Disney CEO Bob Chapek Has ‘A Plan’ For ESPN, Investor Daniel Loeb Eases Pressure To Spin Off Sports Network

The Walt Disney Co., after some cage-rattling by activist investor Daniel Loeb, has added former Viacom and Facebook exec Carolyn Everson to its board of directors.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Human Rights Campaign has agreed to accept a contribution from the Walt Disney Co., months after rejecting it at the height of the “Don’t Say Gay” controversy. The move comes as Disney continues to try to heal the damage done by its response to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, which restricts classroom instruction on LGBTQ identity. Disney initially declined to take a public position on the measure, leading to a major backlash among its employees. As the furor mounted, CEO Bob Chapek announced that the company would oppose the law and make a $5 million donation to HRC and other gay rights organizations. But HRC rejected the money, saying it first wanted to see the company “build on their public commitment” by working closely with LGBTQ organizations.

backed down from that recommendation. Disney said in a statement Friday that it has “agreed to customary standstill, voting and other provisions through Disney’s 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders” with Third Point.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor As a top executive at Facebook and Instacart, Carolyn Everson knows a lot about the habits of tech-savvy consumers. Soon, she may be able to help Walt Disney Co. figure out how to harness them. Disney plans to expand its board of directors to 12 from 11 and nominated Everson as a new member. The move is supported by Third Point LLC, the activist investor that in August took a new stake in Disney and suggested a litany of big moves, such as spinning off ESPN or buying out Comcast’s ownership of Hulu. “We have a productive and collegial relationship with Third Point, with whom we share a deep commitment to continue building on Disney’s many successes and increasing shareholder value,” said Disney CEO Bob Chapek in a prepared statement.

While the Emmys drew mixed reviews, the film festivals closed to strong applause this week, not only for their movies (we’d forgotten some) but for their star turnout (forgot a few of them, too).

With a bit more than a year left before Disney can buy out Comcast’s financial stake in Hulu, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts pushed back on Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s suggestion that Hulu’s value has declined amid public market skepticism about streaming.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Is there a bidding war brewing over Hulu? Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts called Hulu a “phenomenal business” — and said that if Disney were willing to sell it, the cable and media company would be interested in buying it out. “Hulu’s a phenomenal business. Its scale is fantastic. It has wonderful content,” Roberts said, speaking Wednesday at Goldman Sachs’ Communacopia + Technology Conference 2022 in San Francisco. “If it was up for sale, Comcast would be interested” in buying 100% of Hulu, and “others would I think as well.” Disney currently owns 66% of Hulu and Comcast holds the remaining 33% stake. As of July 2, 2022, Disney recorded Comcast’s interest in Hulu as being worth $8.6 billion, implying a valuation of $25.8 billion. In an auction-style sale of Hulu in its entirety, Roberts suggested, Hulu may fetch more than that.

Walt Disney’s CEO today further articulated an evolving strategy — over the next three or four years — of Disney+ becoming a platform for consumer engagement beyond the streaming service.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek, coming off a promotional blitz at the company’s D23 conference last weekend, reiterated many of those messages for a Wall Street audience but struck a more confident tone than ever before in outlining the future of Hulu.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney+ was first launched three years ago with the “pretty absurd” low price point of $6.99 per month, CEO Bob Chapek admitted. Now the company is gearing up to raise prices again on the flagship streamer — but Disney+ still offers a better price/value equation than competitors, he said. “I think we’re way underpriced relative to the value we provide,” Chapek said, noting that the core Disney+ service without ads will continue to be priced below several competitors. The CEO was speaking Wednesday at Goldman Sachs’ Communacopia + Technology Conference 2022. Amid rising inflation, Disney has announced price increases coming in the fourth quarter of 2022 for Disney+ and Hulu, as well as a December launch for the ad-supported Disney+ tier in the U.S. Disney+ Basic, the name of the plan with ads, will launch Dec. 8 in the U.S. for $7.99/month. That’s the price of the current ad-free version of Disney+, which at that time will bump up to $10.99/month, a 38% increase, and will be known as Disney+ Premium.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Bob Iger, former CEO of the Walt Disney Co., is joining venture-capital firm Thrive Capital as a venture partner, the company announced Tuesday. Iger stepped down as Disney’s CEO in 2020 after a 15-year run, succeeded by Bob Chapek. Iger’s tenure as as executive chairman ended at the end of last year. New York-based Thrive Capital was founded in 2009 by Josh Kushner, the younger brother of former Trump adviser Jared Kushner. “Bob is widely recognized as one of the most visionary, innovative, and successful CEOs in history, and epitomizes daring leadership,” the VC firm said in a blog post. “Bob will bring his experience and expertise to bear in mentoring our founders as they build iconic companies spanning multiple industries, including healthcare, consumer technology, financial services, enterprise software, and more. Today’s complex and dynamic times require bold leadership, and we can think of no one better suited than him to mentor Thrive companies as they forge new ground.”

reported Sunday.“We have a better understanding of ESPN’s potential as a standalone business and another vertical for Disney to reach a global audience to generate ad and subscriber revenues,” Loeb tweeted Sunday. “We look forward to seeing Mr.

Today at the D23 Expo, Josh D’Amaro, the handsome chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, led guests on a tour of the future of the Disney Parks. During the lengthy presentation, several new “Frozen” lands being built at the international parks were detailed, an announcement was made about a forthcoming Disney Cruise Line ship and potential expansions of Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom were fuzzily alluded to.

Today at the D23 Expo, Josh D’Amaro, the handsome chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, led guests on a tour of the future of the Disney Parks. During the lengthy presentation, several new “Frozen” lands being built at the international parks were detailed, an announcement was made about a forthcoming Disney Cruise Line ship and potential expansions of Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom were fuzzily alluded to.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Activist investor Daniel S. Loeb of Third Point has backed off his proposal from last month for Disney to divest itself of ESPN in order to devote even more resources to content creation for streaming platforms. Loeb sent two Twitter messages early Sunday morning that amounted to an olive branch to Disney and its CEO Bob Chapek. Loeb said he had gained a “better understanding” of Disney’s plans to more deeply integrate ESPN into its direct-to-consumer operations and the emerging Disney bundle of channels. The social media missive signals that Loeb will not step up his public pressure on Disney and seek to field an alternative slate of directors at the company’s annual meeting next spring.

interview with Variety when asked about buying out Comcast before the contractual deadline. “But that depends on the propensity for the other partner to be willing to have discussions that would bring that to fruition earlier.”On the current timeline, Disney — which owns 67% of Hulu — would take over the remainder of the shares in 16 months, for a still-undecided price.

Bob Chapek won’t talk about whether an Encanto sequel is coming or not, but the Disney CEO makes it very clear he has some very big plans for the company as the House of Mouse heads into its 100th anniversary in 2023.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor “You should see the backstage,” actor Diego Luna told the D23 Expo crowd Saturday morning as he talked up his new “Star Wars”-branded Disney+ series “Andor” to the 5,000 faithful fans who packed the Anaheim Convention Center. The assembly of boldface names that were brought out at the three-day Disney fan event for a wave and brief chat about upcoming projects was a visual representation of the breadth of content produced by the studio these days. The list of boldface names included Harrison Ford, Angela Bassett, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston, Don Cheadle, Owen Wilson, Zoe Saldana, Giancarlo Esposito, Christian Slater, Pedro Pascal, Gael Garcia Bernal, Anthony Ramos and more.The star power on display was impressive and so was the brand power that Disney flexed during D23 Expo by releasing dozens of trailers, teasers and first looks at content bound for Disney+ and theaters in the coming year. The rapid-fire delivery of “Coming Soon” messages was music to the ears of Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who has been telling investors and others that Disney+’s has yet to fully hit its stride in content delivery because of pandemic disruptions.