Disney has had a tumultuous run since Bob Iger’s return as the company’s CEO, which came just two years after he handed the reins over to Bob Chapek. Iger has since worked to undo some of Chapek’s changes as the company contends with a streaming-focused future.
Iger has big plans for the future of Disney and has already combined the Disney Plus and Hulu apps for bundle subscribers in the US. Disney is also gearing up to launch a streaming-only version of ESPN that will exist in addition to a new live sports streaming partnership with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Outside of streaming, Iger is hoping to boost Disney’s slate of films and reinvigorate interest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But with Iger’s contract set to expire in 2026, a lot remains unclear about what’s next for the future of Disney. Here are all the major changes Iger has made so far.
- More about the Sora AI videos coming to Disney Plus.
Disney’s deal with OpenAI includes a plan to allow Sora users to create 30-second clips featuring over 250 Disney characters while some will appear in curated vertical video feeds inside Disney Plus, CEO Bob Iger told investors on Monday. Iger said the feature could arrive “sometime in fiscal 2026,” adding the company hopes to allow Disney Plus subscribers to create them directly on its platform:
What this deal does is by giving us the ability to curate what has been basically created by Sora onto Disney, is it jumpstarts our ability to have short form video on Disney Plus.
OpenAI’s billion-dollar Disney deal puts Mickey Mouse and Marvel in Sora
Image: The VergeA new three-year licensing agreement announced between Disney and ChatGPT operator OpenAI will allow the Sora video generator to create “user-prompted social videos” that feature more than 200 characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars. “The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence marks an important moment for our industry, and through this collaboration with OpenAI we will thoughtfully and responsibly extend the reach of our storytelling through generative AI, while respecting and protecting creators and their works,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger.
According to OpenAI’s blog post announcing the deal:
Read Article >Netflix signs a three-year deal to stream MLB live events and games
Getty ImagesToday, Major League Baseball announced new media rights deals with ESPN, NBCUniversal, and Netflix that run for the next three seasons. The Netflix deal brings live MLB games to its platform and continues to grow its library of sports programming in an arrangement that Front Office Sports reports is worth about $50 million per year.
Netflix will stream a single game on Opening Night of each season, the Home Run Derby, and one “special event game” each year. In 2026, that will cover the “Field of Dreams” game broadcast from Dyersville, Iowa, on August 13th, 2026, between the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies.
Read Article >- No Monday Night Football, no Election Night ABC News for YouTube TV.
The standoff between Disney and YouTube started just before midnight on Thursday evening, and unlike the 36-hour tiff in 2021, there’s no sign of an end yet. Disney said it asked Google to turn the networks on for 24 hours for election (and probably football) coverage, but YouTube declined.
There are plenty of other options for customers - election news information is very widely available across other broadcast stations and news networks on YouTube TV, as well as on the main YouTube service, for free. In fact, on the last two U.S. election days, the vast majority of tuned in YouTube TV subscribers chose not to watch ABC.
ESPN, ABC, and other Disney channels go dark on YouTube TV
Image: Alex Castro / The VergeMore than 20 Disney-owned channels, including ESPN, ABC, and Nat Geo, have been pulled from YouTube TV after Google and Disney failed to reach a new content distribution agreement. The previous contract expired at 11:59 PM ET on October 30th, and it’s unclear when, or if, the two companies will reach a new deal.
The blackout was prompted by disagreements over carriage fees, with Google saying in a blog post published last week that Disney was “proposing costly economic terms that would raise prices on YouTube TV customers.” That same post was updated at 11:15PM on Thursday, claiming that Disney had followed through on threats to pull its channels from YouTube TV, which Google described as a “negotiating tactic.”
Read Article >- Disney’s deal to buy the rest of Hulu from Comcast is finally done.
While Comcast / NBCUniversal argued for a Hulu valuation that could’ve cost Disney another $5 billion on top of the $8.6 billion it had already paid, a third-party appraiser reached a number much closer to Disney’s. That ended their dispute -- simmering since 2019 -- for only an extra $438.7 million, as reported by THR and Axios.
Bob Iger said this clears the way for deeper integration between Hulu and Disney Plus ahead of the launch of ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service in the fall.
Disney 8-K - June 9th, 2025[otp.tools.investis.com]
- More Disney layoffs.
Deadline reports on another round of mass layoffs at Disney, affecting hundreds of people. “...across divisions of Disney Entertainment, including marketing for both film and television as well as television publicity, casting and development,” as well as corporate financing.
This latest round comes just weeks after 200 employees were laid off in the TV and ABC News divisions.
Disney is suing YouTube for poaching a key media and sports executive
Getty Images for The Wict NetworAs YouTube prepares to air an exclusive NFL opening week game for free on September 5th, it’s hiring former Disney exec Justin Connolly. The move has caused Disney to respond by suing both YouTube and Connolly, saying he was in the middle of leading the team negotiating Disney’s license renewal with YouTube.
He’d most recently been running the streaming services and linear media networks at Disney, and will take over as YouTube’s new global head of media and sports, as first reported by Bloomberg. After spending more than 20 years at Disney and ESPN, he’ll be managing YouTube’s relationship with the media companies that distribute content on YouTube TV, as well as leading its live sports coverage.
Read Article >ESPN’s standalone streaming app launches this fall for $30 a month
Image: Cath Virginia / The VergeDisney is launching its direct-to-consumer ESPN streaming service this fall. The service, which will simply be called “ESPN,” will cost $29.99 per month for the “unlimited” plan, which will include all of ESPN’s linear channels.
Disney will also offer ESPN’s unlimited plan annually for $299.99, which saves you about $60 compared to paying monthly.
Read Article >- Trump’s censor in chief targets Disney for a DEI investigation.
As reported by the New York Times and CNBC, FCC chair Brendan Carr has followed up on a previous threat against Disney in a new letter (pdf). Now he says its enforcement bureau will investigate to see if it’s “violating FCC equal employment opportunity regulations by promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination.”
Along with an administration-wide push to remake government and industry that targets the catch-all buzzword, Carr has said it will be a focus for merger and acquisition approvals, and has begun inquiries into other companies.
FCC letter sent to Disney on March 27th. Image: Brendan Carr (FCC) - Kathleen Kennedy is reportedly planning to leave Lucasfilm.
Puck reports that Kennedy, who has steered franchises like Star Wars and Indiana Jones since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, has informed the studio and others that she will step down by the end of 2025.
In 2023, Kennedy announced three new Star Wars films before murkier reports appeared last year about a new trilogy, and we just saw a new trailer for Andor season two. If there is a change at the top, then it could come with some clarity about the series’ future on big and small screens alike.
Kathleen Kennedy to Step Down at Lucasfilm[puck.news]
- The NBA subs in Mickey Mouse and Daffy Duck to help take on the NFL.
As the NFL’s Netflix broadcasts threaten to dominate Christmas and people fret over ratings drops, today’s slate of NBA games includes a “Dunk the Halls” simulcast — similar to other overlay broadcasts we’ve seen recently — available on Disney Plus.
Instead of Jalen Brunson and the Knicks vs. Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, it’s their cartoon avatars, with occasional drop-ins from recognizable characters. Are any of you watching this instead of Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson?
ESPN is testing a generative AI avatar called ‘FACTS’
Image: ESPNESPN is testing an AI-generated avatar with the Saturday college football show SEC Nation. Dubbed FACTS, it’s going to be “...promoting education and fun around sports analytics” with information drawn from ESPN Analytics, which includes data like the Football Power Index (FPI), player and team statistics, and game schedules. We haven’t seen the avatar in action, but it sounds like a bot-ified version of stats encyclopedia Howie Schwab, who was ESPN’s first statistician and eventually the star of a mid-2000s game show, Stump the Schwab.
ESPN has already brought generative AI to its website with AI-written game recaps. FACTS is still in development, and there’s no word on when it could make its first appearance on the network.
Read Article >Disney’s streaming business is finally finding its footing
Image: Nick Barclay / The VergeDisney made money off its streaming business for the second time in a row. During Q4 2024, profit from Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus soared to $321 million, up from $47 million last quarter.
During an earnings call on Thursday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said around 60 percent of all new subscribers are choosing Disney Plus’ ad-supported plan. Meanwhile, 37 percent of total subscribers in the US are currently subscribed to the option, which has become a major revenue driver for streaming services.
Read Article >- He’s in the game.
Disney is searching for potential CEO candidates outside of the company, and one person being considered is EA CEO Andrew Wilson, Variety and The Wall Street Journal report. The company plans to announce Bob Iger’s successor in early 2026.
Disney’s still looking for a new CEO — but not this year or next year
Image: The VergeDisney will announce a replacement for CEO Bob Iger in “early 2026,” according to an update from the company on Monday.
The entertainment giant has been on the hunt for a new leader since Iger’s return to Disney in 2022. Last year Iger extended his contract with Disney until December 31st, 2026, and, as The New York Times notes, delayed retirement four times during his previous run as the company’s CEO before eventually handing control over to Bob Chapek in 2020.
Read Article >- Shams Charania takes over for Adrian Wojnarowski as ESPN’s senior NBA insider.
There’s white smoke from ESPN’s HQ in Bristol, CT, today, as Shams Charania broke the news of his own free agent signing, saying:
I am honored to join ESPN as the company’s Senior NBA Insider.
He will take over the spot from his one-time mentor and longtime rival, Wojnarowski, who announced his retirement last month.
Image: Shams Charania (Threads) A Disney, Hulu, and Max streaming bundle is on the way
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The VergeThere’s a new streaming bundle coming to town. Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are teaming up to offer Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max in a bundle that will become available in the US this summer.
The new bundle will include both ad-supported and ad-free options, but there’s still no word on how much it will cost. Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery say they will share “additional details” about the bundle in the “coming months.” Once available, you’ll be able to purchase the bundle from Disney Plus, Hulu, or Max’s website.
Read Article >Disney’s streaming business gets closer to becoming profitable
Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeDisney Plus and Hulu posted a profit for the first time today. In Disney’s earnings report released on Tuesday, the company revealed that both streaming services made $47 million combined this past quarter — a huge turnaround from the $587 million loss reported at the same time last year.
But Disney’s streaming business wasn’t entirely profitable. ESPN Plus still lost $65 million, dragging its combined streaming earnings $18 million in the red. Despite this, the narrowing losses mark a huge milestone for Disney as it continues to invest more in streaming. The entertainment company says it expects its streaming business to become profitable in the fourth quarter of this year.
Read Article >- Amazon reportedly has a ‘framework’ of a deal to stream NBA games.
Following a report by Puck’s John Ourand that ESPN has carved out a piece of the new NBA media landscape, The Athletic added an Amazon rumor:
It is expected that Prime Video’s package will include significant regular season and postseason games, perhaps even some conference finals. The anticipation is that the final contract will be for at least a decade and begin the 2025-2026 season.
If the deals go through, this might add streaming NBA games on Thursdays when Amazon’s NFL games aren’t on.
Amazon Prime has framework deal for NBA broadcast rights[The Athletic]
- The NBA’s next media rights deal is up for grabs.
According to the WSJ, Amazon, YouTube, and Peacock are all in the mix alongside incumbents Warner and Disney, with the possibility of snagging global streaming rights for some games.
When these deals kick in after 2024-2025, they’ll exist alongside the three-headed effort from Disney, Fox, and WBD, standalone ESPN, Netflix and the WWE, the NBA’s FAST channel and who knows what else.
- The clock is ticking on Disney’s streaming strategy.
Today’s episode of Decoder is all about Disney, the massive activist investor revolt it just fought off, and what happens next in the world of streaming. Earlier this month, Disney survived an attempted board takeover from businessman Nelson Peltz. While investors overwhelmingly sided with Disney and CEO Bob Iger, the boardroom showdown made something very clear: Disney needs to figure out streaming and get its creative direction back on track.
To help me better understand what’s happening here, I brought on my friend Julia Alexander, who is VP of strategy at Parrot Analytics, a Puck News news contributor, and, most importantly, a former Verge reporter. She’s a leading expert on all things Disney, and I always learn something important about the state of the entertainment business when I talk to her.
Disney reportedly wants to bring always-on channels to Disney Plus
Image: Nick Barclay / The VergeThe revamped Disney Plus app could soon feature always-on channels dedicated to Star Wars and Marvel shows, according to a report from The Information. The channels, which are reportedly similar to those on free ad-supported streaming services like Pluto or Tubi, could take away the choice when it comes to picking out what to watch next.
In addition to Star Wars and Marvel series, Disney’s lineup of channels could feature stations that continuously stream Disney’s classic animated films or movies from Pixar, The Information reports. Even though viewers would need a Disney Plus subscription to tune in to the channels, they will likely still contain ads — just like traditional television.
Read Article >The Disney Plus password-sharing crackdown starts in June
Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeDisney Plus already has rules in place to prevent subscribers from sharing their passwords — but now we have an idea when it will start making users pay to share them. In an interview on CNBC, Disney CEO Bob Iger says the company plans on “launching our first real foray into password sharing” in June.
Iger says the rollout will start in “just a few countries in a few markets” before expanding to all subscribers in September. Disney’s anti-password sharing rules initially went into effect for new subscribers on January 25th and were rolled out to existing members on March 14th. Netflix became the first streaming service to crack down on password sharing in 2023, as it began charging users an extra $7.99 per month to add an extra viewer outside their household.
Read Article >- “No one has the breadth of what Disney has when it comes to streaming.”
Following a drawn-out proxy fight, CEO Bob Iger gave investors a pep talk about the future of Disney, including its goals of launching a streaming-only version of ESPN in 2025:
This will give consumers the ability to stream their favorite live games and studio programming, and take advantage of an immersive, customizable sports experience that includes betting, fantasy sports, e-commerce, and more.
Iger also mentioned ESPN’s joint venture with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, while adding that Disney’s suite of streaming services will reach profitability by the end of this fiscal year.
Disney CEO Bob Iger Delivers Message of ‘Renewed Strength’ at Annual Shareholders Meeting[The Walt Disney Company]
