Disney Crashing Against the Rocks of Reality

 

I was with Disney during some of their business ventures that were real doozies. Remember ESPN Mobile? That blew up after 13 months in 2005.

ESPN3D? High cost and absolutely no demand. And when I say no demand, I mean the audience was so minuscule A.C. Nielsen couldn’t even measure it. Still, they threw money down that rabbit hole for three years.

I watched as a lot of friends at the network got blown out. Every two years and always around Father’s Day, ESPN would go through massive layoffs.

Now, with their stock down over 40%, still financially limping along from the Fox Studios buyout, engaging in brutal political battles with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and finding the direct-to-consumer streaming business not what they hoped, Disney CEO Bob Chapek sent out a “Dear Leaders” letter to upper-level management on Friday.

“While we will not sacrifice quality or the strength of our unrivaled synergy machine,” he wrote, “we must ensure our investments are both efficient and come with tangible benefits to both audiences and the company.”

Unrivaled synergy machine? Oh, goodie. Maybe ESPN the Weekend is coming back to Disney World. No? Oh, well. I could never tell the difference between Stephen A. Smith and Goofy anyway.

“I am fully aware this will be a difficult process for many of you and your teams. We are going to have to make tough and uncomfortable decisions.” No, they’re not. They are going to make the easy ones and the politically correct ones, too. Large numbers of lower-level staff will be cut. Customer service will suffer. Creative teams will stagnate more than they already are. But Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity staff will continue to blossom even as Chapek tries to fend off the “queer uprising” from his left at Pixar that hurts a lot of their overseas distribution.

Some of Disney’s problems are external. China shut down Shanghai Disney again on October 31. The pandemic forced Disney to borrow another $11B and push its debt load to a high of $52B in late April of 2022. But their embrace of leftist politics and shunning half the country, well, that’s voluntary and willful. And it’s also stupid. Especially when two of your biggest properties are bidding for sports rights.

They wanted a partnership with the Chinese Communist Party and they wanted to embrace leftist politics at home. And now they’re feeling the reality that goes along with those decisions.

How’s it going? Not great, Bob.

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  1. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    Even from a secular point of view, Disney is the Devil.

    • #1
  2. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    Couldn’t happen to a nicer mouse. 

    • #2
  3. Mad Gerald Coolidge
    Mad Gerald
    @Jose

    EJHill+: ESPN3D? High cost and absolutely no demand. And when I say no demand, I mean the audience was so minuscule, A.C. Nielsen couldn’t even measure it. Still, they threw money down that rabbit hole for 3 years.

    Long ago I visited Disneyworld.  I visited customer service with a question (not a problem).  The guy there mentioned that he was an AF veteran too.  I asked what it was like to work for Disney.  He glanced around and said in a low voice “They’re like the Air Force.  They tend to throw money at problems.”

    • #3
  4. David Foster Member
    David Foster
    @DavidFoster

    “Unrivaled synergy machine”…a business friend was fond of the expression synergy costs money, and this view seems to be correct in a lot more cases than the opposite one.

     

    • #4
  5. EJHill+ Podcaster
    EJHill+
    @EJHill

    Mad Gerald: “They’re like the Air Force. They tend to throw money at problems.”

    Yep. That was then.

    At their peak ESPN was in 101M homes and got $5/mo from every last one of them. That’s a guaranteed $6B in revenue before one ad was sold. Cord cutting has brought those numbers down 25%. To top it off those cable contracts prevent Disney from streaming ESPN content to non-cable subscribers. 

    I remember being in a truck with a lot of high level execs during the MLB playoffs (back when we carried the NLDS) and how they sneered at Fox for stooping so low as to televise MMA. Within a decade they were in bed with them, too.

    There’s more reckoning to come, and not just for Disney. Sinclair Broadcasting, who “won” the bidding for the Fox Regional Sports Networks (rebranded Bally Sports), is seeing that division tank. They are exploring a fire sale that would see them sold to the three professional sports leagues they have contracts with: the NBA, the NHL and Major League Baseball. 

    Honestly, as hostile as the media has been to the GOP, I would suggest to the next Republican president to apply the doctrine of US v Paramount (1948) to the streaming services. If a studio owning a theater chain is too much vertical integration, what the hell is piping the programming directly into consumers’ homes?

     

    • #5
  6. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    EJHill+: “While we will not sacrifice quality…”

    Quality, Bobby? Quality? You’ve killed Star Wars dead. No toymaker will license the new stuff because they don’t have your penchant for losing money. Elvis Presley lunchboxes sell better than Star Wars merchandise. The MCU is circling the drain. Word is that of the six screen-tested endings for Indiana Jones 5,” test audiences liked none of them.

    You’ve gone from wholesome family entertainment to what bears all the hallmarks of child grooming. Did you really expect no one to notice?

    Muerte al raton.

    EJHill+: I could never tell the difference between Stephen A. Smith and Goofy anyway. 

    Goofy doesn’t have as much to say about race as Mr. Smith does.

    • #6
  7. Doug Watt Member
    Doug Watt
    @DougWatt

    From an NHL perspective I find ESPN’s coverage rather dismal. It appears to me that ESPN is using the NHL to try and sell ESPN+, their subscription streaming service.

      

    • #7
  8. EJHill+ Podcaster
    EJHill+
    @EJHill

    Doug Watt: From an NHL perspective I find ESPN’s coverage rather dismal. It appears to me that ESPN is using the NHL to try and sell ESPN+, their subscription streaming service.

    Part of Disney’s deals with the leagues include out-of-market streaming rights. So Disney can cherrypick an NHL regional game from YES or Bally Sports and distribute it to out-of-market areas via ESPN+. The league owned networks do the same. It’s great as they get product they don’t have to pay production costs on.

    • #8
  9. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    David Foster (View Comment):

    “Unrivaled synergy machine”…a business friend was fond of the expression synergy costs money, and this view seems to be correct in a lot more cases than the opposite one.

     

    While I don’t know the current details (and I know nothing of any sports business), but historically Disney has done extremely well at getting people who enjoy Disney movies and television to visit Disney theme parks, and to buy merchandise (which is what I assume he means by “synergy machine”). Our next door neighbors (the preteen boys are into Mandalorian and the toddler girl is into Minnie Mouse and Disney Princesses) have quite a bit of Disney merchandise and just spent thousands of dollars on a week at Disney World. People are willing to spend quite a bit of money to recreate in real life aspects of the Disney world they see on screen. My stepmother buys Disney+ for my grandchildren, and we used to visit Disneyland fairly often, but visits have gotten too expensive for our family to consider. My granddaughter (3 years old) is quite into Minnie Mouse. And on our current visit to see her I have seen two other young girls decked out in Minnie Mouse gear. But that brings up an anecdotal observation: Although Disney has gotten a high attachment to many in the youngest generation, it seems to be entirely the older aspects of Disney: Minnie and Mickey Mouse, the traditional princesses. Not the newer stuff (except maybe the Mandalorian?). 

    • #9
  10. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):
    But that brings up an anecdotal observation: Although Disney has gotten a high attachment to many in the youngest generation, it seems to be entirely the older aspects of Disney: Minnie and Mickey Mouse, the traditional princesses. Not the newer stuff (except maybe the Mandalorian?). 

    That was going to be my response to your comment, before you got there first:  Mickey and Minnie Mouse are almost 100 years old!

    • #10
  11. EJHill+ Podcaster
    EJHill+
    @EJHill

    Synergy in the Disney sense is pushing a unified message across all Disney platfoms. ESPN pushes ABC which pushes HULU which pushes Disney Plus which pushes for a bundle of Hulu+Disney+ESPN+ which all pushes whatever Godawful movie or miniseries they have in the pipeline at any given time. They would have Reba McEntire knife Scott Van Pelt in the middle of a Star Wars movie if they thought it would add one rating point to Big Sky. 

    • #11
  12. Eustace C. Scrubb Member
    Eustace C. Scrubb
    @EustaceCScrubb

    I miss Walt…

    • #12
  13. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    EJHill+ (View Comment):

    Synergy in the Disney sense is pushing a unified message across all Disney platfoms. ESPN pushes ABC which pushes HULU which pushes Disney Plus which pushes for a bundle of Hulu+Disney+ESPN+ which all pushes whatever Godawful movie or miniseries they have in the pipeline at any given time. They would have Reba McEntire knife Scott Van Pelt in the middle of a Star Wars movie if they thought it would add one rating point to Big Sky.

    If that would get them one point, just imagine how many points they’d get for Reba and Scott both deciding to be trans!

    • #13
  14. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    I love Disney World.  I have been three times, 1974, 2012, and 2016 (I think).  I also went on a Disney cruise in 2012.  Disney really does it right.  I’ve never had such enjoyable times ever in such a crowded venue.  They really are magical.

    But when my daughter was younger, I started noticing that their tv shows were creepy.  Always the boys were creepy perverts drooling over a girl much too old for them, and the girls were always the heroes.  Now they are just nutty.

    Their embrace of progressivism and perversity is too much.  It will be a long time before I go again.

    • #14
  15. Sisyphus Member
    Sisyphus
    @Sisyphus

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):
    But that brings up an anecdotal observation: Although Disney has gotten a high attachment to many in the youngest generation, it seems to be entirely the older aspects of Disney: Minnie and Mickey Mouse, the traditional princesses. Not the newer stuff (except maybe the Mandalorian?).

    That was going to be my response to your comment, before you got there first: Mickey and Minnie Mouse are almost 100 years old!

    Baby Yoda is loved. The very reductio ad absurdum of Lucas’ turn with Return of the Jedi, a vehicle for selling Ewok action figures with some dialogue tossed in.

    • #15
  16. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    EJHill+ (View Comment):

    Synergy in the Disney sense is pushing a unified message across all Disney platfoms. ESPN pushes ABC which pushes HULU which pushes Disney Plus which pushes for a bundle of Hulu+Disney+ESPN+ which all pushes whatever Godawful movie or miniseries they have in the pipeline at any given time. They would have Reba McEntire knife Scott Van Pelt in the middle of a Star Wars movie if they thought it would add one rating point to Big Sky.

    I would never have guessed that anyone uses the term that way. 

    • #16
  17. Sisyphus Member
    Sisyphus
    @Sisyphus

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    EJHill+ (View Comment):

    Synergy in the Disney sense is pushing a unified message across all Disney platfoms. ESPN pushes ABC which pushes HULU which pushes Disney Plus which pushes for a bundle of Hulu+Disney+ESPN+ which all pushes whatever Godawful movie or miniseries they have in the pipeline at any given time. They would have Reba McEntire knife Scott Van Pelt in the middle of a Star Wars movie if they thought it would add one rating point to Big Sky.

    I would never have guessed that anyone uses the term that way.

    Marketers. What can you do?

    • #17
  18. James Lileks Contributor
    James Lileks
    @jameslileks

    It’s just odd. I never wanted Disney to conform to the particulars of my intellectual cosmology. I just wanted them to be Disney. 

    They seemed to have a pretty good idea how to do that. In fact they seemed to be experts in almost every aspect of being Disney. Perhaps the second generation removed from the original material was the last that could be expected to understand the source material, and the third generation removed felt emboldened to improve. And atone.

    • #18
  19. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    It’s just odd. I never wanted Disney to conform to the particulars of my intellectual cosmology. I just wanted them to be Disney.

    They seemed to have a pretty good idea how to do that. In fact they seemed to be experts in almost every aspect of being Disney. Perhaps the second generation removed from the original material was the last that could be expected to understand the source material, and the third generation removed felt emboldened to improve. And atone.

    I was raised on Disney.

    My mom took me to every movie when they came out or when the ones she had seen as a little girl were rereleased. Sunday evenings were spent at Grandpa’s house watching Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color on his color TV. I cried when Walt died because I thought that there would be no more Charlie the Lonesome Cougar.

    What they have done to that legacy is unconscionable.

    • #19
  20. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Percival (View Comment):

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    It’s just odd. I never wanted Disney to conform to the particulars of my intellectual cosmology. I just wanted them to be Disney.

    They seemed to have a pretty good idea how to do that. In fact they seemed to be experts in almost every aspect of being Disney. Perhaps the second generation removed from the original material was the last that could be expected to understand the source material, and the third generation removed felt emboldened to improve. And atone.

    I was raised on Disney.

    My mom took me to every movie when they came out or when the ones she had seen as a little girl were rereleased. Sunday evenings were spent at Grandpa’s house watching Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color on his color TV. I cried when Walt died because I thought that there would be no more Charlie the Lonesome Cougar.

    What they have done to that legacy is unconscionable.

    But at least the good old stuff still exists.  Better get physical media, before it’s all “cancelled!”

    • #20
  21. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    It’s just odd. I never wanted Disney to conform to the particulars of my intellectual cosmology. I just wanted them to be Disney.

    They seemed to have a pretty good idea how to do that. In fact they seemed to be experts in almost every aspect of being Disney. Perhaps the second generation removed from the original material was the last that could be expected to understand the source material, and the third generation removed felt emboldened to improve. And atone.

    I was raised on Disney.

    My mom took me to every movie when they came out or when the ones she had seen as a little girl were rereleased. Sunday evenings were spent at Grandpa’s house watching Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color on his color TV. I cried when Walt died because I thought that there would be no more Charlie the Lonesome Cougar.

    What they have done to that legacy is unconscionable.

    But at least the good old stuff still exists. Better get physical media, before it’s all “cancelled!”

    Or until your wife throws them all away like she did our rather large collection.  “None of us watched them anymore.”  Sheesh.

    • #21
  22. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    Skyler (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    It’s just odd. I never wanted Disney to conform to the particulars of my intellectual cosmology. I just wanted them to be Disney.

    They seemed to have a pretty good idea how to do that. In fact they seemed to be experts in almost every aspect of being Disney. Perhaps the second generation removed from the original material was the last that could be expected to understand the source material, and the third generation removed felt emboldened to improve. And atone.

    I was raised on Disney.

    My mom took me to every movie when they came out or when the ones she had seen as a little girl were rereleased. Sunday evenings were spent at Grandpa’s house watching Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color on his color TV. I cried when Walt died because I thought that there would be no more Charlie the Lonesome Cougar.

    What they have done to that legacy is unconscionable.

    But at least the good old stuff still exists. Better get physical media, before it’s all “cancelled!”

    Or until your wife throws them all away like she did our rather large collection. “None of us watched them anymore.” Sheesh.

    If it was VHS, then it’s just as well.  Some years ago, I broke out Braveheart for movie night, and quit after 15 minutes.  I just cannot watch VHS anymore, and believe me, nobody was more surprised than I.

    • #22
  23. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    BDB (View Comment):

    Skyler (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    It’s just odd. I never wanted Disney to conform to the particulars of my intellectual cosmology. I just wanted them to be Disney.

    They seemed to have a pretty good idea how to do that. In fact they seemed to be experts in almost every aspect of being Disney. Perhaps the second generation removed from the original material was the last that could be expected to understand the source material, and the third generation removed felt emboldened to improve. And atone.

    I was raised on Disney.

    My mom took me to every movie when they came out or when the ones she had seen as a little girl were rereleased. Sunday evenings were spent at Grandpa’s house watching Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color on his color TV. I cried when Walt died because I thought that there would be no more Charlie the Lonesome Cougar.

    What they have done to that legacy is unconscionable.

    But at least the good old stuff still exists. Better get physical media, before it’s all “cancelled!”

    Or until your wife throws them all away like she did our rather large collection. “None of us watched them anymore.” Sheesh.

    If it was VHS, then it’s just as well. Some years ago, I broke out Braveheart for movie night, and quit after 15 minutes. I just cannot watch VHS anymore, and believe me, nobody was more surprised than I.

    Nah. DVD’s. 

    • #23
  24. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Our Little Miss Anthrope chose Disney World and Universal (Harry Potter) as her Make-a-Wish trip, where we received the VIP treatment. We decided we could never go back since the experience would be severely diminished.

    I’m thankful. It was good timing. My kids got to enjoy Disney in their childhood before it went woke.

    • #24
  25. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Skyler (View Comment):

    BDB (View Comment):

    Skyler (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    It’s just odd. I never wanted Disney to conform to the particulars of my intellectual cosmology. I just wanted them to be Disney.

    They seemed to have a pretty good idea how to do that. In fact they seemed to be experts in almost every aspect of being Disney. Perhaps the second generation removed from the original material was the last that could be expected to understand the source material, and the third generation removed felt emboldened to improve. And atone.

    I was raised on Disney.

    My mom took me to every movie when they came out or when the ones she had seen as a little girl were rereleased. Sunday evenings were spent at Grandpa’s house watching Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color on his color TV. I cried when Walt died because I thought that there would be no more Charlie the Lonesome Cougar.

    What they have done to that legacy is unconscionable.

    But at least the good old stuff still exists. Better get physical media, before it’s all “cancelled!”

    Or until your wife throws them all away like she did our rather large collection. “None of us watched them anymore.” Sheesh.

    If it was VHS, then it’s just as well. Some years ago, I broke out Braveheart for movie night, and quit after 15 minutes. I just cannot watch VHS anymore, and believe me, nobody was more surprised than I.

    Nah. DVD’s.

    Well you should probably have blu-ray now.  Then put them in a vault that your wife doesn’t know how to open.

    • #25
  26. MWD B612 "Dawg" Member
    MWD B612 "Dawg"
    @danok1

    Doug Watt (View Comment):

    From an NHL perspective I find ESPN’s coverage rather dismal. It appears to me that ESPN is using the NHL to try and sell ESPN+, their subscription streaming service.

     

    Their broadcast is lifeless. Messier and Chelios are just boring; the play-by-play guy (Buccigross, I think); Ferraro is okay as the color guy. Leah Hextall and Cassie Campbell-Paschall are dull and have bad voices (IMO) to boot. The studio/intermission shows are awful. Why did they pay billions of dollars for the rights if this is how they’re going to present it?

    TNT is a great example of how to do the NHL (thought it’s obvious TNT used their NBA broadcast as the template for the  NHL). But I can do without the power play clock on the ice.

    ESPN signed P. K. Subban to a multi-year deal this week. I think that was a good move. P. K. has a great personality that comes across well. I wonder how long they’ll let him be himself though.

    • #26
  27. Eustace C. Scrubb Member
    Eustace C. Scrubb
    @EustaceCScrubb

    F/X has a show, Pistol, about the Sex Pistols. In other countries, this show plays on Disney Plus. Which seems to be “Deadhead sticker on a Caddilac” come to life.

    • #27
  28. DrewInWisconsin, Oik Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oik
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Percival (View Comment):
    You’ve gone from wholesome family entertainment to what bears all the hallmarks of child grooming. Did you really expect no one to notice?

    I understand they’ve cut a deal to air the new series of Doctor Who in the United States.

    The Doctor is now black (not that that matters to me, but it sure matters to the woke), played by a gay actor (no idea whether his gayness will be part of the character, although I’ve seen headlines promising that the show will be “gayer than ever!”), with a gay man as showrunner (granted he was the showrunner when the show returned, and inserted his own Mary Sue in the character of omnisexual (but mostly gay) Jack Harkness), and reportedly a transgender teen as the Doctor’s companion.

    Yes, I can see why Disney is eager to have this property.

    These days I am kind of shocked when I see depictions of heterosexual couples in entertainment. It seems to have become rather rare.

    • #28
  29. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):
    (no idea whether his gayness will be part of the character,

    It will.

    • #29
  30. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):
    You’ve gone from wholesome family entertainment to what bears all the hallmarks of child grooming. Did you really expect no one to notice?

    I understand they’ve cut a deal to air the new series of Doctor Who in the United States.

    The Doctor is now black (not that that matters to me, but it sure matters to the woke), played by a gay actor (no idea whether his gayness will be part of the character, although I’ve seen headlines promising that the show will be “gayer than ever!”), with a gay man as showrunner (granted he was the showrunner when the show returned, and inserted his own Mary Sue in the character of omnisexual (but mostly gay) Jack Harkness), and reportedly a transgender teen as the Doctor’s companion.

    Yes, I can see why Disney is eager to have this property.

    These days I am kind of shocked when I see depictions of heterosexual couples in entertainment. It seems to have become rather rare.

    They rubbished the entire canon with “The Timeless Children” episode. May they itch without the benefit of scratching.

    • #30
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