The Walt Disney Company
Disney's Challenged Television Business
Cable TV is lucrative for Disney. According to Fox Business, Disney's cable TV accounts for 30% of its revenue and 43% of profits for fiscal year 2016. More importantly, 26% of cable revenue and its profits stemmed from its entertainment networks, which mainly include Disney Channel and Freeform (Morgan Stanley estimations). Thus, the decline in its children, teen, and young adult viewership is concerning to both the company and its investors.
In terms of subscription decline, Wall Street Journal reports that both Disney Channel and Freeform (formerly known as ABC Family prior January 2016) has "lost about 4 million subscribers in the past 3 years." Part of the ongoing struggle for Disney is inclusive of the cable business, in general. Nielsen, the premiere consumer insight reporting company, notes that there has been serious cord-cutting in the past couple of years, as more options to watch and access TV has increased competition from the likes of Hulu, Netflix
Traditional Players Also Losing Out As Well
Similar to the situation Disney is facing, the other traditional players are also flailing. One of Disney's competitors, Viacom
- http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2017/07/04/disneys-channels-kids-are-tuning-out.html
- https://www.wsj.com/articles/disneys-channels-kids-are-tuning-out-1499166003
- http://www.refinery29.com/2017/07/162064/disney-channel-network-struggles-new-shows
- https://www.thestreet.com/story/13665776/1/viacom-s-paramount-is-struggling.html
- http://variety.com/2017/tv/features/overcrowded-cable-sector-esquire-spike-fyi-1202012647/