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Tag: Iger

  • Iger to succeed Eisner as Disney CEO

    MUMBAI: Disney’s board of directors have announced that Robert A Iger has been unanimously elected as its CEO. He takes up this role from 30 September 2005.

    Current CEO Michael Eisner had announced his intention to retire in a letter to the Board last year. Disney’s board of directors chairman Sen George J Mitchell said, “The decison was taken after a lengthy, thorough and professional selection process, comparing both internal and external candidates against our criteria for CEO. Bob is an experienced, talented and visionary leader who has made crucial and substantial contributions toward Disney’s strong performance. On behalf of the entire Board, I want to express how excited we are at the prospect of Bob leading this extraordinary company and talented management team to new levels of financial and creative success in the years ahead.”

    Iger currently serves as Disney president and COO. He said, “It is truly an honor to be entrusted with the responsibility of guiding this great company that occupies such an important place in the hearts and minds of millions the world over toward a very bright future. It is also an honour to work with our incredibly talented and dedicated worldwide team. I feel all the more privileged to succeed Michael, whose tremendous 20-year leadership and enormous accomplishments have built this company into the world’s preeminent leader in family entertainment.”

    Eisner said, “It is with a considerable amount of satisfaction and even pride that I approach the end of my term as CEO of this company. By every financial and creative measure, Disney is performing at its peak. I have enjoyed virtually every moment of my tenure and want to express my appreciation to the phenomenal colleagues with whom I have been privileged to work. I believe Disney is now poised for its brightest days in the years ahead under the able and insightful leadership of Bob, who has not only the qualities to succeed, but also has a keen sense of the Disney brand and how to maintain its leadership position and grow it on a worldwide scale.”

    The selection of Iger culminates a lengthy and detailed CEO selection process that started formally when the Disney Board announced on 21 September 2004 that it would, “engage in a thorough, careful, and reasoned process to select as the next CEO the best person for the company, its shareholders, employees, customers, and for the many millions of others who care so much about The Walt Disney Company. The Board is keenly aware of the special place our company holds in the hearts of people all over the world and the importance of its responsibility in choosing a CEO.” The Board also made known that day its intention to complete the process and announce a successor as soon as possible, with an expected date of completion of June 2005.

     

  • Disney spends over a million dollars on Eisner, Iger security

    MUMBAI: Media conglomerate Disney spends quite a packet to make sure that its CEO Michael Eisner and COO Bob Iger are safe.

    The company revealed that it has spent $735,000 in its latest fiscal year on security systems, security advice and personal protection services for Eisner.

    Disney also spent more than $470,000 in the fiscal ended 30 September 2004 on similar security protection for Iger

    Media reports indicate that disclosures about the security measures — which cost Disney a similar amount the prior year — came in the proxy statement Disney issued in advance of its annual meeting. This will take place on 11 February.

    Iger, who also didn’t receive any new stock units in 2004, earned $8 million in salary and bonus for the latest fiscal year, and received $3.5 million in payouts for previously awarded long term incentive plan grants. In 2003, Iger received $5.4 million worth of salary and bonus, and $1 million in stock units.

    Regarding Eisner’s and Iger’s security systems and services, Disney said that the measures are incurred as a result of business-related concerns, not for the personal benefit of the executives, and thus should not be classified as compensation.

    Meanwhile a report in Dow Jones states that Disney has agreed to formalise the separation of the positions of chairman and chief executive. This should pacify shareholders who want a permanent split of the two jobs.

    As part of a negotiated settlement, Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds has withdrawn its shareholder resolution filed in advance of the 2005 annual meeting in light of the company’s pledge to amend its corporate- governance guidelines.

    In a separate release, Disney said that the board has amended its corporate- governance guidelines to “embody” the policy after input from shareholders. Disney chairman George Mitchell said, “The board policy, now embodied in the guidelines, embraces principles of good corporate governance that the company is committed to pursuing.”

  • Disney revs for India, China may take time: Iger

    Disney revs for India, China may take time: Iger

    MUMBAI: Even as Walt Disney is working overtime to have everything in place for what now looks increasingly like a year-end coming out party for its three channels in India, the going is not quite so smooth in neighbouring China.

    The timeline of the launch of Disney in India appears to have been advanced to the year-end (December-January) instead of the March-April timeline that was earlier being talked about.

    Additionally, the three channels that will be launching are also now clear. The Disney Channel will be the flagship. Alongside it are Toon Disney (to directly take on Cartoon Network) and Playhouse Disney (for pre-schoolers).

    And what of the localised version of ABC, which German business daily Handelsblatt had quoted David Hulbert, president Walt Disney Television International, as saying would definitely happen within a year?

    The thinking appears to be that with three well entrenched players in Star, Sony and Zee having pretty much carved out most of the ad pickings in the Hindi general entertainment space, that is an idea that can wait.

    Meanwhile, regulatory hurdles to starting a television channel in Guangdong may mean a Disney channel in China isn’t imminent, Disney president Robert Iger has been quoted in media reports as saying.

    Guangdong is the most open media market in China and has a population of 86 million.

    Rivals Viacom and Newscorp are ahead of Disney as far as China ventures are concerned. Viacom expects to launch ventures in Beijing and Shanghai in the near future while Phoenix Satellite Television, 38 per cent owned by News Corp, broadcasts into China from the SAR.

    Iger has been quoted as saying in London on 29 September that Disney plans to expand its television presence in China, India and Europe as part of an effort to extend the Disney brand and drive growth in its movie, DVD, theme park and other businesses. The company will start a TV channel in India next year, Iger said.

    DISTRIBUTION STILL THE BIG QUESTION

    That Disney India has been on an aggressive recruitment drive to shore up its team ahead of the launch of its three channels is well known. But the ad that appeared in a leading pink paper on Tuesday certainly raises some queries.

    While the ad Disney placed seeks suitable candidates for the full gamut of channel activities – distribution, ad sales, programming, S&P, legal and finance – the focus was clearly on distribution.

    Disney is looking for an India distribution head as well as regional heads (east, west, south, north) who will report to the national head.

    It may be just a coincidence, but the attention of indiantelevision.com had been drawn to this very fact earlier by the distribution head of a channel. According to him, this could well point to the possibility of Disney not hitching on to any platform but going it alone the way the just launched Times Group channel Zoom has chosen to do.

    What did lend some substance to this thesis were of course the recent recommendations issued by broadcast regulator Trai suggesting that all new pay channels should not be packaged as part of an existing bouquet but should be priced separately.

    If implemented, what this would do is remove any advantage that a strong platform will provide a new channel.

    Of course, it could also be simply that Disney head Rajat Jain believes that whether on a platform or otherwise, a dedicated distribution team is essential to have a clear handle on the exact status of the channel/s on the distribution front. Having come from Sony, he would obviously be aware of the how NDTV’s channels only picked up after a dedicated distribution team was set up by Dr Prannoy Roy’s network to push the two channels.

    For the record, though there is still no official word on the matter, the industry expectation still is that it will be the Star Network wagon that Disney hitches its distribution fortunes to.