NEWS: Bob Iger Confirms Disney Might Sell ABC

A LOT of change is happening with the Walt Disney Company right now, even as it celebrates its 100th anniversary.

Most recently, Disney completed laying off a total of 7,000 employees. Some executives are leaving the company. CEO Bob Iger’s contract has been extended through 2026. Recently, Iger made comments about the future of the company, as well as what that means for the TV networks it owns.

In an interview with CNBC, Iger mentioned that Disney is considering selling off its TV assets like the ABC network. Iger said the company would be “expansive” in how it thinks about traditional TV, with the door being left open to selling the networks it owns. “They may not be core to Disney,” he said.

He also talked about when he left the company, he had already been “very pessimistic” about the future of traditional television and believes that now that he’s returned as Disney’s CEO, he feels he was right in that thinking and that it’s worse than he originally thought. “There’s a reality to it that we have to come to grips with,” he said.

However, Disney’s strategy with another network it owns, ESPN, could be different. Iger mentioned that Disney would be open to finding a partner that could take on partial ownership of that network.

©ESPN

One of Iger’s priorities when he came back on board as CEO was to make streaming profitable for the company. During the company’s Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Call, revenue for Disney+ was up from the previous quarter.

Disney also currently owns 67% of Hulu, while NBCUniversal owns the remaining 33%. Although it almost seemed certain that Disney once wanted to sell its stake in Hulu, Iger has since shifted to a different mindset and has even mentioned integrating Hulu and Disney+ content. That could happen by the end of 2023. Iger said, “The combination of those apps is designed to obviously help the [streaming] business become profitable”

©Hulu

Reportedly, Comcast will sell its stake in Hulu in 2024, and it’s seeming more likely that Disney may buy it out. Iger said that the company is “better off having Hulu.”

Disney will be reporting its third-quarter earnings for 2023 on August 9th, 2023. We’ll be reporting on that earnings call — and ALL Disney news — and keep you updated, so be sure to check back with AllEars again soon.