With Comcast planning to spin out NBCUniversal cable networks and Warner Bros. Discovery positioning itself to do the same, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company may or may not join an anticipated move towards consolidation since its linear business is doing just fine.
“We actually are at a point where the linear networks at our company are not a burden at all. They’re actually an asset,” he told investors on a post-earnings conference call.
“We are programming them, and we are funding them at levels that actually give us the ability to enhance our overall television business that obviously includes and leans into streaming, which, let’s face it, is really the future of the television business.
“So. while I won’t rule out the possibility some of the smaller networks in some form or another being configured differently in terms of how we bring them to market, maybe even ownership, but we’re not right now. We actually feel good about the hand that we have and the manner in which we’re managing both the linear and the streaming businesses across the board.”
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Managing the decline of linear television while ramping up streaming is the biggest challenge of traditional media. Disney is not in a bad place on that front as its latest earnings showed. Domestic linear television did not decline in the fiscal first quarter but was pretty much flat in terms of revenue and operating income, even as streaming profits accelerated.
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