I'm probably dropping disney+ after the clone wars ends, until Mando returns. Just nothing there for me right now.
[Reply]

I don't blame you, especially since all of the Marvel TV shows have been delayed and the Obi Wan and Cassian Andor shows won't debut until 2021 at the very earliest.

It's fairly impressive how quickly Disney was able to put together the Disney+ app, void most of their Star Wars licensing deals, pull content from Netflix, Amazon, TBS and others while converting a massive catalog to 4K.

But what's been far less than impressive is the availability of new content, which is the main draw for probably a good 35% of their subscribers. With current work environment being restricted, this will only hurt their subscriber base and cash flow, which is already reeling due to the shutdown of their parks division.

It's not a good time to be the CEO of Disney.
[Reply]

Is that why Iger exited stage left? I mean he left before the virus wrecked life for his parks, but nonetheless.
[Reply]

There was a rumor floating around town that Iger was given a head's up on the impact that COVID-19 may have on the US, leading him to abruptly step down, but I haven't been able to absolutely confirm that was this case.

Iger said the reason for leaving was that he wanted to spend more time on "the creative side of things" but I don't personally buy that explanation. It's like not he was a Creative in the past and he all had the creative power in the world as the CEO of Disney.

My opinion is that he indeed did know about the virus and recommended the Head of Parks to take over as CEO because that's really their biggest issue moving forward and there's no one better qualified to run the entire entity than Bob Chapek at this point in time.
[Reply]

Iger isn't the only one that got a heads up. There ought to be a ton of people under investigation right now. But none of them ever will be.
[Reply]

Unless Iger dumped a bunch of stock options I’m not sure he did anything unethical other than save face. I’m with Dane the whole creative thing doesn’t pass the smell test but I’m not sure he did anything nefarious other than not deal with it.

It should be noted that I haven’t paid attention to his stock options or compensation. I could be all the way wrong here.
[Reply]

FYI, Iger is still under contract with Disney through the end of 2021 and there have been no reports of any improprieties.

While I personally believe the press release was weird in its content, the fact of the matter is that Bob Iger oversaw the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox during his 14 years as CEO, along with the launch of Disney+ and the renovation and additions to several theme parks, including the $2 billion dollar Galaxy's Edge Star Wars land.

While he may or may not have been tipped off about the virus, he's accomplished more in the past 14 years than most Entertainment CEO's accomplish in decades. He's 69 years old and has pretty much done it all, so IMO, it's more likely than not that the reason for stepping down is just to enjoy life instead of constantly putting out fires.
[Reply]

I’d agree.

I remember doing a case study on Disney right about the time he was hired. Disney was performing really badly and I thought to myself, how do you unfuck this? Shitcanning your CEO and hiring this Bob Iger fella probably ain’t it.

15 years later.... LOL
[Reply]

It's really extraordinary.

During my five years at Universal, it was owned chronologically by Panasonic and Seagram's (Vivendi's acquisition occurred after I'd left). Outside of publishing and Geffen records, the music and film divisions were garbage. They brought in new CEO's with every purchase and were never able to turn it around, let alone, rival Disney under Iger.

MCA/Universal was known to everyone that ever worked in the business, whether on the business or creative side, as Music Cemetery of America, which why the name was changed in 1996 to Universal.

I was at Paramount for nearly a decade and it was worse. I can't even count the number of people that ran Paramount/Viacom/CBS during that time and Paramount was constantly struggling. If not for the Titanic movie, which was a joint venture between Paramount & Sony, Paramount might be out of business today (although they're barely in it today).

The bottom line is that we may never see another Bob Iger in the entertainment world for decades, if ever again.
[Reply]

Disney+ subscribers topped 50 million as of yesterday.

They were hoping to hit 60 million by 2023.

Iger is a wizard.
[Reply]

Baby Yoda is all powerful indeed.

why did he leave? I know it was to be creative but that sounds like so much BS, no idea who would believe that crap.
[Reply]

I posted what I know just a few posts up from this :-)
[Reply]

That makes sense. He’s 69. Not working on curing cancer but entertainment. I could see him and every other businessman at that age packing it in. How ever you enjoy life, just enjoy life.
[Reply]

They probably didn't factor in a global pandemic keeping entire nation's populations trapped inside their boring-ass homes. But it is still damn impressive. With that said, I am about to cancel it until Clone Wars concludes.
[Reply]

Disney originally hoped to hit 30 million subscribers by 2022, only to hit that number in January 2020, IIRC, which exceeded projections by several years.

Also, keep in mind that the overwhelming majority of subscribers are from the US at this point, as Disney+ just launched in the UK, Germany and France.

They've only aired like Episode 2 or 3 of The Mandalorian in those countries, so they'll likely see another bump in numbers, once all 8 episodes are available in those territories.
[Reply]