At Disney, It’s a Whole New Messy Kingdom
A streaming service, a megamerger and consumer confusion all come with a price.
Culture shock.
Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Things are about to get messy at Walt Disney Co.
The conglomerate, which depends on television networks for almost half its operating income, is now looking to partially sidestep cable providers and its arch-nemesis, Netflix Inc., by bringing TV shows and movies directly to consumers through a Disney streaming service to be called Disney+. While the details are still lacking, it’s reasonable to assume that this will lead to a substantial increase in costs for a while and an inevitable hit to revenue and profit (more on that in a moment). Disney’s also nearing the completion of an $85 billion deal for 21st Century Fox Inc. — among the top 10 biggest mergers in history — plus some resulting divestitures that were stipulated by regulators. And because the Fox transaction brings in new faces, it adds even more intrigue to the years-long “Who will succeed CEO Bob Iger?” guessing game.