CEO Bob Iger Talks Future Of Disney: Streaming Prices, Production, Marvel, Star Wars, And Park Prices

While attending Morgan Stanley’s annual Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, the current CEO of Disney, Bob Iger, discussed the company’s future, including content creation, streaming services, and connections with HULU and ESPSN.

After over three months as CEO of Disney, Iger remarked that he’s looking to make his final exit from the company in two years “with a trajectory… that is very optimistic and positive.”

According to Iger, that trajectory includes a cut back on production costs for television and film, with Disney focusing on quality over quantity. Iger said he’d received support from “content creators of the company,” They’re working to understand “how much volume” is needed. This includes Marvel, where the company has relied too much on sequels rather than drawing upon new stories and characters. On that note, Disney may once again return to third-party licensing. Iger stated, “But if we get to a point where we need less content for these platforms, and we still have the capacity of producing that content, why not use it to grow revenue?”

Iger also noted that Disney was “off in terms of… pricing strategy” when is came to the streaming platform Disney+, and the company is “now staring to learn more about [streaming]” and will “adjust accordingly.” Iger noted that following the streamer’s ad-free tier increase from $7.99 to $10.99 per month in the U.S. in December, the platform “only suffered a de minimis loss of subs… that tells us something.”

Iger conceded, “In our zeal to grow profits, we may have been a little bit too aggressive about some of our pricing.” He suggested that park pricing may be edited to “maintain that brand value of accessibility.”

Disney will also be taking a careful look at their approach to Star Wars after Solo’s disappointing box office performance, which, according to Iger, gave the company some “pause.”

Regarding ESPN and Hulu, Iger praised the formers ratings and push into streaming and commented that Disney would be studying the latter’s business, which it owns two-thirds of, “very carefully.”