() — Bob Iger is trying to reassure an anxious arm of the Disney business.
As learned, the CEO of Disney met on Tuesday outside the company’s facilities with the heads of the company’s television business. The meeting came just days after Iger made a candid statement to CNBC’s David Faber that Disney’s linear TV business “may not be critical” to the entertainment giant, a comment that immediately caused industry shock.
The confession to Faber set off alarm bells at Disney General Entertainment Content, the Magic Kingdom division that houses its linear TV business and manages quintessential television and cable networks such as ABC, Disney Channel, National Geographic and FX.
Employees at the major division (there are thousands and thousands of employees who work for DGEC) have been experiencing “great anxiety,” the sources told me, adding that Iger had left staff “in the dark” by not communicating directly with them from the surprising interview. There have been no company-wide memos. No public meetings. Nothing but silence since Iger rocked the organization with the news.
This Tuesday, the CEO tried to calm part of this discomfort by answering questions from the company’s senior managers meeting outside the facilities. He told the assembled staff that the content created by the company’s television production teams is “incredibly valuable to our business,” according to a person with knowledge of his remarks.
Iger highlighted the importance of ABC News: “I’m passionate about news,” Iger said, according to the person familiar with his comments. “It’s important to this company. We have to figure out how to transition to streaming. And I think we will. It’s too good, too important, and too much fun.”
Of course, these comments are unlikely to entirely calm the nerves of those who work in Disney’s television business. Although Iger did not explicitly tell Faber that he wanted to sell the network and linear stations, his comments effectively put that sector of the business on the market.
Expressing passion for the news doesn’t fix that. No one has ever doubted Iger’s love for the news business. And it’s no surprise that Iger believes that content produced by TV production teams is incredibly valuable.
The important question is — and always has been — whether the linear TV business is crucial for Disney, especially as Iger positions the company for the future. Iger has already answered this question candidly. “They may not be critical to Disney,” he told Faber openly.
As a Disney insider told me Tuesday, Iger’s remarks to senior management were “typical jewel in the crown, except now we know he’s selling the jewel.”
“It’s great to say that he loves the jewel. It’s great to say that the jewel is important. It’s great to say that the jewel is fun,” the Disney insider said. “But he has revealed the truth: he wants to get the highest price he can for the jewel because he can no longer afford it.”
