Disney-ABC

Posted on April 21, 2014 by eamoomey

By Nicolas Claro

Company History

On January 4^th, 1996, Michael Eisner and the Walt Disney Company came to an agreement with Capital Cities/ABC on a merger between the two companies, forming what is known today as Disney-ABC TV [1]. In addition to ABC Television Network, Disney-ABC owns multiple cable channels including Disney Channel Disney XD, ABC Family and ABC News, as well as a controlling stake in ESPN and an equity holding in A+E Networks.

Corporate

ANNE SWEENEY

Co-Chair, Disney Media Networks
President, Disney/ABC Television Group (2005-2015)

KEVIN BROCKMAN

Executive Vice President, Global Communications, Disney/ABC Television Group

REBECCA CAMPBELL

President, ABC Owned Television Stations Group

PAUL LEE

President, ABC Entertainment Group

GARY MARSH

President and Chief Creative Officer, Disney Channels Worldwide

BEN SHERWOOD

Co-President, Disney/ABC Television Group (2010-2015),

Co-Chair, Disney Media Networks
President, Disney/ABC Television Group (2015-)

[2]

Q1 EARNINGS

The Walt Disney Company’s first quarter of the fiscal year ended on December 28, 2013. Since the first quarter of the 2013 fiscal year, The Walt Disney Company’s media networks have seen a 4% increase in revenue, and an operating income increase of nearly 20%. However, the company saw a decrease of almost $85 million in income, due in large part to contractual rate increases to Modern Family and other long-tenured shows on the network. [3]

PROGRAMMING

The cast and crew of Modern Family winning their fourth Emmy in four years. [4]

Disney-ABC has done a very fine job of diversifying their TV offerings, broadcasting programs for every sort of viewer imaginable. The company’s two most popular offerings are 4-time Emmy winner Modern Family [4] and the company’s longest running primetime drama, Grey’s Anatomy. In addition, ABC has created successful shows based on existing third-party content, such as Once Upon a Time and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ABC also airs a large number of successful unscripted shows, such as The Bachelor and Dancing With The Stars, talk-shows in both the morning (The View) and late-night (Jimmy Kimmel Live!), live college football and NBA games, and national news shows such as Good Morning America.

Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes (left) and the show’s star Kerry Washington. Rhimes also created ABC’s long running Grey’s Anatomy. [5]

ABC Family and the various Disney channels offer popular youth-oriented series such as Pretty Little Liars and the cartoon Gravity Falls.

In this upcoming season, Disney-ABC plans to bolster its broadcast schedule even further by collaborating with well-respected directors and producers such as David O. Russell and Bryan Singer on the shows The Club [6] and Black Box [7] , respectively.

Director Bryan Singer, well known for his directorial work on the X-Men films, is bringing a show to ABC this year. [8]

New King of Late Night?

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel (Left) and NBC’s Jimmy Fallon (Right) [9]

On April 3, 2014, Late Night host David Letterman announced his retirement from the show, and from late-night TV in 2015. Stephen Colbert will replace him on CBS in the same time slot after his departure. [10] With David Letterman’s retirement in 2015, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel will have the longest active run of late night hosting on broadcast TV with a consecutive 11 years on the air. Along with Colbert, Kimmel has already begun competing with the recently appointed Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon on NBC, who’s show shares a timeslot with Kimmel.

So far, among the two shows, The Tonight Show has dominated in TV ratings. However, Jimmy Kimmel Live is fast on Fallon’s heels in the digital department. After a stellar debut week (avg 6.2 million viewers), Fallon’s ratings have come back to Earth (avg 1.8 million viewers in its 2^nd week). A report from Nielsen “SocialGuide”’s data, the number of impressions on Twitter for each show are comparable, and Kimmel’s uptick in viewership means that the margin between the two shows is closer than you think. These two talk-show stalwarts look to be set to compete for years to come, and ready to take on all challengers. [11].

The End of an Era?

Will this Aereo antennae (left) be the end of TV as we know it? [12]

On February 14, 2012, a company called Aereo created a product that was designed, in their eyes, to be the future of television. Aereo created a mini-sized antennae that effectively replaced a cable box and allowed consumers to “break free” from cable companies [12], all for a very affordable price of $80 a year. However, by doing so, Aereo was breaking many rules by not paying retransmission fees to the networks it carried, something that the cable providers are required to do. As such, cable companies swarmed Aereo with suits and injunctions within months, but to no avail [13]. 2+ years later, Aereo is still operational, and now more faces have joined in the fight against them, including ABC.

Aereo founder Chet Kanojia [15]

Specifically, their case against Aereo is set to go to Supreme Court review on April 22, 2014, and will likely be resolved by the end of June. If they lose, Aereo could be a signal of what is to come, with other startups following suit, and ducking retransmission fees. However, even if the networks win this battle, has the issue gained enough traction that it has gone down an irreversible path? Many Aereo subscribers, and consumers fed up with their cable companies, are embracing this new technology and championing it as the next big thing. Nobody knows just how this case will play out, but everyone knows that the repercussions will be massive [15][14]

Fighting Fire with Fire

: Scandal’s growing social media numbers

Scandal’s growing social media numbers [16]

Recent advances in broadcast technology have seriously hindered TV’s chances at remaining a top broadcast medium in the past few years. Internet piracy, DVR and online streaming services have all impeded on the television’s reign atop the media market. However, it seems that ABC has found a way to turn the tables and use these new developments to their advantage.

The best example of this is ABC’s smash hit show Scandal. ABC has allowed the show’s creator, Shonda Rhimes, to run rampant on social media, and she does so with finesse. Her constant involvement and interaction with fans throughout the show’s run has led to a massive social media following for everyone from Rhimes, to the show’s star, Kerry Washington, to Scandal’s official social media accounts.

To show just how astronomical its rise has been, take Scandal’s social media growth from its premiere up to the third season finale on April 17, 2014. At the former, Scandal had about 500,000 connections on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube combined. As of the third season finale, Scandal has 1.4 million views on its official Youtube page, 2.6 million followers on Twitter and almost 5 million fans on Facebook. As you would expect, Scandal’s most popular demographic is in the 18-49 range, who – not so coincidentally – are the demographic most present on social media networks [16].

Works Cited

[1] THE MEDIA BUSINESS;Disney and ABC Shareholders Solidly Approve Merger Deal

[2] All portraits courtesy of disneyabctv.com

[3] THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY REPORTS FIRST QUARTER EARNINGS FOR FISCAL 2014

[4] Modern Family – The Television Academy

[5] girltalkhq – ‘Scandal’ & ‘Greys Anatomy’ Creator Shonda Rhimes To Receive Diversity Award

[6] Deadline – Soapy Drama From David O. Russell & Susannah Grant Gets ABC Series Order

[7] Deadline – Bryan Singer To Direct & Exec Produce CBS Series ‘Battle Creek’ From Vince Gilligan & David Shore

[8] IMDB – Bryan Singer photos

[9] tvovermind – Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel Agree To Play Nice

[10] CBSNews – Stephen Colbert to replace David Letterman on “Late Show”

[11] thewrap.com – Jimmy Fallon vs. Jimmy Kimmel: The New Late Night Fight, by the Numbers

[12] “Love is in the Aereo” – Aereo.com press release

[13] “Aereo Prevails” – Aereo.com press release

[14] USAToday – Supreme Court case could test future of broadcast TV

[15] Fortune – What happens if broadcasters lose the Aereo case?

[16] How Social Media Helps Drive ABC’s ‘Scandal’

DreamWorks Studios

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Jung Sir

By Kevin Sir

Courtesy of wholemovieinfo.com [a]

DreamWorks Studios
100 Universal City Plaza Dr., Bldg. 5121
Universal City, CA 91608
P: (818) 733-9300
http://www.dreamworksstudios.com/

Key Executives

Steven Spielberg (Principal Partner) [b]

Stacey Snider (Principal Partner / Co-Chairman / CEO) [c]

Jeff Small (President / Chief Operating Officer) [d]

Holly Bario (President of Production) [e]

Company Overview

In 2007, DreamWorks introduced Stacey Snider, who was a former Chairman of Universal Studios, as the current Co-Chair and CEO of DreamWorks. In 2008, a $1.5 billion dollar deal was made with an Indian investment firm, Reliance ADA Group enabling DreamWorks’ films to be distributed and promoted by The Walt Disney Studios. [1] [2]

Brief History

Formerly identified as DW II Distribution Company, LLC, DreamWorks Studios is now known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks Pictures, and/or DreamWorks. The emergence of DreamWorks took place on October 12, 1994 when Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen decided to establish Hollywood a new studio. The “SKG” appearing on the bottom of the logo for both DreamWorks and DreamWorks Animation (DWA) was created based off of these founders’ last names. In 2004, DWA separated from DreamWorks to form two companies. The license for the “DreamWorks” name and logo are licensed through DWA. Viacom, who was the parent company of Paramount Pictures on December 11, 2005, bought DreamWorks, however in 2008, DreamWorks gained back its independence. [1] [2]

Financials

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Need For Speed Poster,
Courtesy of IMDb [f]

Contrary to DreamWorks Animation, DreamWorks Studio’s financials are unattainable since the company still remains as a privately held company. However, monumental financial information about DreamWorks can be attained through deeper research. As mentioned in the Company Overview, the agreements made with both Viacom and Reliance ADA Group add up to be about $3 billion dollars and this has saved DreamWorks’ debt from the previous years’ loss. Also, the information and performance from past films can roughly estimate how the company is doing in terms of revenue. DreamWorks’ most recent film, “Need For Speed” released in March 14, 2014 has successfully made profit overall. To look at it closely, the domestic gross profit for “Need For Speed,” which is roughly $42 million dollars did not even nearly meet its production budget of $66 million dollars. However, the film was a success internationally considering it made $143 million dollars. “Need For Speed” was successful in making a total of $120 million dollars, and indeed, it was a much needed profit due to DreamWorks’ failure to make profit with its past films.

need-for-speed-trailer-starring-aaron-paul-looks-like-the-sixth-season-of-breaking-bad

Aaron Paul pictured, Courtesy of Business Insider [g]

There are several reasons for the success of “Need For Speed.” First, it was originally a very popular game that debuted back in 1994, which could have drawn the video gamer audience. Also, the film starred Aaron Paul, who plays Jesse Pinkman on Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad won 10 Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, and the show’s buzz has turned Jesse Pinkman into a household name. For these reasons, this enabled the film to draw in a wider audience.

Need for Speed debuted in 1994, and over the course of the next two decades, the game would evolve under several studios such as Black Box and Criterion Games. The series has been a critical and commercial hit with gamers. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Right Here, Right Now

After researching and looking at the patterns, the DreamWorks Studio has dramatically decreased the amount of movie being released since the year 2012. In fact, in 2012 and 2013, only two movies were released each year, and following its pattern, DreamWorks is planning on releasing only two movies in 2014 as well. [7]

The Prey Poster,
Courtesy of IMDb [h]

On January 15^th, 2014, after attaining the rights from Brio Films, Studio Canal and Cohen Media Group, DreamWorks Studios plans to remake a French film called “La Proie” from 2011; the remake will be called “The Prey” Originally directed by Eric Valette, La Proie has an attention grabbing plot which centers around a crook who needs to escape out of jail to save his family from his former cellmate and confidante who is a serial killer. With its remake, the film has an advantage of potentially attracting French people who has already seen the movie and want to watch an American remake version. In addition, the international gross profit could even exceed the domestic’s. [8]

Pictured Producer Marc Platt (“The Girl on the Train”)
Courtesy of Variety [i]

On March 24, 2014, DreamWorks Studios obtained the rights from Paula Hawkins, the author of “The Girl on the Train” for Marc Platt to produce as a R-rated movie. The novel centers around a young woman who gets involved in a murder investigation as a witness. From this news, DreamWorks Studios is on a path of producing mainly thrillers in its upcoming years. [9]

“Eleanor & Park” Courtesy of p.gr-assets.com [j]

On April 2, 2014, DreamWorks Studios attained the rights from Rainbow Rowell to make her novel, “Eleanor & Park,” into a movie. The movie takes a place in year 1986 in high school in Omaha with two 16 year olds: Eleanor, an insecure girl, and Park, a half-Korean boy who attempt to find themselves. [10]

“Made In Sweden” Courtesy of cdn-s3.thewrap.com [k]

On April 7, 2014, DreamWorks Studios announced that Mark Sourian will produce a crime thriller from the Swedish novel called “Made in Sweden” by Anders Roslund and Stefan Thunberg. Along with the authors, Niclas Salomonsson will executive produce.The novel is about a bank robbery from Sweden’s history and a story about a band of brothers who were involved in it. The audience should be prepared for the upcoming works of DreamWorks Studios that are filled heavily with small budgeted chilling thriller movies. [11]

Coming Up

Manish Dayal Pictured, Courtesy of http://i1.cdnds.net/ [l]

DreamWorks will be releasing a new film on August 8th, 2014 called “The Hundred-Foot Journey.” Due to the fact that this movie is still in the early development stages, a trailer is not available yet. “The Hundred-Foot Journey” centers around an Indian family who moves to France, and then opens up a restaurant across the street from a Michelin-starred French restaurant. Hassan Kadam, who is played by Manish Dayal, is a phenomenal culinary cook and after being displaced from their native India, the Kadam family moves to a village of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val located in the south of France. After opening up an Indian restaurant called the ‘Maison Mumbai,’ Madame Mallory, who is played by Helen Mirren, decides to protest against the new Indian restaurant. The rivalry between the restaurants come to an end as Madame Mallory admits and recognizes Hassan’s gift as a chef and takes him under her wing.

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Oprah (Left)
Helen Mirren (Right)
Courtesy of IMDb [m]

DreamWorks is focused on improving profits due to its loss from the past few years. The budget for their upcoming movie “The Hundred-Foot Journey” is approximately $25 million dollars. Of course, this budget is by no means small; however, as compared to DreamWorks’ film previous budgets in the past, it is evident to acknowledge that DreamWorks is cutting budgets and focusing more on making a profit. Also, what is interesting about “The Hundred-Foot Journey” is that Oprah Winfrey is one of the producers. It is quite safe to conclude that having Oprah as a producer is one of the strategies that DreamWorks plans on employing in hopes of attracting wider audiences. Indeed, the “Oprah Effect.” In hopes of making a profit with DreamWorks’ new small budget strategy, this is a clever and strategic approach because Oprah can “suddenly turn a small, unprofitable business into a multimillion-dollar company.” In this case, hopefully these types of results are seen with this movie. [12] [13]