The Walt Disney Company recently laid out some big plans and lofty goals, including a $60 billion expansion and a huge Animal Kingdom theme park update. But the parks division isn’t the only area of the company that is preparing for change.
In February, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced an immediate restructuring of The Walt Disney Company. In doing so, Disney was reorganized into three segments: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Disney Parks, Experience, and Products. The move split ESPN into its own division separate from Disney Entertainment. Since this change, we’ve heard a lot about the future of Disney, and now we have two important updates to share.
Analysts have been speculating about the fate of the Disney-owned ABC network for a while now. In fact, Disney even received a $10 billion offer to sell ABC to Byron Allen.
That said, Disney may have a different plan for ABC after all. Following an announcement that GMA headquarters will eventually be moved to Hudson Square, Variety pointed out that “plans to move GMA to Disney’s new environs might suggest the company wants to keep the show or even ABC News as a whole, even if the linear infrastructure of the network is taken over by a different entity.”
All Disney-owned New York properties are expected to move to a building in downtown New York in 2025. ABC News stated, “Moving all ABC News teams to our new state-of-the-art building was a strategic decision that will allow for more collaboration and innovation,” per Variety. Disney has not officially commented on the fate of ABC yet, so we’ll have to wait and see if the decision to relocate ABC News teams has anything to do with Disney’s ultimate goals.
Additionally, investors recently got a fresh look at ESPN’s revenue. Disney’s ESPN division comprises the TV network and the ESPN+ streaming service. On October 18th, 2023, Disney shared that the ESPN division generated over $12.5 billion over a nine-month period, per CNBC. Reports show that ESPN’s revenue has declined in recent quarters.
According to CNBC, “The network had roughly $4.06 billion in revenue in the third quarter, down from nearly $4.1 billion in the second quarter and about $4.4 billion in the first quarter.” The company’s fourth-quarter earnings call is set for November 8th.
Between the ABC News relocation and the new ESPN data, investors have a lot to consider ahead of the next earnings call. In the meantime, we’re always on the lookout for the latest Disney news, so stay tuned for more.
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