Disney's annual shareholder meeting yesterday brought company Chair & CEO BOB IGER "face to face with a smattering of people who demanded that he resign" from PRESIDENT TRUMP's Strategy and Policy Forum, according to Brooks Barnes of the N.Y. TIMES. Iger said that he had "no plans to step down and that his involvement was 'not an endorsement at all of the policies of the new administration.'" The shareholder meeting took place in Denver and was "streamed live on the internet." Iger, a Democrat, is the "lone Hollywood executive" the forum, a group of "more than a dozen chief executives meant to advise the Trump administration on economic matters." Iger "contended that his involvement was largely about access to the president." He said that he would use that access to "express the inclusionary values that Disney advocates in its films and television series" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/9). In L.A., Daniel Miller reports Iger at the meeting had an "intense exchange" with JUSTIN DANHOF of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a "conservative think tank and policy institute." Danhof, a "proxy for a group of shareholders, alleged that Disney-owned ESPN and ABC News have exhibited bias in their coverage of the Trump administration." Iger "dismissed the claims and offered an impassioned defense of the two operations." Iger: "I am going to disagree with just about everything you said. The charge that ESPN is exhibiting significant political bias in its programming is just completely exaggerated" (L.A. TIMES, 3/9).
IGER BULLISH ON ESPN: CNBC’s Julia Boorstin noted Iger "was bullish" on the company yesterday, "particularly about ESPN as it expands to new digital platforms." He noted a "new direct-to-consumer live sports app that’s in the works will launch by year end.” However, the N.Y. Times' James Stewart, who wrote a book about Disney, said it is a "sign of the times that what the shareholders seem most concerned about has very little to do with the actual performance of the company." Iger "got a lot of questions" about the Trump panel, and Stewart said, "I am glad he gave a really strong defense of free press." However, Stewart believes ESPN's direct-to-consumer platform is "going to be a huge watershed for Disney in terms of profitability and revenues." Stewart: "The question is can Disney replace a fading cable model with a direct-to-consumer model that's as profitable, and there is a lot of skepticism about that on Wall Street and among investors” (“Closing Bell,” CNBC, 3/8).
