Walt Disney Co ( DIS.N ) Chief Executive Bob Iger said Thursday that the studio may continue to make movies and TV shows for its rivals, a departure from recent years when its production resources were used to launch and grow the Disney+ steaming service.
Iger told the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom conference in San Francisco that streaming services have traditionally relied on the volume of new content to attract subscribers. It said it hopes to adopt an HBO-like curated approach of creating a handful of high-quality shows built around its core brands as it works to leverage Disney+’s profits.
“As we seek to reduce the amount of content we create for our platforms, there may be opportunities to license to third parties,” Iger said. “It’s been something we haven’t been able to do for a while because we love our streaming platforms. But if we get to a point where we need less content for those platforms, and we still have the ability to produce that content, why not use that to grow revenue?”
Iger also talked about the possibility of licensing content to third parties, noting that Seth MacFarlane’s animated series “Family Guy” has drawn viewers on Disney-owned Hulu after the shows first aired on the Fox network.
Iger returned to Disney in November, less than a year after retiring, as the entertainment company sought to boost investor confidence and revenue in its streaming media division.
The company announced a massive restructuring in February, saying it would cut 7,000 jobs in a bid to save $5.5 billion in costs and return power to Disney’s creative executives.
The plan helped end activist investor Nelson Peltz’s pursuit of a board seat, saying he was pleased with Iger’s restructuring.
