Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger Answers Shareholder Questions
- Details
- Category: Haute This Issue
- Published on Monday, 15 April 2024 16:01
- Written by Janet Walker
CEO Bob Iger, during the Walt Disney shareholder meeting, presented the company's theatrical, streaming, and television content successes through the recent awards season, launched upcoming theatrical releases, explained upgrades to Parks and Experiences, and answered shareholder questions.
The initial question was unavailable although gathering from Mr. Iger's response the question centered on Disney +, streaming and the expansion of Hulu.
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A. The success of our streaming services is a testament to the exceptional content that we create nothing more important than that and as I mentioned earlier our extensive library of titles on Disney plus just got a lot bigger with the official launch of Hulu on Disney plus just last week.
This marks the most significant technical operational and product advancements to Disney plus since its launch and it reflects a wider tent transformation that has been underway in our streaming business for the last two years ESPN will also factor into our overall streaming strategy and you heard me talk about our plans for the new joint venture as well as our plans to create an incredibly interactive standalone streaming option for ESPN sometime in 2025.
We're on the right path there's certainly competition in the industry fragments today but we like our hand with Disney plus and ESPN plus and with their combined power I think Disney has a real chance to become the ultimate streaming destination for consumers.
Q. The parks are a special place and deserve to be maintained restored and treasured for the next generation and generations to come how is Disney striving to restore the perks service level and details that truly make a Disney theme park experience special?
A. Well that that's a great question. As I mentioned before the level of quality in our parks is a top priority for us and as part of that commitment we're constantly soliciting guest feedback and making adjustments that can enhance their experience but as an example we've implemented more flexible park hopping options across Walt Disney World at Disneyland we also recently shared a breakdown of how we plan to spend $60 billion in the next 10 years as part of our plans for turbocharging growth in our experiences business.
And while about 70% is focused on capacity expanding investments like bringing new lands and creating new attractions adding new characters and bringing shows to life the remaining approximately 30% is focused on the technology and the maintenance needed to do exactly what you're talking about in terms of maintaining a top quality guest experience let me conclude just by saying that we agree our parks are special places and they continue to be a top priority for us.
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Q. With "Epic Universe" opening in Orlando in 2025 why hasn't Disney prepared anything or placed more than just a handful of attractions in the pipeline to be ready for this in 2025 at Walt Disney World?
A. Well thank you very much for your question but it just couldn't be further from the truth. We've been aware of Universal's plans for a new park for more than a decade and we have a sophisticated approach to analyzing the needs of all of our businesses and strategically deploying capital, but I just want to remind you of a few things at Walt Disney World during the same.
We opened "Pandora the World of Avatar and Animal Kingdom," "Toy Story Land," "Star Wars Galaxies Edge" and "Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway" at Hollywood Studios. We also completed a multi-year multi-billion-dollar transformation of Epcot which included adding "Remy's Ratatouille Adventure," "Allana's Journey of Water" and the great attraction "Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind" and we opened "Tron Light Cycle Run at Magic Kingdom."
So, by staggering these major launches we've been able to commercially and operationally optimize our new offerings over time, rather than having to do it all at once and based on the guest experience that that we've heard all about from all of these items that I just mentioned we know that they are extremely popular and they're serving our guests extremely well.
And by the way the agreement we reached with the Central Florida tourism oversight district last week will actually enable us to pursue the kinds of significant investment in our Florida parks that you're talking about we achieved a win-win result with that deal in terms of our ability to pursue future development opportunities but also in terms of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and economic opportunity in the state that will come with our investment in new projects.
So, as we've discussed regarding our $60 billion capital expenditure plans there's much more coming to our parks around the world including in Florida.
Q. What is Disney doing or considering doing to broaden the reach of their films beyond younger people who may gravitate more to animation etcetera to reach more middle-aged and older people?
A. Well thanks for this question the creative output of our film studios is something I'm acutely focused on right now and looking across all of our outstanding studios we make contact for audiences of all ages and this year's slate of theatrical extremely releases showcases that perfectly hitting theaters first or the next installments of 20th century's popular franchise Kingdom of the Planet Apes and Alien Romulus clearly those will attract audiences beyond just young,
For studios like Marvel we continue to broaden our offerings fact Deadpool and Wolverine which is the most anticipated film of the year according to Fandango is Marvel's first R rated movie. We're also excited about animated titles like inside out two in our sequel to Moana. In essence we have something for everyone and we remain focused on the quality of what we produce which you'll see reflected in our releases moving forward.
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Q. Societal values and norms change how does the Walt Disney company balance the task of evolving with the times to create timeless content that appeals to the current generations while still preserving its legacy of rich traditions of human connection and original storytelling.
A. Thank you for that question as I said before Walt understood that storytelling is the power to connect us all to one another and even after all these years we're still guided by the same core ideals of respect understanding and compassion and an unwavering sense of optimism back to our stories continue to celebrate heroes emphasize the value of family and friendship and still a steady fade that tomorrow can always be brighter than today our visionary storytellers draw on their own lives experiences to create content for all audiences that captures the beauty of the world around us we're a storytelling company first and foremost and we will always be guided by a desire to create exceptional stories characters that audiences all over the world can connect with.
Q. In September 2023 Mr. Iger and Mr. Damaro announced a $60 billion investment in the Disney experiences division this led to much excitement and speculation among Disney fans about what would change or what additions might come to the parks so far there has been no announcement of what the investments are all we have been given is a lot of blue sky ideas at D23 and other events will there be any announcements soon of what we will see in the investments?
A. You know we have a lot of projects in development. Many of them are known to us but we disclosed these at a cadence and when we really feel we're ready and we have something more tangible to show people.
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Q. Does the company provide any mentorship opportunities for high school students?
A. I appreciate the question, but we actually don't have formal high school mentoring programs but certainly we believe strongly in the importance of creating opportunities for the next generation and we're proud to participate in numerous other activities aimed at opening doors for young people.
We're proud obviously of our track record in terms of supporting communities like our children's hospitals program our involvement with make a wish which is decades old and something we're extremely, extremely, happy about our heroes work here program where we've hired thousands of veterans of the company and of course Disney aspire which offers tuition support for eligible employees.
Q. Is it possible for Disney to stay out of political and social agendas and just provide entertainment?
A. Our job is to entertain first and foremost and by telling great stories we continue to have a positive impact on the world and inspire future generations just as we've done for over 100 years Disney has always been and will continue to be a source of hope joy and optimism for people of all ages we're committed to telling stories that reflect the world around us and using those stories to entertain people from all walks of life I've always believed that we have a responsibility to do good in the world but we know our job is not to advance any kind of agenda so as long as I'm in the job I'm going to continue to be guided by a sense of decency and respect and we will always trust our instincts.
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Q. How do you think about women's sports within the ESPN portfolio?
A. Well actually never been more bullish about women's sports and I think it's quite evident that its popularity has grown tremendously just by the results this week of the women's college basketball postseason where the game between Iowa and LSU attracted over 12 million viewers just to put that number in context it ranks above all but one men's NCAA tournament game over one NBA Finals game and every World Series game in the most recent postseason.
So that's just a tremendous, tremendous, I think affirmation that not only have women sports arrived but their potential is so tremendous and ESPN is pleased to be part of that and expects to be part of the growth of women's sports for years to come in fact it recently announced an eight year extension of its rights to the NCAA to NCAA championships which includes a lot of women's sports including women's basketball so we're very bullish on women's sports and look forward to more on the ESPN.
Q. We have time for one last question will other Taylor Swift concerts be added to Disney plus like the reputation stadium tour?
A. Well we're actually thrilled that we were able to reach an agreement with Taylor and her team to put the film her most recent concert tour on the Disney plus which has done extremely well we have high regard for her as to millions and millions of fans around the world like nothing more than to continue our great relationship with her and since that is the last question I appreciate everybody's time and interest in our company and look forward to more engagements in the future and the thank you very much.
