Here we go again. Disney makes another change in leadership. Bob Iger is back at the helm. Replacing Bob Chapek. Although, there has been barely a change. Replacing Bob for Bob hasn’t done much for Disney in the past couple of years, has it? The answer is no. Bob Iger is the reason is in trouble long before the whole “Don’t Say Gay” saga. It was under Iger that Disney became this bumbling business empire whose main goal was not to make anything better or original, so the only option was to buy different media operations with the hopes that it would add to the brand’s success than be its downfall.
Iger began his career in the media world in 1974 joining ABC performing menial labor on television sets for $150 a week. Slowly, but surely he would rise to the top. In 1988, Iger served as the senior program executive for the Calgary Winter Olympics. The event was marred by disruptive weather and delayed events, and to fill the broadcast schedule Iger's team focused on human interest stories such as those of the Jamaican bobsled team and Eddie the Eagle. The event achieved record-high ratings for ABC, and Iger's performance under pressure caught the attention of ABC executives Daniel Burke and Thomas Murphy, who subsequently championed Iger throughout his ascent at ABC. In 1989, he was named head of ABC Entertainment, green lighting shows such as Twin Peaks, America's Funniest Home Videos, and Cop Rock. He served as president of the ABC Network Television Group from January 1993 to 1994 and was appointed as Capital Cities/ABC senior vice president in March 1993 and executive vice president in July 1993. In 1994, Iger was named president and chief operating officer of ABC's corporate parent, Capital Cities/ABC.
Things would change in 1995 when The Walt Disney Company purchased Capital Cities/ABC and renamed it ABC, Inc., where Iger remained chairman until 1999 wherein the same year he became the president of Walt Disney International, the business unit that oversees Disney's international operations, as well as chairman of the ABC Group, removing him from day-to-day authority at ABC. Disney called the change a promotion for Iger. A promotion that would result in how Disney would operate in the future. Disney named Iger the president and chief operating officer on January 24, 2000, making him Disney's No. 2 executive under chairman and CEO, Michael Eisner. Disney had been without a separate president since Eisner assumed the role following the departure of Michael Ovitz in 1997, after sixteen months at Disney. In 2005 board members Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold began a campaign called “save Disney” against Eisner. As a result, Disney began a search for the next CEO to replace Eisner. On March 13, 2005, Disney announced that Iger would succeed Michael Eisner as CEO, and Iger was placed in charge of day-to-day operations, though Eisner held the title of CEO until he resigned on September 30, 2005. In July 2005, Disney and Gold dropped the campaign and agreed to work with Iger. From this point on, Iger would set forth the motion of changes that would Disney right where it is today. At around this time in 2005 Iger started to become known as “Bob” rather than “Robert”. The name change is the only change that didn’t have a devastating impact.
The slew of changes is as follows:
· Reassigned Disney's chief strategic officer, Peter Murphy, and disbanded the company's Strategic Planning division.
· On January 24, 2006, Disney announced it would acquire Pixar for $7.4 billion in an all-stock transaction.
· Also in 2006, Iger re-acquired the rights to Walt Disney's first star, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, from NBCUniversal by releasing sportscaster Al Michaels from ABC Sports to NBC Sports.
· Acquiring Marvel Entertainment in 2009 and its associated assets for $4 billion.
· In October 2012, Iger signed a deal with film producer George Lucas to purchase Lucasfilm for $4 billion following several months of negotiations. As a result, Disney acquired the rights to the Star Wars multimedia franchise and Indiana Jones.
· In December 2012, Disney struck a deal to sell its movies to Netflix for an estimated $300 million a year, instead of striking a deal with conventional distributors like HBO or Showtime.
· In July 2018, Disney and 21st Century Fox shareholders approved a deal to allow Disney to purchase Fox assets. The deal was finalized in March 2019.
· Launching of Disney Plus in 2019 to compete with rivals like Netflix and Hulu in the streaming wars.
The acquisition of 21st Century Fox includes a wide array of media properties and companies that are under the hand of one company. For Iger, this was nothing but more than a power grab to remain relevant despite not putting anything new out there. Star Wars is a beloved franchise that has been subject to real scrutiny over its storytelling of recent films since 2016. Who knows what the new Indiana Jones film has in store. But outside of intellectual property, this was done to make more money. Disney during the pandemic has lost billions in revenue from Walt Disney World Resort in Flordia as well as Disney Land in Anaheim, California. Disney Plus has also lost the company over 2.5 billion alone.
The key to saving Disney is where it's spending its money. Iger’s financial decision to buy Fox caused concern from Iger himself who knew it would result in billions in losses even though Disney’s investors cheered on the idea. And the reason was Disney sold much of its product to Netflix to begin with all the while to counter back this move by launching its own streaming service to host its films and television shows just a few years later. A complete about-face that highlights bad decisions at Disney has only come down from the top of the food chain.
The best move for Iger is to do what Disney does well. Amusement parks, original films, and television shows hosted on their own streaming service and television channels, the latter of which may be on the out from Iger’s own words. Iger would be wise to sell off all these media assets like Fox to retain focus. Change can be good for a company. But it has made too many to be healthy for Disney to compete.
Iger’s moves have represented an empire that is crumbling because it has gotten too big to function in one direction. And when an empire gets too big, it becomes too lazy. And when it becomes lazy, it ceases to be relevant.