Over the past several months, on more than one occasion, we’ve heard from Disney executives about how they’re going to be cutting back a bit on streaming and put the focus on streamlining releases. That is to say, all that talk about how Disney+ was going to be the golden goose of the company was a bit premature. In fact, the CEO is now talking about how the studio fumbled the streaming space.
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Speaking as part of the MoffettNathanson Media, Internet & Communications Conference (via THR), Bob Iger spoke bluntly about the issues surrounding the way the Disney+ launch was handled. Specifically, the Disney CEO said the studio was way too “aggressive” with its streaming plans.
“As we got into the streaming business in a very, very aggressive way, we tried to tell too many stories,” explained Iger. “Basically we invested too much, way ahead of possible returns. It’s what led to streaming ending up as a $4 billion loss.”
What’s interesting about what Iger is saying isn’t that it’s meaningful to Disney’s current problem, but it also is basically the lesson learned by nearly every studio that launched a streaming service over the past several years. Everyone assumed (wrongfully, apparently) that if they make all this exclusive content for a streaming service, the profits would roll in because you have a captive audience and you control the way they consume the media.
Instead, what we’ve seen is that the spending outpaced the revenue, and Disney, among other studios, are now diversifying in interesting ways. Films that would have debuted on Disney+ are getting theatrical releases. Shows that have been announced are getting quietly cancelled. And perhaps worst of all, some shows that were already released are getting removed from the service completely for tax purposes. It’s a mess, frankly.
That said, it’s still very early in the life of streaming. Eventually Disney+ could become the de facto place to find Mouse House content. But for now, with stockholders to answer to, things are changing.
