Report: Disney Pulling Back On TV Advertising

In the most candid admission of how downbeat the television ad market is right now, ABC and ESPN parent Walt Disney Co. said it had decided to reduce its reliance on advertising.

The Wall Street Journal reports during a conference call on Tuesday night, Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger acknowledged that ad spending is growing faster on new media platforms than on traditional outlets. Acknowledging what some ad buyers have been whispering in recent weeks, Mr. Iger said that some ad dollars that was held back from the TV upfront “clearly moved to new platforms.”

Noting that Disney sees “a much more competitive environment out there for advertising,” Mr. Iger said Disney has made a “conscious decision” to reduce its reliance on advertising, which now accounts for “the low 20% range of our total revenue.”

His comments, which so far have received little attention, highlighted generally dispirited comments from media CEOs about the ad market on June quarter earnings calls over the past week or so.

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