Disney CEO Bob Iger Emphasizes On Cost Efficiencies, Streaming Business Profitability In His First Employee Meet

Walt Disney Co DIS CEO Bob Iger said he would focus on achieving profitability in streaming and take a “hard look” at costs during his first company-wide meeting since returning to the group’s top job.
“Instead of chasing subscriptions with aggressive marketing and aggressive spending on content, we have to start chasing profitability,” Iger said in a town-hall meeting, Financial Times reports.
“In order to achieve that, we have to take a very, very hard look at our cost structure across our businesses.”
Iger acknowledged Disney’s focus must shift toward making its streaming business profitable rather than concentrating on simply adding subscribers, which was the company’s priority when he gave up the CEO job in 2020, CNBC reports.
Bob Chapek, the former CEO, was ousted from the company only days after Disney surprised Wall Street with a $1.5 billion loss in its streaming operation in the fiscal fourth quarter.
After the poor results, he announced the company would begin cost-cutting measures, including job cuts.
“It felt like it was a wise thing to do in terms of the challenges, and at the moment, I don’t have any plans to change it,” Iger said of the hiring freeze.
Iger, who previously led Disney through the transformative acquisitions of Marvel and Pixar, said he was not interested in deals.
Last week he vowed to dissolve a management structure created by Chapek that stripped studio heads of budget and distribution control.
Iger said he would not make any dramatic proclamations about Disney’s work-from-home policies but said he felt creative businesses worked best when employees were together in-person.
Price Action: DIS shares traded higher by 0.59% at $96.25 in the premarket on the last check Tuesday.

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