Disney CEO Bob Iger shook up the entertainment industry and Wall Street last month when he declared to CNBC at Sun Valley that linear television may be non-core and that he’s looking for partners for ESPN as the company pivots to streaming.
He’s still all in on filmed entertainment, television content studios and theme parks. But Disney could look very different when Iger exits at the end of his contract in 2026 — if he’s found a successor by then. The CEO recently extended his contract and said Wednesday that’s because there’s much work to be done to transform the company.
Linear television, from ABC to FX, Freeform and National Geographic, broadly remains highly profitable for Disney today, he acknowledged on a conference call after quarterly earnings. But “the trends being fueled by cord cutting are unmistakable. And, as I have stated before, we are thinking expansively and considering a variety of strategic options.”
“We need to keep in mind the need for content to fuel our DTC businesses, notably Hulu. So anything that would be done would be with an eye to the content to fuel our growth business, and that is streaming.” >>>Wants "More Content Under Economical Circumstances"
More Disney Earnings News:
Disney Cuts Streaming Loss, Takes $2.4B Charge For DTC Content Purge In Mixed June Quarter
Iger “Very Comfortable With Current Liquidity Position” As Deadline Nears To Buy Rest Of Hulu
U.S. Theme Parks See Post-Covid Bounce Falter As Growth Slows, Profit Dips |
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| Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
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Exec Shuffle - A+E Networks is the latest entertainment company to undergo a shake-up. Deadline understands that the company has made a number of cuts to its programming team. Amy Winter, EVP and Head of Programming at Lifetime, is leaving the company with Elaine Frontain Bryant, who is EVP and Head of Programming at A&E, now overseeing the Married At First Sight broadcaster. Tanya Lopez, who is Executive Vice President of Scripted Content at Lifetime, is also leaving. >>> More Changes
A Report From Maui - Deadline's Pete Hammond is on the ground in relatively untouched Wailea, where he says the mood went from idyllic to horrifying as displaced locals flooded in and the extent of the disaster across the island became clear. To put it in movie terms, someone said to him, “It is like Barbie suddenly turned into Oppenheimer.” >>>People Sleeping On Lounge Chairs Proud Peacock - Audiences seem to be racing through Peacock’s latest series Twisted Metal. In the two weeks since the video game adaptation launched, it has become the streamer’s “most-binged” comedy premiere to date. According to NBCUniversal, the average account watched about three episodes per sitting. >>> 400M Viewing Minutes First Weekend Into The Great Wide Open - The Tom Petty Estate, along with Red Light Management, has joined forces with Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment, with plans to bring new attention to Petty’s legacy through film and TV storytelling. Both scripted and non-scripted areas are being looked at, and while further details as to the form projects might take haven’t been disclosed, sources tell Deadline that a traditional biopic on the rock and roll legend has not been a point of conversation. >>> Legendary Career |
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The late, great Ray Liotta was thinking a lot about mortality when Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr last spoke with him. “I’m at the age now there are some things you just forget,” he mused. “Sixty was a motherf*cker for me.” He was 64 at the time, soon to turn 65, but somehow his face, which once seemed older and wiser than its time, now seemed timeless. “Some people age better, and with some it’s like, ‘Whoa, what happened there!?’” he laughed. When he laughed there was that twinkle in his eye that propelled his iconic turns in Something Wild, Goodfellas, Field of Dreams, not to mention Cop Land, Narc, Smokin’ Aces and Hannibal. He did plenty of forgettable films too, the kind any actor does to make a living, but he could always dial it up. We'd hoped to get a glimpse into the ups and downs along the long road of a veteran working actor, and Liotta did not disappoint.” >>> Read The Interview |
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Andrea Riseborough and Domnhall Gleeson are to star in a Channel 4 drama series created by Mad Men’s Victor Levin. The duo are leading Alice & Jack, the first major casting for Riseborough since the To Leslie Oscar controversy earlier this year. The pair play the title characters in what distributor Fremantle described as a “love story for the ages.” |
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BY THE NUMBERS
$1 - The amount Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy bought the company back for after selling it for $551 million in February |
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More News
❌ Deadline has confirmed that Warner Bros’ billion-dollar grossing Barbie won’t be getting a release in Kuwait, and it’s skating on thin ice in Lebanon. While local censorship authorities in Kuwait have said the Margot Robbie-Ryan Gosling pic goes against the grain of local values, Lebanon, which is typically liberal when it comes to LGBTQ+ content, feels the pic will “promote homosexuality and sexual transformation” and “contradicts values of faith and morality.”
🦁 Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said the planned split of Lionsgate and Starz will take place in the first quarter of 2024, a change from the prior outlook for early fall of this year. “With the impact of the eOne acquisition on regulatory approvals, uncertainties surrounding the strike and our efforts to create the most efficient capital structure within a disruptive marketplace, we anticipate that the separation will now take place in the first quarter of calendar 2024," he said.
👀 Big Brother houseguest Luke Valentine has been removed from the CBS reality show after dropping the N-word during a conversation with fellow cast members Tuesday night. “Luke violated the Big Brother code of conduct and there is zero tolerance in the house for using a racial slur, CBS said in a statement. “He has been removed from the house. His departure will be addressed in Thursday night’s show.” |
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Trending  Lionsgate beat Wall Street analysts’ forecasts for the first quarter of its fiscal 2024, with revenue climbing 2% as the company’s library posted more robust results. Total revenue of $909 million came in well ahead of estimates for $885 million, while an adjusted loss-per-share of 4 cents beat expectations for a loss of 23 cents.
🔻 Disney+ subscribers will be paying about 30% more for the ad-free version of the service come October 12. The price will go from $10.99 per month to $13.99 per month. |
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OBITUARIES
🕯 Robbie Robertson, the brilliant founding guitarist of The Band who also wrote many of its most famous songs and whose farewell show with the group was memorialized in Martin Scorsese’s landmark documentary The Last Waltz, died Wednesday in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was 80. 🕯 Claire Hope , the child rapper and viral social media personality known as Lil Tay, has died. She was 14. A statement from Lil Tay’s family was posted on her verified Instagram account confirming the teen’s “sudden and tragic passing” only days after her brother died. No details were given. 🕯 Robert Swan, an actor familiar from sometimes brief but noticeable roles in Hoosiers, Rudy, The Untouchables and The Babe, died of cancer Wednesday at his home in Rolling Prairie, Indiana. He was 78. 🕯 Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, the Detroit singer-songwriter better known simply as Rodriguez whose seeming disappearance after a brief flirtation with musical success in the early 1970s was the subject of the Oscar-winning 2012 documentary Searching for Sugar Man, died Wednesday. He was 81. 🕯 Jamie Reid , the artist and graphic designer whose work for the Sex Pistols defined the punk aesthetic, has died at 76. Reid’s best known work was for the Sex Pistols covers including the pink and yellow text of their only album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, and "God Save the Queen," the hit single banned by the BBC. The latter featured a Cecil Beaton photo portrait of Queen Elizabeth II defaced by Reid. 🕯 Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries |
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On the Radar
Thu - Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S2 finale
Sat - Deadline Contenders Television: The Nominees event
Sun - Billions S7 premiere |
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Disaster In Paradise - As Hollywood fixates on dual strikes, one of the town's favorite getaway spots has been hit by a disaster all too familiar to Angelenos: Wildfires are sweeping through Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii. The flames have reportedly destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses and claimed at least six lives. Photos from the scene show the contrast between the beauty and horror of the setting, with images from historic Lahaina Town showing entire blocks virtually burned to the ground. |
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