terms of time spent,” analyst Michael Nathanson wrote in a report last week.

But Tiktok has NO impact on broadcast TV numbers you say?

Not even only broadcast TV, but streaming services they provide are getting wrecked by Tiktok. Outside of big sports games people are hitting Tiktok for casual content more and more each day as new Tiktokers pop up. That has an enormous affect.

Even it affects 5% that's still a lot of money gone, especially money that people were counting on to be there a few years ago.

 

[David_TheMan]

Breh if you're saying youtube drives viewership away from broadcast TV and studies show Tiktok drives viewership away from Youtube, then how does that not affect broadcast TV?

Kids and teens spend more time on TikTok than YouTube

Kids and teens are now spending more time watching videos on TikTok than on YouTube.

techcrunch.com

TikTok is fastest growing news source for UK adults, Ofcom finds

App is used by 7% of adults for news with nearly half turning to TikTokers rather than conventional outlets for updates

www.theguardian.com

Young people watch more TikTok than broadcast TV

Ofcom found the age group now spend less than an hour (53 minutes) a day watching traditional TV channels, down two-thirds in ten years.

www.dailymail.co.uk

The TikTok iceberg is headed for big media

Facebook knows it has a TikTok problem. But it’s coming for TV and streamers like Netflix, too.

www.vox.com

But Tiktok has NO impact on broadcast TV numbers you say?

Even it affects 5% that's still a lot of money gone, especially money that people were counting on to be there a few years ago.

Lol, you have poor reading comprehension.
What does it say before you highlight YouTube and rumble and etc? It says long form streaming with relation to TV ratings.

Now tik tok is taking views away from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, but that is short form entertainment. which is why YouTube literally created YouTube shorts to compete against tiktok, completely different market than tv and long form content , would you agree wirh that?

Tiktok doesn't compete with television they don't cater to the same market in terms of content.

 

[David_TheMan]

@David_TheMan

There have been articles alluding some of TV ratings declines to social media, starting from the mid 2010s.

Award show ratings were still very healthy in the early 2010s. They fell off big time during the mid 2010s as Twitter and IG starting having more support for video, and then TikTok exacerbated this.

I referenced streaming longform streaming did hurt ratings, Facebook had longform programming and does YouTube. You can probably add switch and kick as well.