The corona crisis hits the Disney empire hard, 28,000 employees have to leave. Now the entertainment company wants to realign itself. In future, the focus will be on video-on-demand services.
The US entertainment giant Walt Disney is adjusting its corporate structure in the midst of the corona crisis in order to focus more on the booming streaming market in the future. The realignment bundles the TV and film business with the online video services in the new Media and Entertainment Distribution division, as Disney announced on Monday after the US stock market closed in Burbank, California.
The share reacted after the trading hours with a price jump of five percent. The conversion is intended to better link the media and advertising business with online services and make content more accessible for the streaming platforms. In particular, the Netflix competitor Disney +, which was launched in November 2019, will be moved up in the group hierarchy, but also the other on-demand video services such as ESPN + and Hulu. In the future, the "primary focus" will be on the company's streaming services, Disney said.
Kareem Daniel was promoted to head of the new division. He has been with Disney for 14 years and was most recently responsible for fan articles in the theme park division. The realignment takes place in a severe crisis. The corona pandemic has paralyzed Disney's entertainment empire, and the layoff of 28,000 employees was recently announced. The new structure had nothing to do with it, assured CEO Bob Chapek on the US broadcaster CNBC. It is all about "doing the right thing strategically".
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