Walt Disney Restructures Entertainment Businesses to Boost Streaming

FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Walt Disney Company is displayed above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the closing bell as the market takes a significant dip in New York, U.S., February 25, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Walt Disney Company is displayed above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the closing bell as the market takes a significant dip in New York, U.S., February 25, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
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Walt Disney Restructures Entertainment Businesses to Boost Streaming

FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Walt Disney Company is displayed above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the closing bell as the market takes a significant dip in New York, U.S., February 25, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Walt Disney Company is displayed above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the closing bell as the market takes a significant dip in New York, U.S., February 25, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Walt Disney Co DIS.N said on Monday it had restructured its media and entertainment businesses to accelerate growth of Disney+ and other streaming services as consumers increasingly gravitate to digital viewing.

Under the reorganization, Disney will separate the development and production of programming from distribution to be more responsive to consumer demands.

The move came days after activist investor Daniel Loeb of hedge fund Third Point urged Disney to forgo a dividend payment and double its programming investment in streaming.

Disney shares rose nearly 5% in after-hours trading to $130.76.

The media and theme parks company launched the Disney+ streaming service in November 2019. It has exceeded its own targets by drawing more than 100 million streaming customers worldwide to Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.

Streaming pioneer Netflix Inc NFLX.O boasts 193 million, but has built that customer base over the 13 years.

Loeb had argued that Disney needed to cut its dividend to increase spending on new TV shows and movies to sign up new customers more quickly.

Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek, in an interview with CNBC, said the company is planning to increase investments in content but he did not say if it was prepared to cut its dividend to finance the strategy.

“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,” Chapek, who took the company’s top job in February, said in a separate statement.

In a statement on Monday, Loeb welcomed Disney’s revamp of its media and entertainment structure, Reuters reported.

“We are pleased to see that Disney is focused on the same opportunity that makes us such enthusiastic shareholders: investing heavily in the (direct-to-consumer) business, positioning Disney to thrive in the next era of entertainment,” Loeb said.

Under the changes, Disney’s studios, general entertainment and sports business would come under one division while distribution and commercialization would fall under a separate global unit.

Disney said its creative teams would develop and produce programming for streaming and traditional platforms, and the distribution group would decide where customers would see it.

Chapek told CNBC there would be layoffs as a result of “centralization” of functions but did not say how many.

Kareem Daniel, formerly president of consumer products, games and publishing, will oversee Disney’s new media and entertainment distribution group, the company said.

Alan Horn and Alan Bergman will continue to head Disney’s studio operations, which will manage programming from big franchises including Marvel, Star Wars, Disney animation and Pixar. Peter Rice will run general entertainment programming and Jimmy Pitaro will oversee sports.

AT&T T.N, which debuted the HBO Max streaming service in May, reorganized in August to combine its film and TV operations under one studio head to better compete in the streaming media wars.

Disney said it would hold an investor day on Dec. 10 to provide more information about its strategy.



Oasis Fans Converge as Mega-tour Kicks Off in UK

Oasis are performing together for the first time since 2009. MIKE CLARKE / AFP
Oasis are performing together for the first time since 2009. MIKE CLARKE / AFP
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Oasis Fans Converge as Mega-tour Kicks Off in UK

Oasis are performing together for the first time since 2009. MIKE CLARKE / AFP
Oasis are performing together for the first time since 2009. MIKE CLARKE / AFP

Tens of thousands of ecstatic Oasis fans descend Friday on Cardiff as the legendary Britpop band kicks off a highly anticipated reunion tour nearly 16 years after last performing together.

The concert at the Principality Stadium in the Welsh capital will be the first of a 41-date run of gigs spanning the world, including in the United States, Japan, Australia and Brazil, AFP said.

Once-warring brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, their bandmates and UK support acts will play in Cardiff on Friday and Saturday before five hometown gigs in Manchester starting on July 11.

Further sold-out British and Irish concerts will follow at London's Wembley Stadium, Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium and Dublin's Croke Park, before the international leg of their Oasis Live '25 tour.

"All that matters is how the people in that stadium feel," Liam Gallagher, 52, said on social media last week, as months of anticipation reach a climax.

Fans have been sharing their excitement at the first chance to see Oasis play live since 2009 -- or ever -- after it was long seen as a remote prospect following one of music's most acrimonious break-ups.

The band's 1990s gigs are the stuff of legend.

"The feeling is biblical!" fuel tanker driver Sean Campbell, 35, told AFP before attending Friday's gig.

"I've been waiting years for their return. I missed out on going years ago, so this is my first time seeing them live."

Ticket controversy

Oasis, famous for 1990s hits like "Live Forever" and "Wonderwall", announced its comeback tour last August, days before the 30th anniversary of their debut album, "Definitely Maybe".

The Manchester rockers split in 2009, with Noel saying he "simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer".

The Gallagher brothers had maintained a war of words about each other for more than a decade, performing individually over those years but never together.

The surprise announcement that they had finally put aside their feud to reunite sparked an online frenzy for tickets but outrage over sudden price hikes that saw Britain's competition watchdog threaten legal action.

Resale tickets costing thousands of pounds have surfaced, while fans have also been targeted by online scams.

Britain's Lloyds Bank estimated in April that victims had collectively lost more than £2 million ($2.7 million).

The tour is expected to be a boon for the struggling UK economy.

Fans could spend more than £1 billion combined on tickets and outgoings such as transportation and accommodation, Barclays bank estimated in May.

'Rough and ready'

Oasis will be supported in the UK by Richard Ashcroft, frontman of British rock band The Verve, as well as the Liverpool-formed band Cast.

The band has not released the setlist for their opening and other shows, with rampant speculation online over which classic tracks will feature and whether any new material will be performed.

There are also many rumors over the potential for special guests appearances.

Illuminated drones displayed Oasis's classic logo above the Cardiff stadium late Wednesday, in a one-night display adding to the buzz around the tour's kick-off.

Gates open Friday at 5:00 pm (1600 GMT), with the band due on stage just over three hours later after both support acts have played.

The performance will wrap up by 10:30 pm, organizers said.

The stadium, which has a capacity of 74,500 for concerts, is set to have its retractable roof closed for both nights, with an incredible atmosphere expected.

Oasis reportedly began jamming together months ago, before starting rehearsals in London more recently.

The band has reportedly welcomed several new members for the tour, including a keyboard player and drummer.

Writing in the tour program, Noel, 58, reflected on the band's enduring popularity, saying "a new generation recognizes how Oasis wasn't manufactured".

"It was chaotic, and flawed, and not technically brilliant. We were rough and ready guys from a rehearsal room, and people recognized it."