Iger: ABC, ESPN not for sale
Disney CEO seems to backtrack on comments made last summer
Remember earlier this year when Disney CEO Bob Iger was looking at selling ABC and its owned stations, several cable networks, and a stake in ESPN?
Never mind.
Is ABC for sale? @andrewrsorkin asks Bob Iger
— Tim Baysinger (@tim_bays) November 29, 2023
"It is not for sale"
On Tuesday, Iger seemed to backtrack comments he made on a CNBC interview last summer as he was concerned about the future of linear TV as it’s losing ground to streaming. During a town hall meeting with Disney employees, Iger admitted he only made the comments to see what kind of offers were going to be stirred up – with the reaction getting more than he bargained for. Obviously, ABC is all of a sudden a “core asset” as he made his latest comment on the matter at the DealBook summit Wednesday in an on-stage interview with CNBCs Andrew Ross Sorkin.
Naturally, Iger blamed the media for spinning the whole situation out of control.
Iger says legacy assets are not for sale but "we're constantly evaluating" their fit within Disney. He blames media for saying Disney was considering selling non-core assets. But he also seems to be saying they would consider selling non-core assets.
— Alex Sherman (@sherman4949) November 29, 2023
Iger would’ve faced a herculean task in trying to unwind ABC and its owned stations from Disney given the contracts involved with ESPN’s programming on the network – especially with the NBA and the NFL, as several Monday Night Football games and a future Super Bowl are scheduled to be simulcast on ESPN and ABC together as part of the new TV deal that kicked in this year.
Iger would also have problem with regulators – no matter who is in the White House or controlling Congress. Democrats would oppose any sale of ABC and its stations to Nexstar or any company due to anti-trust concerns. While Republicans are known for being more receptive to media consolidation, the political party is currently in a running feud with Disney over “woke content” – especially with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who took control over the Reedy Creek Protection District in the Orlando area where Disney owns Walt Disney World. Worse for Disney, DeSantis is running for the Presidential Republican nomination and if he makes it to the White House, any sale would be met with scrutiny.
In the last few weeks, speculation has centered on two of Disney’s cable networks – National Geographic and Freeform – as potential sale targets, to A+E Networks, whom Disney already has a 50 percent stake in.
The news is a sigh of relief of those who work for ABC, its news properties, and its owned stations, who still wield a lot of considerable clout given their ratings dominance in six of the eight markets they’re in, including Chicago. But for viewers, those tie-ins to Disney properties you see on the network and its O&Os are going to continue for the foreseeable future.