Walt Disney co-chief executive Bob Iger said on Thursday that the studio could resume producing movies and TV shows for rivals.
Streaming services have traditionally relied on large amounts of fresh content to attract subscribers, Iger said at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in San Francisco. As he strives to make Disney+ profitable, he’s taken a more curated, HBO-like approach by producing several high-quality shows built around HBO’s leading brands. said he wants to
“We’re looking at reducing the content we’re creating for our own platforms, so there’s probably an opportunity to license it to third parties,” Iger said. “For a while, that was an impossibility because we were so supportive of our own streaming platforms. We still have it, why not use it to make some money?”
Iger also talked about the possibility of licensing the content to third parties, and after Seth MacFarlane’s animated series “Family Guy” first aired on the Fox network, it was released to viewers on Disney-owned Hulu. pointed out that it attracted
Mr. Iger returned to Disney in November, less than a year after retiring. The company was looking to boost investor confidence and profits with its streaming media division.
The company announced a sweeping restructuring in February, saying it would cut $5.5 billion in costs and cut 7,000 jobs as part of an effort to restore power to Disney’s creative executives.
The plan prompted activist investor Nelson Peltz to stop looking for a board seat, saying he was happy with Iger’s restructuring.
