BURBANK, Calif. — The Walt Disney Company announced Monday it is reorganizing its media and entertainment businesses to focus on developing and producing original content for its streaming services.
Although it will still produce original content for legacy platforms, the reorganization is designed “to further accelerate the company’s direct-to-consumer strategy, in light of the rapid success of Disney+,” reads the press announcement.
In August, Disney announced its Disney+ streamer had surpassed 60 million subscribers. The service launched in November 2019.
As part of the business restructuring, which is effective immediately, Disney’s distribution and commercialization activities will be centralized into a single, global media and entertainment distribution organization, which will be responsible for all monetization of content (both distribution and ad sales) and will oversee operations of the company’s streaming services.
Content creation will be managed in three distinct groups — studios, general entertainment and sports — which will produce and deliver content for theatrical, linear and streaming, with a primary focus on Disney’s streaming services, says the press release.
“Given the incredible success of Disney+ and our plans to accelerate our direct-to-consumer business, we are strategically positioning our company to more effectively support our growth strategy and increase shareholder value,” said Bob Chapek, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, in the press release.
“Managing content creation distinct from distribution will allow us to be more effective and nimble in making the content consumers want most, delivered in the way they prefer to consume it. Our creative teams will concentrate on what they do best — making world-class, franchise-based content — while our newly centralized global distribution team will focus on delivering and monetizing that content in the most optimal way across all platforms, including Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and the coming Star international streaming service.”
The studios content group will create branded theatrical and episodic content based on Disney’s franchises for theatrical exhibition, Disney+ and the company’s other streaming services. The group will include the content engines of The Walt Disney Studios, including Disney live action and Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures.
The general entertainment content group will create episodic and original long-form content for the company’s streaming platforms and its cable and broadcast networks. The group will include the content engines of 20th Television, ABC Signature and Touchstone Television, ABC News, Disney Channels, Freeform, FX and National Geographic.
The sports content group will focus on ESPN’s live sports programming, as well as sports news and original and non-scripted sports-related content for the cable channels, ESPN+ and ABC.
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