The Streaming World of Disney
The last few years have provided a fascinating opportunity to watch how an innovative and creative company evolves through changing experiences and market expectations.
Overwhelmingly, most companies fail to make it through the substantial pivots that require an enterprise to shift like a startup; a few thrive however, and it’s those few that we, in time, look back on in University classes and in books and articles, as the companies that transformed through evolutionary times and which helped change the world for the better.
Disney, in recent weeks, announced such a change but, notably, it was a change announced but not necessarily fully realized by the general public.
Disney is not just changing with the times but purposefully restructuring to meet the future.
Disney’s Streaming Reorganization Cheers Investors … but Confuses Insiders
So announced Variety’s Matt Donnelly and Brent Lang, “Instead of dwelling on the fact that COVID-19 has depressed attendance at the parks it has been able to open in Asia, Europe and Florida, and left other venues such as Disneyland shuttered indefinitely, the narrative heading into Disney’s next earnings call is all about how they’ve doubled down on efforts to dominate the world of streaming.”
This is an organization only recently again known for shows in our home.
Disney+ calls to mind for many, fond memories of the Disney Channel or Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color but by and large, Disney is considered a Film company with Theme Parks (All of which of course overshadows the fact that Disney is also ESPN). Understandably, executives and fans were left a little perplexed by Disney’s clear affirmation that they were definitively now a streaming company first.
I profiled Disney’s work in media innovation just about a year ago, so news of this shift to streaming comes as a welcome change, albeit not much of a surprise to everyone.
“If you look at it from 30,000 feet, this wasn’t the tail wagging the dog, this is the revenue source that was wagging the dog,” shared Peter Newman, head of the MBA/MFA program at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, with Variety, “Just as Disney’s stock went up, AMC…
