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“We don’t really need more assets at the moment”
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“We don’t really need more assets at the moment”

As other media and entertainment companies consider more mergers and acquisitions under the Trump administration, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company probably wouldn’t go that route.

Speaking on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings conference call Thursday, Iger said the company has already seen a lot of consolidation, following the acquisition of 20th Century Fox’s assets in 2017. While noting that Disney “will always look at opportunities opportunistically” Iger said the company has no immediate plans for acquisitions under the new administration.

“In many ways we have already consolidated. We don’t really need more assets right now, either from a distribution or content perspective, to thrive in a fundamentally disruptive media world,” Iger said.

Iger added that the acquisition of 20th Century Fox’s assets was made in an effort to expand the company’s streaming ambitions and has since brought a “tremendous amount of content”, which has propelled Disney’s 60 Emmy Awards in September.

“On top of that, people forget that with control of Hulu, and ultimately ownership of Hulu, that distribution, well packaged, well integrated with Disney+, allowed us to achieve the numbers that we achieved, which was approximately 174 million subscribers worldwide, and an ability to really see the future of streaming through a very optimistic lens,” Iger said.

These comments contrast with those of other CEOs, who have expressed their interest by amassing more assets under Trump, including the head of Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, who said the new administration could lead to greater consolidation, which “will bring a real positive and accelerated impact to this industry that is needed.”

Other executives have been more direct, such as Perry Sook, chief executive of television giant Nexstar, adage: “We believe there is value to be created for our shareholders through further consolidation. »

Chris Ripley, Managing Director of Sinclair had a similar feeling. “It feels like a cloud over the industry is clearing here, and we believe a much-needed modernization of regulations will be coming,” he said. “We intend to participate in this, mergers and acquisitions in the sector, whether as a buyer, seller or merger partner.”