Business
Disney Fanatic is here to deliver the latest business-focused news from The Walt Disney Company and beyond.
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May- 2023 -22 May
Disney Begins Latest Round of Layoffs
Morale must be incredibly low at the Walt Disney Company's media divisions. Disney CEO Bob Iger announced this month that Disney+ lost more than four million subscribers, and ad revenue at Disney's network, including ABC and ESPN, dropped 35 percent so far this year as more consumers cut the cable cord. Disney's media division has suffered through two rounds of job cuts that eliminated 4,000 jobs,
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22 May
Disney’s Price Increases Claim Yet Another Victim
If you're a Walt Disney World Resort Guest or a Disneyland Resort fan, then you already know that Disney's prices have increased drastically in the past three years since the COVID-19 pandemic did immense damage to the theme park industry (and, more recently, since inflation has reared its ugly head). Price increases have included increases in food prices and ticket prices (not to mention increase
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22 May
Disney Star Ray Stevenson Dead at 58
In 2009, Disney CEO Bob Iger signed a deal, bringing Marvel Studios to The Walt Disney Company. Just three years later, the beloved CEO inked another deal that partners are Disney and Lucasfilm. In less than five years, Disney brought the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the iconic Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies to the House of Mouse. Since then, Marvel has become one of the company’s biggest mon
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22 May
How Much is the Writers Strike Costing Disney?
There’s a lot that goes into making any film or television show. Have you ever sat in the theater and watched the credits all the way through? There are hundreds of people that are essential to making a show or movie successful. However, many of those productions are on pause and those workers are waiting to see what happens. On May 2, the Writers Guild of America announced that the nearly 12,000
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22 May
Lake Nona Cancellation Notwithstanding, Disney is Thinking “Pretty Aggressively” About its Future in Florida
The Walt Disney Company is a name synonymous with family-friendly fun, magic, wonder, and dreams. However, behind that image is a solid company and corporate structure that has to make multiple business decisions that can take some of the whimsy and magic out of Disney’s image and remind us of some of the harder decisions the company needs to make in order to keep things running. In that vein, one
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21 May
The Movie and Television Industry Is About To Hit a Cataclysmic Wall
Remember back to March 2020, when Covid first started. Everyone was stuck at home and desperately searching for something to watch. Remember how desperate we all were that we even watched Tiger King on Netflix for some reason? We needed television and movies more than ever in those early dark days of the Pandemic. But now, we may be losing all of that. The television and film industry is weeks awa
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21 May
New Reedy Creek Administrator Named in Disney Lawsuit
On May 10, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Comittee — formerly the Reedy Creek Improvement Board —, officially got a new administrator. Glen Gilzean, a close ally of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, started the job. He will make an astonishing $400,000 per year, which was nearly $100,000 more than the person who previously held the role. There is no end day in Gilzean’s contract. Before he was
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21 May
‘We’re Not Safe Here.’ Another Company Joins Disney in Suing Florida Over ‘Anti-Woke’ Laws
Companies in the state of Florida are starting to get nervous. They are looking around the business and political landscape and are hearing from their employees, and it is beginning to make some companies nervous. When the Walt Disney Company spoke out against Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida's “Don't Say Gay” law, very few companies joined them. Related: Disney is Accused of Being &#
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21 May
Hiding Behind the Feud With DeSantis Are Disney’s Business Struggles
If you paid attention to any news about the Walt Disney Company last week, you indeed heard that Disney canceled its Lake Nona project. This cancellation cost the state of Florida more than $1 billion in investment and 2,000 high-paying jobs. The headlines, of course, all said the same thing; Disney's feud with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis cost the state jobs and billions in investment. The truth
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20 May
More GOP Voices Speak Out Against DeSantis vs. Disney
The Disney vs. DeSantis saga has carried on for many months now. What began in the spring of 2022 has carried on through to the summer of 2023 with multiple escalations and punches (read: lawsuits, clever maneuvers, and significantly impactful business decisions). Most recently, Disney demonstrated in no uncertain terms that they were not bluffing about pulling investments out of the Sunshine Stat
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