The Walt Disney Company’s CEO Bob Chapek has miscalculated once again.
Disney just lost a bid to stream Indian Premier League cricket matches on Disney+. “[Chapek] could have telegraphed this a little bit more. And now, the question is, ‘What are they going to revise [the number of subscribers] down to? And will the market punish Disney when they do revise them down?’” Matt Belloni, founding partner of Puck News, asks.
“Keep in mind, it's not just a subscriber game anymore. [Investors] are looking for return on subscribers, the revenue generated per subscriber,” he adds. This was a potential large market to help Chapek’s commitment to reach between 230 to 260 million global subscribers on Disney+ by the end of 2024.
On his decision to fire Disney’s TV division head Peter Rice last week, “it just shows again, the tone deafness of this CEO. [Firing Rice] means that you are coming from a place of weakness, and it is an insecurity that the CEO of Disney has shown,” says Belloni.
And Chapek’s recent response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Bill, Belloni says, “absolutely enraged his own employees to the point where he had to overcorrect, take a stand. And then he became a punching bag for Florida and Fox News, [and] that has done very significant damage to the company.”
“In situation after situation, he makes the wrong move, even if it's coming perhaps from the right place,” Belloni explains.