DIS Shareholders and Stock Info ONLY

[HokieRaven5]

Tony Chambers Named President, The Walt Disney Company, EMEA

Jan Koeppen stepping down as regional lead after 6-year tenure, as part of EMEA restructure
BURBANK, Calif. (Jan. 7, 2025) – The Walt Disney Company has named Tony Chambers as President, The Walt Disney Company, EMEA, as it restructures how its entertainment businesses in the region function to ensure further unification of the company’s global strategy. Chambers will report in to Disney Entertainment Co-Chairmen Alan Bergman and Dana Walden and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro. Current EMEA President Jan Koeppen is stepping down in February as part of the restructure.

In the new structure, several of the company’s lines of business in the region, including Direct-to-Consumer, Ad Sales, Platform Distribution, Networks, Local Original Content, Studio Marketing, Theatrical Distribution and Sports will now report directly in to the global business leaders of those businesses, who will have P&L oversight for their respective regional businesses in EMEA. The regional president will continue to be the company’s representative in the region and be responsible for consolidating strategic priorities and financials and coordinating teams at the regional level, leading local initiatives that span across businesses (excluding Disney Experiences), and overseeing shared service functions including human resources, communications, and finance.

“EMEA is a key region in terms of the success of our business globally, and as we realign our strategy for our entertainment businesses there, we are fortunate to transition between two fantastic leaders,” said Alan Bergman and Dana Walden, Co-Chairmen, Disney Entertainment, and Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman, ESPN. “Tony Chambers is a seasoned senior executive who has a highly collaborative style and stellar reputation in EMEA and across the company, and he brings a wealth of experience to this important new role. We look forward to continuing to accelerate our growth in EMEA and around the world, and we are immensely grateful for Jan’s exceptional contributions, which have made a meaningful and enduring difference to this team and the company during his tenure.”

“I’m truly honoured to be leading the world-class EMEA team in this new capacity,” Chambers commented. “It’s a dynamic region that has gone through incredible, positive change over the past several years and I’m very eager now to build on that momentum.”
Koeppen noted: “I’m grateful for the incredible six years I have had at Disney, working with some of the most talented and creative people in the industry through a period of profound transformation and growth as we launched and established Disney+ in the region. I leave with a full heart and with great pride in the exceptional Disney EMEA team.”

With Chambers taking on this new role, a new global head of Theatrical Distribution will be named in the near future.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Disney Advertising Shares Ad-Supported Monthly Active Users (MAU) & Methodology

Disney Advertising, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), is sharing its estimated global and domestic (U.S. and Canada) ad-supported MAU numbers, cumulative across its streaming portfolio, and its detailed calculation methodology.

At the 5th annual Tech and Data Showcase at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) today, President of Global Advertising, Rita Ferro, is sharing that the company’s ad-supported monthly active users have reached an estimated 157 million globally, including 112 million domestically, on average per month over the last six months.

Additional details include:

• Unlike linear advertising, there is no industry standard methodology for measuring global streaming advertising audience size.
• Disney Advertising set out to define a globally consistent approach and methodology to estimate ad-supported audience numbers.
• The ad-supported MAU numbers are derived from active accounts across Disney’s streaming ecosystem (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+)* who have viewed ad-supported content continuously for more than 10 seconds.
• Each active account is then multiplied by the number of estimated users per account (global average is 2.6 and it varies by application and region) to estimate the total number of users.
• Multipliers are determined by first-party survey data representing subscribers in regions with an advertising tier.** This survey includes more than 13,000 individuals ages 18-64.
• As an advertising industry leader focused on proving the power of our data, this is another step that delivers intentional and impactful results for brands – in a uniquely Disney way.

 

[HokieRaven5]

I would say Universal is pretty content about their decision to put Wicked on PVOD within 60 days of release in theaters:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1877476733097476357

 

[HokieRaven5]

Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery call off plans to launch Venu sports streaming service

Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery have called off plans to launch their sports streaming service Venu, the companies said in a joint statement Friday.

"After careful consideration, we have collectively agreed to discontinue the Venu Sports joint venture and not launch the streaming service," they said in the statement. "In an ever-changing marketplace, we determined that it was best to meet the evolving demands of sports fans by focusing on existing products and distribution channels. We are proud of the work that has been done on Venu to date and grateful to the Venu staff, whom we will support through this transition period."

 

[wabbott]

https://www.wsj.com/business/media/disney-fox-and-warner-wont-move-forward-with-venu-sports-934ba057

Disney, Fox and Warner Won’t Move Forward With Venu Sports
Companies call off planned service days after Disney struck deal with rival streamer Fubo

By Isabella Simonetti and Jessica Toonkel
Updated Jan. 10, 2025 - 10:10 am EST

Disney’s ESPN, Fox Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery aren’t moving forward with their joint streaming venture Venu Sports, the companies said Friday, calling off what would have been a major bet as the industry’s dynamics shift rapidly.

Earlier this week, Disney agreed to merge its Hulu + Live TV service with sports-focused FuboTV and take a controlling interest in the combined company. The deal also put an end to Fubo’s litigation over the formation of Venu.

“In an ever-changing marketplace, we determined that it was best to meet the evolving demands of sports fans by focusing on existing products and distribution channels,” the three companies said in a joint statement about the end of Venu.

In 2024, the three media giants announced plans to pool some of their most valuable sports programming into a joint streaming service that would serve sports fans who want access to live sports content.

Shortly after, Fubo sued to block the launch of Venu, alleging the companies wouldn’t let Fubo carry a small bundle of sports-focused channels that they were looking to include in the new service.

In August, a judge granted a preliminary injunction to block Venu’s launch while the litigation continued, saying the service would “substantially lessen competition and restrain trade.” Venu’s three partners appealed the decision.

Disney, Fox and Warner are making an aggregate cash payment of $220 million to Fubo to resolve the legal dispute.

Fox and The Wall Street Journal’s parent, News Corp, share common ownership.

Write to Isabella Simonetti at isabella.simonetti@wsj.com

 

[mdmost]

Ha. I knew that app was dead the second they announced the Hulu + Live TV and Fubo TV merger. I wonder what the status of the standalone ESPN subscription is now.