Iger: Disney Goals Are Creativity and Profits

Bob Iger

Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Bob Iger said on Monday one of his top priorities is to make the company's streaming business profitable, reports Reuters.

Iger is responsible for Disney's all-in embrace of streaming, and the launch of its marquee service, Disney+, but he acknowledged the measurement of success has changed. Wall Street investors now focus on profitability, not merely subscriber gains.

"Instead of chasing (subscribers) with aggressive marketing and aggressive spend on content, we have to start chasing profitability," Iger told a town-hall meeting on the company's Burbank, California, lot, according to a transcript of remarks seen by Reuters.

"In order to achieve that, we have to take a very, very hard look at our cost structure across our businesses."

Disney joins a number of media companies seeking to grow their streaming services without sacrificing its film or television businesses.

The board announced it had installed Iger as chief executive on Nov. 20 after removing his handpicked successor, Bob Chapek, who had lost the support of senior staff.

"Filled with gratitude and excitement to be back @WaltDisneyCo!," Iger tweeted on Monday with a picture of the company's headquarters.

From a sound stage on Disney's lot, Iger said he returns to the company he led for 15 years with a sense of urgency. He said he had recently been listening to Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical "Hamilton," and was struck by the song "What'd I Miss?," as Thomas Jefferson, the U.S. minister to France, is called home.