Disney’s
television networks—including the broadcaster ABC—aren’t for sale, CEO Bob Iger said in an interview Wednesday at the New York Times’ Dealbook conference.
That’s an apparent shift in Iger’s thinking. In an interview with CNBC at the Allen & Co. media conference in July, Iger had indicated that ABC and the company’s other linear networks, including FX, the National Geographic channel and others, might not be core to the future of the company. Investors had interpreted that comment to mean that those assets might be for sale.
Iger said in an interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin of the
New York Times
that the company is continuously evaluating its portfolio of businesses, and has decided that the TV networks that they could be run more efficiently with difficult choices on reducing costs. He says Disney’s linear networks are being run more efficiently now than they were when he made that comment over the summer.
Asked about the recent disappointing performance of some recent films, including The Marvels and Wish, Iger said that some recent films weren’t as high in quality as some of their predecessors. He says that his current priority is to help the studio turn around creatively.
On the company’s decision to suspend advertising on X, the social network formerly called Twitter, Iger said that the company made the decision in response to recent comments CEO Elon Musk made on the platform that many consider to be anti-Semitic. He did say that the company has allowed some of its services—including ESPN and ABC News—to post content on the site.
Write to Eric J. Savitz at [email protected]
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