Headquarters (8)

Executives (8)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1923, Walt Disney and his brother, Roy founded the Walt Disney Company. The company is divided into corporate divisions: Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment, Disney Consumer Products, Disney Interactive, and Media Networks. Today, Disney is one  of the largest companies in the world providing entertainment for children, adults, and families.

In 1996, Disney merged with Capital Cities/ABC and created the Disney|ABC Media Network division. It is comprised of 8 owned and operated stations, over 240 national affiliates, 20 cable channels, and equity shares with digital over the top platforms (1).

Finances

Disney Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange Company. Their shares have been high for the past three months with their most recent share price at $114.05 (2). Their average earnings per share at the end of the 2015 fiscal year was $4.90 (4) .

Disney’s Media Network’s total revenue, year-end, was $23.264 billion and the total income was $7.793 billion (1).

 

 

 

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Broadcast

The American Broadcast Company (ABC) is a branch of Disney Media Networks and was founded in 1943 (3). The Disney|ABC Television group is comprised of several businesses including ABC Entertainment Group (ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios), ABC Television Network, ABC News, ABC Family, ABC Owned Television Stations Groups, Disney|ABC Digital Media, and Disney|ABC Domestic Television (a network that airs syndicated programming) (1).

ABC’s Primetime Fall season has been doing relatively well with high ratings (5). They have primetime programming Sunday to Friday nights and on Saturday, they air football.

ABC has ten new shows for the 2015-2016 year. Five of the ten shows including Quantico, Blood & Oil, Wicked City, Dr. Ken, and The Muppets have already been premiered. Returning shows include Modern Family, Scandal, Nashville, Shark Tank, Fresh Off The Boat,  Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Once Upon a Time, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and more.

While new shows Quantico, Dr. Ken, and The Muppets are doing quite well and are expected to be renewed for another season (6), Blood & Oil is not doing as well and very close to being canceled and Wicked City’s ratings plummeted quickly at a record low of 1.7 million viewers in their third week, and after their third episode, it was the first show of the season to be canceled.(12).

ABC’s 10:00 pm shows Monday through Wednesday are all doing poorly (9). Castle and Nashville are shows with poor ratings and are said to be in their last seasons are both in the 10:00 pm spot and Wicked City was in that spot as well (10).

Thursday Nights primetime 8:00-10:00 pm continue to have high ratings. Thursday is “Thank God It’s Thursday Shonda Night” with popular ShondaLand shows, Greys Anatomy, Scandal, and How To Get Away With Murder. ShonaLand’s fall season is doing very well with a large following and excitement around the three shows (5).

ABC’s total revenue for the 2015 fiscal year was $6.683 billion coming from renewal of affiliate deals and advertising sales. ABC’s primetime are top spots for ad sales due to their high ratings, especially on Thursdays 8:00-10:00 pm (10). Monday through Wednesday 10:00 pm spots are not as popular, but they still sell enough ad spots (3). ABC is earning more advertising revenue during the holiday season with specials and family favorites (14).

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Cable

Disney’s Media Network owns and operates 7 cable networks and has shares in 13. Owning 100% of both Disney Channels and ABC Family, 80% share in ESPN, and 50% in A&E, Disney|ABC runs 20 networks with 1,832 million subscribers total. In the 2015 fiscal year end, Disney|ABC’s cable networks had $16.581 billion in revenues from subscribers and ad sales (1).

ABC Family recently released their winter premiere dates and have begun creating buzz around the return of popular shows Pretty Little Liars, The Fosters, Baby Daddy, Young & Hungry, along with the series premiere of Shadowhunters and Recovery Road. For the month of December, ABC Family filled their schedule with holiday programming, specials and movies (11).

 

Disney Channels include The Disney Channel, Disney Junior, programming for infants and toddlers, DisneyXD, Hungama, in India, and Radio Disney. have kid-friendly programming 24/7 with holiday programming in the month of December with holiday episodes, specials, and family movies (15).

DISNEY|ABC owns 80% of ESPN, a cable network with 7 channels and over 540 million subscribers (1). ESPN is one of the top networks for sports programming available through television, over the top streaming services, and radio broadcasts (16). ESPN has high ratings and does bring in ad revenue (19).

While ESPN provides Disney with 50% of their profit, over the past two years, ESPN has lost 7 million subscribers, which will effect the company (17). As such, ESPN has spent more money on operating and program expenses with hopes to bring in more subscribers and make the experience better for their current customers (18).

 

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Disney|ABC will continue to work on gaining more cable subscribers through advertisements and programming (18). ABC is promoting their new shows for the winter season premiering in January including The Bachelor, The Catch, The Family, and Of Kings and Profits. Disney Channel recently became available in Canada and will continue to spread into other countries (20). In addition, they are working on future projects for ABC, including a Marvel comedy, Damage Control. Disney predicts their Media Network revenue to grow from their creative original content. (1)

Hopefully ABC will produce a successful show for the 10:00 pm spot and their cable networks gain more subscribers.

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Sources

(1) Disney Annual Report. Retrieved December 2, 2015.https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/sites/default/files/reports/fy15-form-10k.pdf

(2) Disney Stock Information. Retrieved December 2, 2015. https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/investors/disney-stock

(3) Media Networks. Retrieved December 2, 2015 www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-companies/media-networks

(4)  Walt Disney Co. Retrieved December 2, 2015. https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/dis/charts?symb=DIS&countrycode=US&time=6&startdate=1%2F4%2F1999&enddate=12%2F1%2F2015&freq=1&compidx=none&compind=none&comptemptext=Enter+Symbol%28s%29&comp=none&uf=7168&ma=1&maval=50&lf=1&lf2=4&lf3=0&type=2&size=2&style=1013

(5) ABC Renew/Cancel standings, week 10: ‘Quantico’ remains safe for now. Retrieved December 2, 2015. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/12/01/abc-renewcancel-standings-week-10-quantico-remains-safe-for-now/

(6) ABC Renew/Cancel standings, week 10: ‘Quantico’ remains safe for now. Retrieved December 2, 2015. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/12/01/abc-renewcancel-standings-week-10-quantico-remains-safe-for-now/

(7) No TV Shows Canceled? Retrieved December 2, 2015. ttp://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-no-canceled-tv-shows-20151105-story.html

(8) Company Overview. Retreived December 2, 2015. http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=13728276

(9) Wicked City Cancellation. Retrieved December 2, 2015. http://www.ibtimes.com/abcs-cursed-tuesday-night-time-slot-wicked-city-cancellation-continues-three-year-2188192

(10) Fox, ABC Dramas Boast Biggest Lifts in C7 as Extended Commercial Ratings Favor the Strong. Retrieved December 2, 2015. http://adage.com/article/media/fox-abc-dramas-boast-biggest-lifts-c7/301137/

(11) ABC Family. Retrieved December 2, 2015. http://abcfamily.go.com

(12) ABC’s ‘Wicked City’ Ratings Are Historically Bad — How Low Can They Go? Retrieved December 2, 2015. https://www.thewrap.com/wicked-city-abc-tv-ratings-nielsen-drama-people-meter-disney-tax-credit/

(13) ABC Renewals. Retrieved December 2, 2015. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/11/17/abc-renewcancel-standings-week-8-wicked-city-and-the-10-oclock-problem/

(14) Weekly Ratings. Retrieved December 2, 2015. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/12/01/tv-ratings-monday-nov-30-2015/

(15) What’s On Disney Channel? Retrieved December 2, 2015. http://affiliate.zap2it.com/tvlistings/ZCSGrid.do?fromTimeInMillis=1449475200000&stnNum=12510&channel=&sgt=grid&aid=disn

(16) ESPN. Retrieved December 2, 2015. http://espn.go.com/

(17) ESPN Subscribers Fall. Retrieved December 2, 2015. http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/27/disneys-espn-subscribers-fall.html

(18) Disney Feels Pain of Lost Subscribers. Retrieved December 2 2015. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-11-30/disney-feels-pain-of-seven-million-lost-espn-subscribers?cmpid=yhoo.headline

(19) Disney Posts Strong Ad Revenue. Retrieved December 2, 2015. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/262014/disney-posts-strong-ad-revenues-for-espn-abc.html

(20) Disney Channel in Canada. Retrieved December 2, 2015. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/corus-gains-canadian-rights-to-disney-channel-content/article23983642/