Disney is facing challenges to its traditional
media business as cord-cutting picks up. Its own
streaming services require it to forgo money
in licensing revenue, although the company
is betting that money from subscriptions will
eventually make up for that.
In the short term, Disney parks in Hong Kong
and Shanghai, China, remain closed because of
the coronavirus outbreak. In a CNBC interview,
Chapek said the virus outbreak may be a
“bump in the road,” but he said the company
could weather it. “Affinity for the brand will way
outlast any short-term blip we have from the
coronavirus,” Chapek said.
Iger told CNBC he had no plans to stay with
Disney beyond next year.
Iger’s appointment as CEO in 2005 had been
accompanied by controversy and protest from
dissident shareholders Roy E. Disney and Stanley
Gold. But he has come to be seen as a golden-
boy top executive, and even someone who
could run for president.
Iger told Vogue in 2018 that he had started
seriously exploring a run for president because
he is “horrified at the state of politics in America
today,” but the Fox deal stopped his plans. Oprah
Winfrey told Vogue that she “really, really pushed
him to run.”
Iger, a former weatherman, joined ABC in 1974,
22 years before Disney bought the network.
At ABC, Iger developed such successful
programs as “Home Improvement,” “The Drew
Carey Show,” and “America’s Funniest Home
Videos” and was instrumental in launching
the quiz show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”