Disney may be putting a cap on the number of “Desperate Housewives” seasons in the US, the current 8th season will be its last, but the show will live on overseas. Disney just announced they will launch a new local production of the hit series,… Read More »Desperate Housewives to Live On in International Productions
Two new trailers for the upcoming video game “Disney Universe” were released by Disney Interactive Studios. It was also announced on Twitter that the game will be at the Disney Gaming Pavilion at D23. Click here to read more about the game, or watch the two following trailers that give a preview of the Wall-E and Lion King themed worlds. (The Lion King one gives some nice hints as to the type of mini-games that will be included in Disney Universe.)
Pre-order it today for Wii, Xbox, or Playstation.
one more below the jump:
Read More »Two new trailers for “Disney Universe” – Wall-E & Lion King worlds
Some diehard Disney fans would have you believe that back in the day, Disney used to create their own characters. Whether live action or animation, the early franchises were all created out of the minds of Walt Disney and his artists. Of course, while that… Read More »Bob Iger says Disney Interested in Acquiring More Characters
If you were born in the last 50 years, the only Indianapolis 500 broadcast you’ve ever known has been on ABC. A new deal between IZOD IndyCar series and Disney will ensure that this Memorial Day weekend television tradition will continue. A new six-year rights agreement will keep the Indianapolis 500 on ABC through 2018, extending one of the longest-running relationships between a sporting event and a television network past the half-century mark.
ESPN on ABC will broadcast the 500 Mile Race for the 48th consecutive year on May 27, 2012, and, with the new agreement taking effect in 2013, also will televise the 100th running of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in 2016.
“The Indianapolis 500 and ABC have been together since 1965 and we are very proud to extend the relationship with this new agreement,” said George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN and ABC Sports. “The 500 is a uniquely American event and a Memorial Day tradition, and we especially look forward to televising the 100th edition of the race in 2016.”
As part of the new agreement, ABC will be the exclusive broadcast network partner for the IZOD IndyCar Series from 2013-2018 and will continue to televise four races each year in addition to the Indianapolis 500. The worldwide presence of the Indianapolis 500 and the series on television will continue as ESPN also has international syndication rights for all IZOD IndyCar Series races.
“IndyCar is very excited about our continued relationship with ABC,” said Randy Bernard, CEO, IndyCar. “This allows the series long-term growth on the network. This new contract also helps us expand our presence around the world with ESPN representing our international rights. I want to thank ABC for their strong confidence and commitment in our brand and series. This deal will help our series, team owners, sponsors and fans for the long term with a much more solid foundation.”
If you haven’t noticed already it’s earnings day in the world of Disney. Euro Disney SCA and Tokyo Disneyland just came out with their 3rd Quarter earnings reports and this afternoon the Walt Disney Company did too. Even though we’re experiencing economic “turbulent” times, according… Read More »Walt Disney Company Reports 3rd Quarter Profit
In a long internal memo today, Tom Staggs made official the organizational shakeup everyone knew was coming after Staggs took over the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division. It’s nothing earth shattering, but it does flatten some of the levels of hierarchy that were said to have frustrated Staggs since he took over.
In short, current WDW president Meg Crofton expands to oversee all the domestic parks and the two parks in France. Karl Holtz, who a few years ago was rumored to be leaving Disney, is instead adding DVC to his DCL and Adventures by Disney responsibilities. Leslie Ferraro becomes executive vice president, Global Marketing and Sales combining those two closely related departments and Erin Wallace, executive vice president, Operations Integration also adds revenue management to her desk. The move also creates a new executive council under Staggs.
While Staggs’ reorganization did not cut any of the deadwood certain segments of Disney fans wanted to see go, I believe the general movement here is a good one. It will allow for efficiencies where they need to exist and independence, with oversight, as required for the parks. Combining marketing and sales is a no-duh in my book, they are both measured by the same final metrics (butts in beds and asses through the gates), so unifying them is good. The only move that looks questionable to me is giving the extra power of revenue management to operations. However, they are the yin and the yang of theme park operations. Having one person keep a close eye via her myriad of spreadsheets and minions (and I mean that in the nicest possible way), could be very positive.
Let’s keep a watch on this for the next 3-year planning cycle and see if there really is any improvement. Meanwhile, the pressure is kicked up a notch for these people to get things done or they too could be reorganized right out of a job.
The full text of Tom Staggs’ announcement is below the jump:
Read More »Promotions Shake Up Disney Parks & Resorts under Tom Staggs
The good news is that Disney shows will continue to be available on Hulu for your viewing pleasure. The bad news is that you’ll have to endure more commercials with them. The details of the deal are murky, but expect your usual 6 to 8… Read More »Hulu updates deal with Disney Co.
In a project that finished today, nearly 300 volunteers from the local community, Disneyland and other Disney VoluntEARs, city of Anaheim, Thomas Edison Elementary School and Anaheim Family YMCA united to build a new KaBOOM! playground and learning garden for hundreds of Anaheim children. The… Read More »Disneyland Cast Members Help Community Build New KaBOOM! Playground in Anaheim