Fewer movies in theaters? Big Media turns focus to streaming video

October 14 ------ Walt Disney Co’s revamp of its media and entertainment businesses represents Hollywood’s latest move to prioritize streaming media, raising questions about how much big media companies will continue to support movie theaters. On Monday, Disney said it had restructured its media and entertainment businesses to accelerate growth of Disney+ and other streaming services as consumers increasingly gravitate to digital viewing. AT&T Inc and Comcast Corp have made similar moves.

Disney is facing pressure from activist investor Daniel Loeb, founder of hedge fund Third Point, to increase funding to Disney+ and the rest of its streaming businesses. While Loeb applauded Disney’s restructuring on Monday, a person familiar with the hedge fund’s thinking said Third Point is urging Disney to take more feature films directly to streaming platforms, or to put them in theaters and on Disney+ on the same day. Disney, the company behind blockbuster movie franchises including “Avengers” and “Star Wars,” said it was committed to theaters when it announced the restructuring. The changes separate creative divisions from the distribution unit that will send programming to cinemas, streaming or other platforms, though Disney said they work in “close collaboration.” Chief Executive Bob Chapek, speaking to CNBC television, described the shift as “tilting the scale pretty dramatically” toward streaming.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed consumer habits and driven more viewers to Netflix Inc and other digital video services. It shuttered theaters and forced experimentation with release patterns, upending the traditional practice of keeping a movie exclusively in theaters for a window of roughly 90 days before sending it to other platforms. To meet the need for fresh streaming content during a worldwide halt in production, Disney made its remake of the animated classic “Mulan” available for purchase in the United States on Disney+ over the Labor Day weekend, and in movie theaters in a handful of other countries. It will debut the Pixar animated movie “Soul” on Disney+ on Christmas Day, rather than in theaters in November, as originally planned.

Source: entertainment.inquirer.net