Incoming CEO Josh D’Amaro needs to tidy up the international Disney+ experience
In news that was largely expected, Disney has named Josh D’Amaro as its new CEO, following a lengthy ‘bake-off’ between senior Disney leaders for the role.
He takes the role from March 18, with current CEO Bob Iger staying on as a senior advisor and Disney board member until Dec 31.
The Wall St Journal offers this on D’Amaro, which speaks to why he got the gig over his chief competitor Dana Walden, Disney’s entertainment co-Chairman
The 54-year-old spent most of his 28 years at Disney working in the theme-parks business in the U.S. and overseas, including stints at California’s Disneyland and Florida’s Walt Disney World. Since 2020 he has been chairman of Disney’s experiences unit, which includes theme parks, cruise ships and consumer products.
His rise mirrors the shifting economics of the company, which used to be driven by profits from television networks. Experiences accounted for 38% of Disney’s revenue in its past fiscal year and 57% of operating income. Disney is spending $60 billion to grow the theme-parks and cruise businesses in the decade ending in 2033—the biggest such investment in its history.
His vision for Disney’s future includes giving videogames a bigger role at the company and integrating gaming technology throughout its creative processes, said a person familiar with his thinking. D’Amaro championed a $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games in 2024 and has overseen Disney’s relationship with the “Fortnite” maker.
Dana Walden moves into the newly created position of president and chief creative officer. The consensus reporting seems to be that Walden lost support following a recent ESPN blackout on YouTube TV which saw the business lose $110 million, along with the fallout surrounding the decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel from the air.
The strength of the Disney business lies heavily in theme parks and experiences, so it makes sense that D’Amaro takes the lead.
While there’s a lot of talk around D’Amaro moving the business to better embrace gaming and digital creation technologies like AI, something I’d suggest needs to be a focus immediately is cleaning house on the clumsy structure of the television business.
There’s a jumbled brand confusion as Disney+ merges Hulu into its streaming platform, which is that Hulu was already clumsily offering multiple brands with Hulu originals clashing with FX Networks. Irrespective of backroom structures, Disney needs to make it a simpler proposition for audiences. FX On Hulu has no brand value with audiences having moved on from cable en masse. Just call all originals on Hulu ‘Hulu Originals’ and leave the FX brand behind.
The brand confusion is heightened overseas where FX had even less brand presence, if any at all.
And speaking of overseas, the business needs a far clearer strategy on its overseas programming. For a business built on recognisable family IP and brands, why are all of the international shows made for Disney+ and Hulu (formerly Star internationally) all fairly general adult dramas? The strategy has resulted in no break-out successes of any real consequence. Being generous, a case could maybe be made for UK Disney show Rivals, but even then…
The bulk of the international originals should be pitched at family audiences, embracing international IP and bringing that to a global stage or taking Disney IP and adapting it for international production. Why isn’t there a KPop version of High School Musical coming from South Korea, for example? The current international shows being made to live on Disney+ all just seems so counter to the spirit of the Disney brand.
There’s a lot of challenges ahead for D’Amaro, but also a lot of opportunities. Strengthening the Disney brand internationally is going to be key as it builds out international park and experiences destinations and becomes less reliant on international visitors to the US (for obvious reasons right now).
Bonfire of the Murdochs
I had somehow missed that there is a new book out about Rupert Murdoch and his family manipulation as he sought to determine who would be the heir to his media empire. The book is by Gabriel Sherman and comes a decade after his must-read book on Fox News founder Roger Ailes, The Loudest Voice in The Room.
There’s an excerpt today at THR:
Buying Metromedia, however, required Rupert to gamble more than he ever had. Kluge wanted $2 billion for his seven stations — 50 percent more than what analysts projected they were worth. “I just thought it was crazy,” Diller recalled. Rupert admitted the price was high, but it was worth the risk. “You’re paying a premium for [the stations] all coming together. It’s the one time in life when wholesale is more expensive than retail,” Rupert said.
Rupert stayed in Los Angeles that week to lock down the Kluge deal. While attending financier Michael Milken’s investment conference — also known as the “Predator’s Ball” — Rupert asked Milken to fund the Metromedia purchase with $1.15 billion in junk bonds. Negotiations continued the following week in New York. “What a great adventure! We’re betting the company!” Rupert told Diller in a cab on the way to Kluge’s apartment. “He’s never happier than when there are huge obstacles to overcome in pulling off something wildly ambitious,” Diller recalled. “He’s a warrior when fighting to establish something in enemy territory — usually against the Establishment.”
The book was released in the US on Feb 3, but won’t be available in Australia to buy until March 17. It can be shipped from the US though and it is also available as an audio book (currently streaming on Spotify).
The Australian book cover is far more interesting-looking.
Shaffer gets the respect he deserves
It’s incredible how often when watching video of comedians in the 70s, or even the stories told, how frequently Paul Shaffer features. I was enthused to read today that he will be the subject of a new feature documentary.
Say Hello to Our Good Friend Paul Shaffer will follow Letterman’s bandleader from his musical roots in Thunder Bay, Ontario, to his break as musical director on the celebrated 1972 Toronto production of Godspell. That led to success working on Broadway, Saturday Night Live and his longtime partnership with Letterman.
Dave Letterman is on board as an EP of the documentary, along with Tom Keaney who serves as EP of Letterman’s Netflix interview show My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.
I’m generally not big on celebrity documentaries which have strong buy-in from the subject of the documentary – they tend to skirt past the painful moments more then they should, or avoid the really difficult stories that can become a PR headache (the new Chevy Chase documentary, which has debuted internationally and, I understand, will stream in Australia soon on 9Now, is a good example of this – particularly in relation to his time on Community and relationships with cast members like Yvette Nicole Brown). But I am perfectly okay with it when it comes to figures like Paul Shaffer who don’t seem to have any particularly gross skeletons in their closet.
A fun Paul Shaffer fact that I came across for the first time this morning: He was considered to play George Costanza in Seinfeld, but never returned a call to Jerry.
Read more: THR
News Desk
Netflix has renewed Ted Danson comedy A Man on The Inside for a third season. Read: THR
Stephen Fry has written a new TV show for Fox, The Interrogator. He will also play a role in the spy drama as a former MI6 agent. Read: Radio Times
A US Senate hearing into Netflix’s acquisition of Warner Bros, with Netflix co-chief Ted Sarandos representing the business, seemed more interested in the question of whether Netflix would have greater political influence following the merger than the impact it would have on the actual business of entertainment. Read: Deadline
There’s also a really good deep dive into what was said during the Senate hearing by way of The Wrap.
Spanglish Movies is launching two FAST channels aimed at US Hispanic audiences. Both are focused on politics, but one will be a channel focused on liberal ideals, while the other will be conservative. Might be interesting to see which of the two drives greater viewership. Read: Streaming Media Global
YouTube is blocking third-party mobile browsers from playing background audio, a feature limited to YouTube Premium subscribers. Read: The Verge
Netflix are continuing with a push into higher-end YouTube content, signing a deal with creators Salish and Jordan Matter - a father/daughter team who post weekly stunt videos (ie 24 hours in the wilderness). Read: Variety
Sky in the UK are bringing back linear TV channel Sky One, which replaces Sky Showcase and Sky Max. It will be the home of SNL UK when that debuts later this year. Read: Radio Times
Ray Romano will star in HBO Max drama pilot How To Survive Without Me from Greg Berlanti. Read: Deadline
Savannah Guthrie has dropped out of co-hosting the US coverage of the Winter Olympics as police search for her mother who is now believed to have been abducted. Read: THR
Bowl Cuts
Movie trailers you can expect to see during the Super Bowl this coming weekend: The Mandalorian & Grogu, Scream 7, The MJ biopic Michael, new Spielberg alien drama Disclosure Day, Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and Minions 3.
There’s also a really interesting ad for Uber Eats which features Bradley Cooper, Matthew McConaughey, and Parker Posey. The gimmick of the ad is that viewers can then open up their Uber Eats app and order up other celebrities to appear in the ad on their phones, choosing them from a menu. As per THR:
Among the stars that will be available to select for cameos are singer and actress Addison Rae, YouTube star Amelia Dimoldenberg, Severance actor Tramell Tillman, NFL stars Sauce Gardner, Jerry Rice, and Pork Chop Womack and San Francisco 49ers mascot Sourdough Sam.
This is what a build-your-own Uber Eats Super Bowl ad looks like:
I’m not sure that in the current news climate a TV spot with celebrities off to an exclusive island party is the best idea, but Ritz have Jon Hamm, Bowen Yang, and Scarlet Johansson off to Ritz Island.
Sabrina Carpenter builds her ideal man out of Pringles:
The Pringles man looks like this:
It reminds me a little too much like the Tooth Monster from horror series Channel Zero. That is just a ‘me’ issue though.
Trailer Park
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters returns to Apple TV for season 2 Feb 27.
Bridgerton returns for season 4, part 2 on Netflix Feb 26.
Margot’s Got Money Troubles debuts on Apple TV April 15. It stars cinema enthusiast Nicole Kidman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Elle Fanning, and Nick Offerman.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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Martin Short and Eugene Levy.
Bonfire of the Murdochs is available now on the Australian Amazon Kindle Store too.
Thanks for the tip. Should be a good read.