Disney sacked CEO Bob Chapek in November 2021, replacing him with his predecessor, Bob Iger, who had led the corporation for a decade and a half prior to Chapek’s appointment.

According to NBC News, the entertainment titan has begun to unravel under Chapek’s leadership, in part due to the pandemic, questionable leadership decisions, and a series of social scandals.

Things haven’t gotten much better in the first several years since Iger’s return. Iger has been “having a hard time” in the eight months since his return as CEO, according to The Wall Street Journal’s Disney beat reporter Robbie Whelan.

This is most likely owing to recent financial difficulties at Disney parks, major motion picture studios, and streaming platforms. According to one financial analyst, the company’s losses could have topped $1 billion between June 2022 and June of this year.

Perhaps this is why Iger is attempting to sell off many of the company’s most valuable assets.

According to a February report, the studio was intending to reduce 7,000 positions and $5.5 billion in costs.

“It’s time for another transformation,” stated Iger at the time.

We now have a clear notion of what this “transformation” will be based on a recent interview.

“The transformative work, of course, is making sure that our cost structure reflects the economic realities of the business,” Iger said in an interview with CNBC on July 13.

Do you think Iger can save Disney?

According to Iger, this involves “dealing with businesses that are no-growth businesses and what to do about them.”

When asked if this would entail divesting key linear television holdings like as ABC, FX, National Geographic, and others, Iger said he would be “open-minded and objective about the future of those businesses.”

ESPN was the only non-core asset owned by Disney that Iger appeared to take off the table.

“If you look at today’s media landscape, sports stands very, very tall in terms of its ability to convene millions and millions of people all at once,” remarked Iger. “There’s almost a guarantee that that occurs.”

“It’s an advertiser’s dream. It’s a great demographic. It lends itself to technology in many ways, both in terms of coverage, distribution and consumption. And our position in that business is very unique. We have a great brand. We’ve had a great business.”

“And we want to stay in that business.”

That doesn’t mean ESPN will continue in its current form indefinitely.

“That said,” Iger said, “we’re going to be open-minded there too, not necessarily about spinning ESPN off, but about looking for strategic partners that could either help us with distribution or content, but we want to stay in the sports business.”

Iger’s message during the conversation, according to Axios media reporter Tim Baysinger, couldn’t have been clearer.

Baysinger took to social media.

“Bob Iger basically put a giant ‘FOR SALE’ sign on Disney’s linear TV assets except for ESPN.”

Bob Iger basically put a giant "FOR SALE" sign on Disney's linear TV assets except for ESPN

— Tim Baysinger (@tim_bays) July 13, 2023

WATCH:

Iger is committed to seeing his objectives through. According to CBS News, Disney extended Iger’s contract for another two years in mid-July, less than a year into his second stint.

He will now serve as CEO of Disney until the end of 2026.

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