Disney Begins Second Round of Layoffs, Totaling 4,000 Cuts

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Disney is going on a diet — but Hulu is still on the menu. Disney CEO Bob Iger and chief financial officer Christine McCarthy delivered a clear message on Wednesday to Wall Street and to Hollywood during Disney’s quarterly earnings call. Disney will cut the overall volume of content produced for its streaming platforms — primarily Disney+ and Hulu — as it deals with a much tighter macroeconomic environment, not to mention the uncertain impact of the writers strike that began May 2. After spending just under $30 billion on content in Disney’s 2022 fiscal year (which ends in September), Iger has targeted $3 billion in savings for 2023. Of that $30 billion, about 30% is devoted to sports rights for ESPN and ABC Sports.

second fiscal quarter of 2023, CEO Bob Iger addressed the artificial intelligence elephant in the room, making it clear that Disney isn’t shying away from the technological frontier — quite the opposite, in fact.“AI developments represent some pretty interesting opportunities for us,” Iger said. “In fact, we’re already starting to use AI to create some efficiencies and ultimately to better serve consumers.”Beyond confirming that AI has already found a home within the house of the mouse, Iger addressed the natural challenges that come with any new, disruptive technology, including the managerial complexities.“It could be extremely difficult to manage, particularly from an IT management perspective,” Iger said, referring to the tech’s advanced nature.

Disney chief executive Bob Iger weighed in on AI today, staying general but calling the battleground technology good for Disney’s business, but disruptive.

combined into one app offering by the end of the year on Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger has suggested that the future of the hybrid subscription/ad-supported streamer remains in the hands of rival Comcast. Under a 2019 put/call agreement, Disney can buy out the NBCUniversal parent’s 33% minority stake in Hulu as early as January 2024 – and Comcast can require that Disney do so.

What many saw as inevitable has finally come to pass. During the company’s annual earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that the Walt Disney Company will roll out a singular streaming app by the end of 2023.

William Earl Disney CEO Bob Iger criticized Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s political moves in Florida on the company’s May 10 Q2 earnings call. The business-political feud was brought up as a result of a shareholder asking about the parks in Florida while there are political battles with the governor. “Regarding Florida, I got a few things I want to say about that bill,” he said. “First of all, if the case that we filed last month, made our position and the facts very clear, and that’s really that this is about one thing and one thing only and that’s retaliating against us for taking a position about pending legislation. And we believe that in us taking that position we are merely exercising our right to free speech. Also, this is not about special privileges or a level playing field or Disney in any way using its leverage around the state of Florida.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney is pulling Hulu tighter into the Mouse House. On Disney’s earnings call Wednesday, CEO Bob Iger said the company will soon launch a “one-app experience” in the U.S. that incorporates Hulu content into Disney+. The new combined offering will launch by the end of 2023, he said. “While we will continue to offer Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ as standalone options, this is a logical progression of our [direct-to-consumer] offerings that will provide greater opportunities for advertisers while giving bundle subscribers access to more robust and streamlined content, resulting in greater audience engagement and ultimately leading to a more unified streaming experience,” Iger said.

Disney+ saw its average monthly revenue per user in the U.S. and Canada surge 20% during the second fiscal quarter of 2023, increased from $5.95 to $7.14 due to an “increase in average retail pricing.” CEO Bob Iger told analysts on the company’s quarterly earnings call Wednesday that a recent increase in the price of the streaming service was “de minimis.”The company continued to see losses shrink in its direct-to-consumer division.

The Walt Disney Co. reduced losses in its streaming business by 26% (about $200 million) in its fiscal second quarter as the company’s overall results matched Wall Street expectations.

Disney will roll out a single streaming app with programming from ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+ by the end of this year.

were expecting Disney to report earnings of $0.88 per share on revenue of $21.7 billion. Disney shares closed Wednesday at $101.13 per share, down 1% today and 13.7% YTD.

Ron DeSantis is claiming victory over silencing Disney following their public feud after the entertainment company openly opposed the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill that was signed into law by the Florida governor.

on the video, which scored 5.3 million views since it was posted last month.A TikToker known as Robin Reaction also shared a clip last year making a similar argument. The creator claims that some of the earliest princesses barely had a nose at all, at least when the animated beauties were viewed head-on.

Disney’s seemingly successful efforts to outfox Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ power grab to control the area around Disney World are “not even worth the paper they were printed on,” according to a countersuit filed Monday by the GOP presidential aspirant’s replacement board.

Carole Horst For 50 years, it’s been a safe place for storytellers – musicians, animators, directors, writers, artists of all kinds – to learn, grow and thrive. As CalArts celebrates its golden anniversary, it also faces the future head-on.  Broad trustee emeritus Tim Disney, whose great-grandfather, Walt Disney, laid the foundation for what is now a world-class arts school, says that CalArts was founded with very large-scale, utopian ideas by Walt Disney. “Disneyland and CalArts were very grand things,” Disney says, adding that Walt died before the school opened and that his grandfather, Roy Disney, “had the very hard job” seeing the plans through. “His commitment was a very beautiful thing.” 

Jerrell Jimerson, chief product officer for Disney Streaming, is departing the company amid ongoing layoffs.

The war between the Walt Disney Company and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis just opened up a whole new front in the courts.

EXCLUSIVE: As Disney cuts 4K staffers across the conglomerate in a goal to reach $5.5 billion in savings, Deadline has learned that on the feature side, those being laid off were largely comprised of mid-level and coordinator staffers.

Disney layoffs currently impacting the company.Kelley had been a part of the company for more than 12 years, serving in different positions in digital marketing at both Walt Disney Studios and, later, at Disney+. He’d been the senior vice president of marketing at Disney+ for the past two years, following the direct-to-consumer streaming platform as it grew, during the pandemic, to one of the biggest streaming powerhouses on the marketing, certainly with one of the most robust libraries of legacy titles.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer In a months-long goal to reach 7,000 job cuts total, Disney will begin its second round of layoffs of the year today. The notifications will be handed out to staff through Thursday, concluding with approximately 4,000 job eliminations completed overall by week’s end, according to company officials. While the Disney workforce will be reduced by thousands across divisions Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products (hourly frontline operations roles at Parks and Resorts will not be affected), and locations from Burbank to New York and Connecticut, there are still more layoffs to come. According to Disney, a third and final wave of cuts is expected to begin ahead of the summer, which will bring the Mouse House to its 7,000 layoffs target. (The figure represents 3.2% of Disney’s total headcount of about 220,000 worldwide as of Oct. 1, 2022.)