Posted in: Disney+, Hulu, Hulu, Movies, streaming, TV | Tagged: disney, espn, hulu, streaming, twdc

Hulu For Sale? ESPN All-Streaming "An Inevitability"? Bob Iger Updates

The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger says "everything's on the table" regarding Hulu and that ESPN going all-streaming is "an inevitability."

During an interview earlier today with CNBC's David Faber, The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger got some eyebrows arching when it came to the topic of Hulu's future with "The Mouse." Up until now, the conventional wisdom was that Disney would buy out Comcast's ownership in Hulu and then fold the streaming into "The House of Mouse." Well, that might not exactly be the case based on what Iger had to share. While describing the streamer as "a very successful platform, and I think a good consumer proposition," Iger made it clear that "everything's on the table right now." So that assumption that Disney will be looking to take ownership of Hulu next year? "I'm suggesting that isn't necessarily the case," Iger responded. "I'm not gonna speculate about whether we're a buyer or seller of it. I obviously have suggested that I'm concerned about undifferentiated general entertainment, particularly given the competitive landscape that we're operating in, and we're going to look at it very objectively."

Here's a look at what Iger had to share about Hulu, followed by another interesting comment from Iger regarding the future of ESPN and the "inevitability" of it going to streaming:

No matter how you viewed yesterday's earnings call, Iger made one thing very clear. Change is not just on the way for The Walt Disney Company; it's beginning now. And that means, in what sounds very similar to what Warner Bros. Discovery and others have undergone, a combination of major corporate restructuring, layoffs, and budget cuts. Here's a look at the details:

MAJOR CORPORATE RESTRUCTURING: Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution is done, so say hello to:

Disney Entertainment – Co-chaired by Alan Bergman and Dana Walden, this division will include Disney+ and Film & TV assets.

ESPN – Led by Jimmy Pitaro, the division will include ESPN and ESPN+.

Parks, Experiences & Products – Led by Josh D'Amaro, this division will include theme parks & consumer products teams.

"Our new structure is aimed at returning greater authority to our creative leaders and making them accountable for how their content performs financially," Iger said while rolling out the new corporate outline. "Our former structure severed that link and must be restored. Moving forward, our creative teams will determine what content we're making, how it is distributed and monetized, and how it gets marketed."

LAYOFFS: TWDC is looking to cut approximately 7000 jobs as part of the restructuring, representing slightly more than 3% of the company's worldwide workforce. Except those cuts aren't expected to be heavy in the theme parks (what with its current continually-improving upswing in business, even though the theme parks represent the largest number of employees). Instead, the deepest cuts are expected to happen in the Entertainment and ESPN areas.

BUDGET CUTS: Disney CFO Christine McCarthy confirmed that the company was looking for $5.5B in cost savings. Breaking that down, TWDC is looking at $3B in future content savings (non-sports related) and another $2.5B from costs such as marketing, staffing, technology, and other areas (with $1 billion reportedly already underway).

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!