Disney is Making Progress in Providing a Better Entertainment Experience for Consumers, Families, and the Disney World App Store: Comment on Rick Munarriz
Disney has its eyes on the future, says Munarriz. “Now that it has a lot of strength in the theme parks, as well as the success of Disney+ and other streaming services, it will get to a point where it will go back to pre-pandemic levels next year.” But Disney seems pretty confident that it’s going to be, you know, at peak form within the new year.”
Katz points out that streaming is costly and that only Netflix is “consistently profitable.” He says Disney is “making steady progress,” especially now that it controls Hulu. The idea is to create a more seamless entertainment experience for consumers by giving them both Disney+ and Hulu content in a single app, as well as drawing a much broader audience. I’m a couch potato and I don’t want to be spending so much time seeking out content.
According to Iger, Disney could reach profitability by the end of 2024, thanks to the success of The Kardashians and Ahsoka.
The only site that hasn’t done well is Disney World. The company said the decline was due to factors such as the end of its 50th anniversary celebrations, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, and wage inflation.
After several months of negotiations, Disney agreed to raise union workers’ pay to $18 per hour by the end of 2023, with additional increases over the next three years. Rick Munarriz says that employees have earned the right to be paid more. “It’s not easy dealing with tourists… But of course, it does mean that… profits do take a hit in the process.”
ESPN: An Overview of Recent Inclusive Expansions, Price Increases, and Other Shopping Trends on Netflix, Apple TV+, and Netflix
- ESPN: Disney is all in to take ESPN direct-to-consumer. The sports network’s revenue has increased over the last year. During the earnings call, Iger said ESPN is the number 1 brand on TikTok “with about 44 million followers.” He said they’re hoping to find partners, including sports leagues, that would help them with technology, marketing and content with the goal of turning ESPN into a “preeminent digital sports platform.”
Disney wants to grow while cutting costs and plans to increase its efficiency target by $2 billion.
That’s why, on October 12, the cost of its ad-free plan jumped from $11 per month to $14. At the same time, Hulu’s prices rose from $15 per month to $18. Other streamers have made the same moves. Last month, Netflix showed subscriber growth and announced price hikes. Apple TV+ also increased prices. Max has kept its prices fairly constant but hasn’t seen a lot of subscriber gains.