“I don’t think all streamers are the same,” Bob Iger said at the 2022 Codex conference. “I don’t think they all come out.”
“They will and they will not,” added the former House of Mouse boss, unsurprisingly praising Disney +, Netflix and the “deep pockets” of Apple and Amazon. “I’m not going to make any predictions about others,” continued Iger, leaving HBO Max and Peacock hanging in the air.
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If Wednesday was on the mind of the casually dressed former CEO, so was the future of online movies and television, and the future is bleak from Iger’s point of view.
“Linear TV and satellite are headed for a great abyss, and it will go away,” said the man who spent years at the helm of ABC and predicted the arrival of a “world of pain.” As for the big screen, Iger praised the overall cinematic experience, saying the film world is far from dead, but he said it’s now “smaller”.
“I don’t think the films will ever return to the level they were before the pandemic,” Iger said, noting the “permanent scars” suffered after much of the world crashed due to Covid in March 2020. “Competition, choice. .is changing the way people go to the movies, ”Iger explained where the consumers really are, despite the best hopes and prayers of many studio executives.
It is “an era of great anxiety,” Iger said of the industry as a whole, “because it is an era of great transformation.”
With host Cara Swisher as the “Prince of Kashmir” mocking his presentation and circumventing attempts to criticize Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav and his Disney predecessor Michael Eisner, also the relatively quiet Iger. It is very clear that he is not really a fun game executive. “I don’t miss my job,” added Iger, a 47-year-old Disney veteran less than a year after her first position. “Retirement is great, I have a very different life from before. Much more air in my day ”.
In frequent whispers, as a candidate with electoral ambitions, Iger declared that “I am not running … that’s all I said”.
Kicking off the Codex session with the biggest hits of his career and his own effort (aka Maker Studios) to harness the “disruptive effects of digital technology,” Iger spoke Wednesday about the lessons he learned from behind the scenes. fifths. and “easy to use” Netflix in the early years of the last decade. “At Disney, we were the first studio to license movies to Netflix,” said the former CEO and president. “We were selling nuclear weapons technology to a third world country and now they’re using it against us,” he added to the harsh realities of the Netflix deals and the lure of the industry-changing streamer.
Like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a red chair, Iger’s appearance on stage at the air-conditioned Beverly Hills Hilton comes today just two days before Disney and current CEO Bob Chapek begin the show. 100th Anniversary of the House of Mouse to conference D23. Anaheim. Iger, who is still a frequent presence on the Sun Valley circuit and a high-ranking member of the Tinseltown gossip star chamber, finally left Disney in December 2021.
After Iger’s prolonged retirement during the first year and a half of the pandemic, a series of misadventures in the Magic Kingdom have repeatedly fueled rumors of his thoughts on Chapek’s successor and his relationship with the duo. For a city enjoying the title, talks have calmed down in recent weeks as Disney shares rise, the company’s digital platforms have grown, and a crowded theme park has filled corporate coffers.
Well positioned in startups and boards, Iger, 71, said today that he is working on another book and is “entrepreneurial.”
Speaking of entrepreneurs, Iger was joined on Wednesday by an industry woman, Issa Rae.
Source: Deadline
Joseph Fearn is an entertainment and television aficionado who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for what’s hot in the world of TV, Joseph keeps his readers informed about the latest trends and must-see shows.
