Disney When it comes to managing linear and streaming TV assets, its distribution is balanced.
Dana WaldenThe co-chairman of the Disney Entertainment exposed the company’s strategy to throw the programs through the Magic Kingdom’s assets during a comprehensive Q&A property with Kane Zifraine, co-founder and partner of Zifraine Bretenum at the annual UCLA Entertainment Simposium.
In his main address, Walden made it clear that the current Disney has no plans to divide its linear cable channels in a manner that works in NBCUNIVsal and Warner Brothers Discovery. Zifraine stepped through the company’s distribution strategy to Walden and long -term vision for the management of the declining linear sector which still produces too much cash flow and profit for the mouse house.
Walden cited a large 5 of Disney Legacy linear channels – Nut Jio, FX, Freeform, ABC and Disney Channel – as a programming engines for Streamers Disney+ and Hulu. Currently there are home-run shows for Disney that appeals to live the lineer platforms that attract old audiences, but also join the on-demand format of streaming with the audience.
“Our strategy is deeply embedded in our strategy for all streaming that programming,” Walden told Zifraine. “It is a pipeline of programming that we are capable of adapted and masked with many platforms.”
Walden insisted that the audience has very little repetition among the platforms. This allows Disney to take maximum advantage of its production and marketing expenditure. “We are distributing fresh eyes with each one,” he said.
The same is true for the eight -owned and operated ABC colleagues of Disney in markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia. Local news and other localized materials make those stations invaluable for a company like Disney with so many components.
“Despite the fact that it is clearly an ecosystem, those stations are highly profitable and very high-margins,” Walden said. “For a lot of viewers, they are a daily touch point with Walt Disney Company. We promote our parks, our cruise ships, our films, which are being launched our shows, our shows. And we feel comfortable for a long time that it is our right strategy for our strategy to maintain well -run stations in very high -value markets.”
As the pair spoke through the basics of running Disney’s huge TV operation, Walden and Zifraine demonstrated a natural rapport that comes from a long relationship. Walden said she first met Zifren at the age of 14 through her friendship with Ziffren’s daughter. As she settled for an hour -old Q&A, she admitted that in her mind she was thinking, “This is my friend Laura’s father,” she jokingly.
Other topics were discussed:
** Walden experienced a formal experience in his career before, when he ran the 20th -century Fox Television, with Disney acquired Fox long before. The orders of some 28 series from the broadcast network by the studio broke the industry records by the nabika. A year after the studio broke the record of the industry, Walden was taken by his boss to work at home by the aircraft at the time, Peter Charnin, President of the former News Corp.
“He said that” Congratulations, you are breaking our business. If you are only a network order-tochar, then you are not making materials that are going to be meaningful and going to the test of time and going to take this company in future. ” He was absolutely correct, “he said.” The long tail of high quality stories-this is an annuity for any company that is enough to produce them. “
** Walden offered some back scenes on the deal of Disney’s recent Carriage Agreement with cable giant charter communication. The deal provides the Hulu content to the charter customers, and it represented a win for Disney in the charter, restricting linear distribution for many small channels (such as pre-school-centric Disney Junior), which was removed from the lineup of charter several years ago.
“This is a great example of how a company like Disney has assets that are present in linear and can work with charter such as MVPD partner in streaming,” she said. “Economics worked on the basis of assets that we were able to shift around and how they were packed on the charter.”
** Zifren pressed Walden on rival companies and showed that she praises. Netflix’s “adolescence” and HBO’s “The White Lotus.” “In terms of strategies, it is difficult to be impressed by Netflix,” he said.
