Everything you need to know about Disney, ESPN, and Bob Iger’s return as CEO
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Everything you need to know about Disney, ESPN, and Bob Iger’s return as CEO
By Emma Roth, a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.
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Disney has had a tumultuous run since Bob Iger’s return as the company’s CEO, which came just two years after he handed the reins over to Bob Chapek. Iger has since worked to undo some of Chapek’s changes as the company contends with a streaming-focused future.
Iger has big plans for the future of Disney and has already combined the Disney Plus and Hulu apps for bundle subscribers in the US. Disney is also gearing up to launch a streaming-only version of ESPN that will exist in addition to a new live sports streaming partnership with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Outside of streaming, Iger is hoping to boost Disney’s slate of films and reinvigorate interest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But with Iger’s contract set to expire in 2026, a lot remains unclear about what’s next for the future of Disney. Here are all the major changes Iger has made so far.
Apr 18
The clock is ticking on Disney’s streaming strategy.Today’s episode of Decoder is all about Disney, the massive activist investor revolt it just fought off, and what happens next in the world of streaming. Earlier this month, Disney survived an attempted board takeover from businessman Nelson Peltz. While investors overwhelmingly sided with Disney and CEO Bob Iger, the boardroom showdown made something very clear: Disney needs to figure out streaming and get its creative direction back on track.
To help me better understand what’s happening here, I brought on my friend Julia Alexander, who is VP of strategy at Parrot Analytics, a Puck News news contributor, and, most importantly, a former Verge reporter. She’s a leading expert on all things Disney, and I always learn something important about the state of the entertainment business when I talk to her.
Apr 15
Disney reportedly wants to bring always-on channels to Disney Plus
Image: Nick Barclay / The VergeThe revamped Disney Plus app could soon feature always-on channels dedicated to Star Wars and Marvel shows, according to a report from The Information. The channels, which are reportedly similar to those on free ad-supported streaming services like Pluto or Tubi, could take away the choice when it comes to picking out what to watch next.
Read Article >In addition to Star Wars and Marvel series, Disney’s lineup of channels could feature stations that continuously stream Disney’s classic animated films or movies from Pixar, The Information reports. Even though viewers would need a Disney Plus subscription to tune in to the channels, they will likely still contain ads — just like traditional television.
The Disney Plus password-sharing crackdown starts in June
Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeDisney Plus already has rules in place to prevent subscribers from sharing their passwords — but now we have an idea when it will start making users pay to share them. In an interview on CNBC, Disney CEO Bob Iger says the company plans on “launching our first real foray into password sharing” in June.
Read Article >Iger says the rollout will start in “just a few countries in a few markets” before expanding to all subscribers in September. Disney’s anti-password sharing rules initially went into effect for new subscribers on January 25th and were rolled out to existing members on March 14th. Netflix became the first streaming service to crack down on password sharing in 2023, as it began charging users an extra $7.99 per month to add an extra viewer outside their household.
- “No one has the breadth of what Disney has when it comes to streaming.”
Following a drawn-out proxy fight, CEO Bob Iger gave investors a pep talk about the future of Disney, including its goals of launching a streaming-only version of ESPN in 2025:
This will give consumers the ability to stream their favorite live games and studio programming, and take advantage of an immersive, customizable sports experience that includes betting, fantasy sports, e-commerce, and more.
Iger also mentioned ESPN’s joint venture with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, while adding that Disney’s suite of streaming services will reach profitability by the end of this fiscal year.
Disney CEO Bob Iger Delivers Message of ‘Renewed Strength’ at Annual Shareholders Meeting[The Walt Disney Company]
Mar 27
Disney Plus officially unveils its very green new logo
Same Disney Plus, new logo.Image: DisneyDisney has been hinting at some big changes in the Disney Plus branding. In recent days, lots of users checked their TV, tablet, or phone to find the streaming app had a new logo — the iconic Disney blue replaced by a glowing green background. The new logo has been controversial: some people see it as a needless simplification of a familiar design; some people appreciate that it doesn’t look like every other streaming service; some people find themselves wondering if the color really changed or if they’ve just been looking at their TV wrong all this time.
Read Article >Well, it did change. Permanently. That new green color is called “Aurora,” both in tribute to the aurora borealis and the protagonist of Sleeping Beauty. (I don’t remember much of this green color in that movie, but whatever.) It’s meant to be a mix of Disney blue and Hulu green — here’s a really fun deep dive into the exact alchemy of said mix — as Hulu becomes a part Disney Plus.
Mar 27
The Disney Plus-Hulu merger is way more than a streaming bundle
It’s Hulu. In Disney Plus. Image: DisneyAs of today, Hulu is part of Disney Plus. Hulu still exists — it still even has its own app — but it’s also being bundled into Disney’s primary streaming service alongside all the company’s other content. Even the Disney Plus logo changed to integrate that iconic green Hulu hue.
Read Article >From a product perspective, the Hulu integration is roughly what you’d imagine. Hulu is now a tile inside the app, next to Marvel and Pixar and National Geographic and the rest. The price hasn’t changed; it’s still US-only, and the app’s not going away. Hulu shows and movies will also show up in search results and recommendations; if you’re subscribed to Hulu, you’ll get everything seamlessly, and if you’re not, the app will try to convince you to sign up. Disney has been beta-testing this for months, and it works fine — it can be somewhat confusing to figure out what’s “a Hulu thing,” whereas “a Pixar thing” is much easier to define, but there’s nothing shockingly new or confusing here. It’s just Hulu inside of Disney Plus.
- “If you build it great, they will come.”
At the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in San Francisco, Disney CEO Bob Iger summarized his gameplan for Marvel and Disney movies to get more butts into theater seats, as reported by Deadline:
“A lot of people think it’s audience [superhero] fatigue. It’s not audience fatigue. They want great films. And if you build it great, they will come,” he said. He noted that has made nearly $30 billion from 33 films. “We got to return to something akin to that. And I actually am confident that we will.”
A string of bad superhero movies certainly isn’t helping, though, even if they aren’t all from Disney.
Feb 14
Marvel has found its Fantastic Four
Image: Marvel StudiosHow Marvel plans to introduce the Fantastic Four to the MCU is still unclear, but when Reed Richards shows up, he’s going to look a lot like Pedro Pascal.
Read Article >Along with an announcement about its Thunderbolts movie being bumped to May 2nd, 2025, Marvel revealed today that it has finally found the stars who will portray the Fantastic Four. Though John Krasinski has already portrayed one incarnation of Reed Richards in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Pascal is set to portray the character in the Fantastic Four, where he’ll be joined by Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm / the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm / the Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm / the Thing.
Disney invests $1.5 billion in Epic to create ‘persistent universe’ tied to Fortnite
Disney and Fortnite maker Epic Games are teaming up to build what’s being described as an “expansive and open games and entertainment universe.” As part of the announcement, Disney revealed that it is investing $1.5 billion in an equity stake in Epic.
Read Article >Details on what this metaverse-like project will look like are sparse, but here’s how Disney explains it:
ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. are putting together a juggernaut sports streaming app
Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesWarner Bros. Discovery is preparing to launch a streaming service in partnership with ESPN / Disney and Fox Sports, as reported earlier by CNBC and Sports Business Journal. All three companies have agreed in principle to launch an as-yet-unnamed standalone app, of which they all share one-third ownership, this fall that streams a range of leagues and sports.
Read Article >It is poised to have sports networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNews, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, and truTV. The new service will air games from the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Hockey League (NHL), along with NASCAR, PGA Tour Golf, Grand Slam Tennis, and more. Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max users will also get the option to bundle the new service.
Disney Plus’ restrictions on password sharing are now rolling out to US subscribers
Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeThe writing’s been on the wall for months now, but Disney Plus is finally implementing measures to keep US subscribers from sharing their passwords with people who aren’t paying for the service.
Read Article >Today, Disney Plus began sending out emails informing subscribers about new changes to its terms of service that will, among other things, make it harder for people to access the service using log-in credentials that aren’t actually theirs. The updated terms come a few months after Disney Plus implemented similar measures for its Canadian subscribers and just days after Hulu sent out similar notices to users about changes to its own TOS and its plans to stop password sharing in the coming weeks.
Jan 16
Apple Vision Pro will launch with 3D movies from Disney Plus
Disney Plus on Apple Vision Pro.Image: AppleApple and Disney announced that the Vision Pro will have 3D content from Disney Plus at launch, while Disney Plus subscribers will get special animated screening environments to accompany them. Other apps announced with Vision Pro support include ESPN, MLB, PGA Tour, Max, Discovery Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount Plus, Peacock, Pluto TV, Tubi, Fubo, Crunchyroll, Red Bull TV, IMAX, TikTok, and MUBI. A notable omission from the list is Netflix; however, executives have previously said that the existing app will work unmodified on Apple’s new headset.
Read Article >The announcement lists some of the movies that will be in 3D, and naturally, Avatar: The Way of Water is among them. But Vision Pro owners will also get 3D versions of movies like Avengers: Endgame, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Encanto.
Nov 29, 2023
Bob Iger thinks he knows why The Marvels failed at the box office.Speaking during the NYT DealBook Summit 2023, he did not blame the actors' strike and lack of publicity for the film's performance. Nor did he blame the weird hatred of the film driven by sexism coming from a small and vocal cadre of Marvel fans upset over a film helmed by three women.
He did blame the sheer volume of content being created for making it more difficult to maintain quality and said, "The Marvels was shot during Covid, and there wasn't enough supervision on set" from executives.
But given that overreliance on executive creative control is one of the things that have driven the Marvel brand to its current nadir... that's certainly an interesting assessment.
Nov 29, 2023
Bob Iger on recent Disney flops.Responding to a DealBook question about recent box office disappointments, Iger says, “we need to get more realistic” about what a hit looks like in the streaming age.
The Disney CEO also says it was a “definite mistake” to increase output for streaming and that an increase in quantity led to diluted quality.
Nov 2, 2023
ESPN Bet’s big launch happens in two weeks.In early 2022, Bob Chapek was Disney’s CEO, and it was “placing its bets on sports streaming and the metaverse.” Those metaverse plans evaporated, Chapek lost a petty war with Bob Iger, and ESPN is up for sale despite still making tons of money.
But the gambling thing — that’s still happening. The more than $1.5 billion licensing deal that will replace Barstool branding on a sportsbook and bring more gambling content to the network launches in force on November 14th.
Subject to final approvals, ESPN BET will go live in 17 states, which include: Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Additionally, ESPN is now using official odds provided by ESPN BET across editorial and other content.
ESPN BET to Debut with a Planned Launch on Nov. 14[ESPN Press Room U.S.]
Nov 2, 2023
In Marvel we no longer trust
The Guardians once guaranteed a good time.Image: Marvel StudiosVariety had a new report yesterday about the many challenges facing the Marvel Cinematic Universe. From new Marvel villain Jonathan Majors’ significant legal issues to the overworked and recently organized VFX teams, the piece is a fascinating look at what happens when a company focuses too much on the business of making entertainment and not on the entertainment itself. It’s clear the studio is losing the trust of audiences, but its latest move to regain it seems to be less about fixing the problems and more about assigning blame to others. The latest scapegoat is The Marvels, the franchise’s next big superhero movie. And that has me confused, because the majority of the big issues with The Marvels are not, as Variety’s story implies, the fault of the filmmakers or unique to that film. They’re the end state of Disney’s grand Marvel design.
Read Article >Ostensibly, the messaging for The Marvels should be easy, right? The Marvels is a sequel to the 2019 blockbuster Captain Marvel. That film broke loads of box-office records, including at one point being the 23rd highest grossing film of all time. It stars Oscar winner Brie Larson, who is currently also enjoying success in the Apple TV romance drama Lessons in Chemistry. She’s joined by Teyonah Parris, one of the breakout stars of 2021’s WandaVision, and Iman Vellani, who anchored 2022’s Ms. Marvel with a heroic level of infectious enthusiasm.
Nov 1, 2023
Disney is about to own all of Hulu
Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeDisney is buying up Comcast’s stake in Hulu. The entertainment giant announced Wednesday that it “expects it will pay” $8.61 billion to acquire Comcast’s 33 percent stake, giving Disney full ownership of Hulu.
Read Article >But Disney might end up paying more than that. Both Disney and Comcast agreed to an appraisal process that will evaluate Hulu’s equity fair value as of September 30th. If Comcast’s stake is determined “to be greater than the guaranteed floor value,” Disney will have to pay Comcast the difference.
Oct 27, 2023
Disney says subscribers are happy to sit through some ads
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The VergeThe ad-supported plan on Disney Plus is a little less than one year old, but it has already become just as popular as the ad-free version. From March to September 2023, Disney says that 50 percent of new subscribers chose the $7.99 per month plan over the pricier commercial-free one.
Read Article >That’s a sign that Disney’s ad-supported plan is on the rise, as Rita Ferro, Disney’s president of global advertising, tells The Hollywood Reporter that 40 percent of subscribers chose the ad-supported tier earlier this year. Disney first launched its ad-supported tier last December, and it’s starting to push more subscribers toward this cheaper option.
Sep 27, 2023
Disney’s password-sharing crackdown has begun
Disney CEO Bob Iger foreshadowed the move last month.Photo by Neilson Barnard / Getty ImagesStarting on November 1st, Disney Plus will begin restricting password sharing. In Canada.
Read Article >The company announced the change in an email sent to Canadian subscribers. Disney has not provided many details on how it plans to enforce this policy — its email merely states that “we’re implementing restrictions on your ability to share your account or login credentials outside of your household.” The announcement reads more like a strong finger wag than anything else. “You may not share your subscription outside of your household,” reads the company’s updated Help Center.
Sep 14, 2023
Disney reportedly held talks about selling ABC
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The VergeDisney is in talks to sell off its ABC network and local TV stations, according to a report from Bloomberg. The entertainment giant reportedly met with Nexstar Media Group, which owns dozens of local news stations, to discuss a sale.
Read Article >Disney’s response to the report is a denial that it has reached a deal to sell off ABC or any of its other linear properties. In a statement published on its website, the company says it’s “open to considering a variety of strategic options,” but it hasn’t made an official decision and that “any report to that effect is unfounded.”
Sep 11, 2023
ESPN’s standalone streaming channel is included in Charter and Disney’s new deal
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The VergeDisney and Charter have resolved the carriage dispute that blocked millions of viewers from watching ESPN, ABC, FX, and other Disney-owned networks. The two companies reached a deal on Monday, which includes bundling the upcoming ESPN streaming channel with Spectrum’s TV Select Plan.
Read Article >As part of the deal, Disney Plus’ ad-supported plan will also come included with the Spectrum TV Select package, while ESPN Plus will be given to Spectrum TV Select Plus subscribers. There still isn’t a timeline for when Disney could launch ESPN’s standalone streaming service, but it’s been something Disney has been considering for quite some time now.
Sep 6, 2023
Bob Iger and Bob Chapek’s CEO battle made Disney the pettiest place on Earth
Disney CEO Bob Iger.Image: Neilson Barnard / Getty ImagesWhen Bob Iger stepped down as CEO of Disney in early 2020, he butted heads with his handpicked successor, Bob Chapek. But we really didn’t know just how bad — and how petty — some of the things Iger did to express his unhappiness with Chapek’s decisions were until now.
Read Article >This report from CNBC gives us a glimpse at what went on behind the scenes at Disney, spanning from Chapek’s appointment as CEO in 2020 to Iger’s eventual takeover in 2022 — and let me tell you, some of the drama that went on here is akin to Cinderella with CEOs. Here are the pettiest moments we learned about.
Aug 9, 2023
Disney Plus and Hulu are about to get even more expensive
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The VergeDisney is once again raising the ad-free prices of both Disney Plus and Hulu this fall. Beginning on October 12th, Disney Plus will cost $13.99 per month, while Hulu’s no-ads tier will run $17.99. The ad-sponsored tiers of both services will (for now) each remain $7.99.
Read Article >Perhaps to ease that blow, the company is introducing a new combo subscription that will bundle ad-free experiences for both Disney Plus and Hulu for $19.99 per month. That plan will be available on September 6th.
Aug 8, 2023
$1.5 billion licensing deal turns Barstool Sportsbook into ESPN Bet
ESPN Bet pitch and app mockupImage: Penn EntertainmentAs ESPN’s future drifts in the direct-to-consumer wind, a deal with Penn Entertainment will let the sportsbook rename existing properties, like its Barstool Sportsbook, to ESPN Bet. In return, Penn is scheduled to pay ESPN $1.5 billion over the next ten years, as well as $500 million in warrants to buy shares of the operation and, potentially, the ability to appoint a board member.
Read Article >In early 2022, then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek said Disney’s opportunity “extends to sports betting, gaming, and the Metaverse.” Now, Chapek is gone, the metaverse team is dismantled, and new/old CEO Bob Iger described its gambling strategy in an interview as “...we’re not actually causing the bets to be made. We’re just enabling people to link to companies that do that.” Iger is also trying to navigate to a direct-to-consumer future for ESPN and is reportedly looking for partners (including major sports leagues, maybe) as the network’s cable TV customer base continues to shrink as viewer habits move to streaming.
Jul 21, 2023
Disney’s new vision for ESPN might include part ownership by the NBA, NFL
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Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeDisney wants to transition ESPN from linear TV to streaming — and the NBA and NFL might be the partners that help the company do that. According to CNBC, Disney CEO Bob Iger and ESPN leader Jimmy Pitaro held talks with both leagues about bringing them on as minority investors in the sports network.
Read Article >Sources tell CNBC that ESPN spoke with the NFL and NBA about a “variety of new partnerships and investment structures.” That could involve either sports league owning a stake in ESPN, which could help bolster the package of exclusive content on Disney’s vision of a streaming-only version of the sports network.
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