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Analysis: could Disney spin off ESPN and ABC?
- Thread starter Ccook55
- Start date
And yet neither of them are dragging down the stock.
But yes, Iger was quoted not long ago as saying there's not much future in "linear TV."
But yes, Iger was quoted not long ago as saying there's not much future in "linear TV."
Interesting since NBC is saying the same thing about the future of linear tv and dumping the 10pm/9pm hour but their taking it to a new level like getting rid of ABC or ESPN completely. I know people that just watch sports but they don't watch streaming at all so I don't know what their plan would be and dumping ABC would be weird unless Disney plans on selling it to someone else which Disney has owned ABC since 1996.
The likely candidate to get ESPN is Hearst Television given that it has been named as a Co-Owner of ESPN but with 20% shares of the outlet.
The likely scenario is that ABC will mainly be a label for it's news division.
The other would be this one KRDC Los Angeles it's the one remaining radio station under Disney's management and is used as an extension for the now Good Karma Station KSPN Los Angeles. Does Good Karma get the station as full time owner is yet to be seen here.
This, and who would be in a position to buy ESPN? ABC would likely be sold as a separate entity anyway.
ABC/ESPN would be placed away from the Disney brand/umbrella to fend for itself. All the while, Disney would have brokers out beating the bushes for a potential deal(s).
Could this be a candidate for ESPN Scripps like they get the ESPN Archives as part of a ploy to launch their sports network.
Too much debt. Scripps pockets simply are not deep enough. Regional Sports Networks are small potatoes compared to ESPN. One year ago, I might have said Amazon was a player, but they lost half of their market share this past year. So even Amazon doesn't have enough free cash for ESPN. That's why I say it becomes a free standing company if Disney spins it off.
The real question is can Disney survive without the streaming rights to ESPN content? Because we have already seen that Disney alone is not enough in the streaming world. So before they talk about spinning off ESPN, they need to beef up the Disney streaming package.
There is speculation that it could go private with one or more investment banks leading a privatization.
That reminds me...Iger has to fix the situation in Florida in a way that benefits Disney. If that means transferring the debt to the state of Florida, then maybe that's a win. I don't know an easy way out of that situation. But if Disney is going to stay in the theme park business, they have to resolve the problem in Florida.
Well Florida will be sinking soon enough, maybe he can just wait it out and get a tax write off.
His roots worked then. It’s a totally different world now and the old playbooks have limited value.
Exactly. This whole 'Let's go back to the old days'-thinking, is completely out of step.
As opposed to being saddled in debt losing money?
Disney is a bloated company at this point.
"The current path has some challenges that need addressing" does not mean "What worked five decades ago is going to work in today's world."
What is Disney most known for. Mickey Mouse and Disney World. They don’t need ESPN. In fact I think both would be better apart. They should make the movie studio a separate division. Sell off the network side and focus on what they are good at.
Had the acquisition of the Fox properties helped or hurt the company.
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