Even Disney’s Bob Iger believed CBS was really getting into bed with CNN probably still does, pressures ABCnews.comers to be all they can be

By SDH With the web still abuzz about a possible CBS News, CNN join up, Disney CEO and Wall Street darling Bob Iger talks about why he had to pass on an ABC News, CNN join up. He says that CNN wanted an actual joint venture when all he was looking for was a news gathering agreement. The way it sounds is as if CNN wouldn’t budge on their stance at all. Iger does admit that the lack of a cable news partner puts ABC News at a disadvantage but, he isn’t looking to change that by acquiring one. Could these reasons be the same reasons why CBS News is now saying they weren’t in talks with CNN? Was CNN trying to muscle them into a joint venture as well?

Barron's : Disney is a well oiled machine

BY SDH Other media companies are looking to cut jobs, and chop up assets to create value and drive revenue. Others are dumping cash into deals to give the impression that they know how to digitize their content but sometimes the deal makes no sense. Others are just there, slugging along. But over at Disney, all joints are well lubricated and moving in unison thanks to the leadership of the Iger Administration. The business weekly Barron's owned by News Corp, says that Disney stands out for its management stability and financial discipline, two things some of its competitors lack. Barron's credits Bob Iger who was hand picked by Former Disney CEO Mike Eisner, for focusing on creating brands and deploying them across the company like the very annoying Hannah Montana, which if you have kids, invades your living room every weekend. Iger does seem to be focused on taking the organic route over dropping tons of cash to grow Disney and its brands like his competitors. However the organic route may be working well for Disney due to its content. Disney can monetize its content in ways that its competitors can't. For example the Hannah Montana brand. This went from cable, to music releases to more recently a stage show and a movie. All this in addition to a slew of branded merchandise allows Disney to build and expand from within. Iger doesn’t necessarily have to go looking outside for the next big thing. He can create it from within using Disney’s tween targeted content as a foundation. The Disney.com web portal is a perfect example of this. The properties Rupert Murdoch now owns through it's Down Jones acquisition seem to be big fans of Iger. It was Dow Jones' Marketwatch.com that named Iger 2006's CEO of The Year.

Disney's shining mouse

-SDH We said it before and we'll say it again. Choosing Bob Iger as his successor was probably the only smart thing then outgoing Disney CEO Mike Eisner did in his last days at the company. Not only has Bob Iger injected new energy into the company, he put all Eisner's old beefs, mainly with Pixar to rest when he bought the company, and has consistently over delivered on revenue expectations. So how do you reward a CEO who constantly pleases? Well you sign him on for another round of what you hope will be five years to remember. Oh yeah did we mention that you also throw in an even fatter bonus and annual take home pay? Oh yeah! The agreement, which extends through Jan. 31, 2013, modestly raises Mr. Iger’s compensation. He will receive a minimum bonus of $10 million for 2008, up from $7.25 million under the former contract. Disney Signs Its Chief to a New Five-Year Contract [NYT]

Next week is Super Tuesday earnings report week

-SDH Next week's entertainment line up is looking to be an exciting one. On Monday, News Corp will report its 2nd Quarter Fiscal 2008 results. On this call analysts will be waiting to hear about any plans in the works for the recently acquired Dow Jones as well why they decided to not free up the Wall Street Journal website, DUH! On Tuesday it will be Disney's turn to spill the beans about their First Quarter 2008 Financials. Disney is expected to announce earnings of 52 cents a share on $10 billion in revenue, not too bad Bobby! Can we get some acquisition news soon though? Saving the best for last, Jeff Bewkes will make his debut on Time Warner's earnings call as CEO on Wednesday. We have no doubts analysts are itching for this one. Some of the questions Bewkes and his team are expected to face will include, what are his plans for the oversized company, AOL, Time Inc etc... Oh yeah they are expected to report earnings of 29 cents a share on revenue of $12.6 billion. But we all know analysts will be more concerned about Bewkes's plans for the structure of the company. Media conglomerates seen posting higher profits [MarketWatch]

We bet Mike Eisner never drove himself to Disney HQ

-YOSH Disney CEO Bob Iger gets up every morning for work like the rest of working America, just a bit earlier. He writes notes to Disney's talent on jobs well done and he likes to rock out while driving home. This is all shocking to us because normal media moguls, don't know what it is to drive a car, they usually have one of their six assistants write notes for them and they probably would never admit to rocking out during their alone time. After reading about his daily routine in Fortune's "How I work" feature, we have a new found man crush on Bob Iger. Oh yeah did we mention that he watches classic Disney shorts on his iPhone! He was probably one of the first to get one. Bob Iger just may be the coolest media mogul. Lose your driver. I drive myself to and from work. I love the privacy. It's one less person to talk with. I'm not antisocial. While I'm going home, I talk on the phone. Plus I love listening to music. Classic rock is always at the top of the list, from the Stones to the Beatles and Bob Dylan. I have a fondness for jazz, particularly for jazz singers, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald all the way through the Sinatra era. How Bob Iger works [Fortune]

Disney's Robert Iger: VOD Sucks ass

-YOSH Thursday at the Sanford C. Bernstein Media Symposium, Disney CEO Bob Iger had some gripes to share with the audience. He is not a big fan of VOD, and is pushing for a more usable feature to be added to the service. Apparently he has the service at home based on the way he talks like someone with experience. He says that a Google like search feature needs to be added to the service if its going to survive. "Type in "rat DVD" at Google and you'll easily find Ratatouille, he said, but that's far from the case for VOD" He said he's had better luck at Time Warner Cable's Web site when seeking programming than with a TV remote control: "And if I want to find something VOD-related, oh my God!" Disney CEO Touts Net [Adweek]

As it turns out News Corp's Peter Chernin may have set the blue print on how media CEOs may handle the strike going forward

-MARTY Unlike the heads of their film divisions, media CEOs are more low key when it comes to the current writer's strike, negotiating under the radar to help get things back to business. CEOs like Bob Iger of Disney,Jeff Zucker of NBC Universal and Les "Love Boat" Moonves of CBS are all said to be three of few media biggies in on negotiations. It makes sense that those three would roll up their sleeves and dive in because a chunk of their business is Television and/or Film. However there are always the bad apples, and in this case its Rupert Murdoch's evil number two who claims to be a Democrat but is a closeted Republican Peter "Petie boy" Chernin. Petie Boy seems to be playing the "Dick Size" game as usual. In the early days of the strike Chernin actually hi-lited how the strike would save News Corp Money adding to the already outrageous comment made by Michael Eisner. But the fucked up part about all this is that he may get a few of his fellow media execs on his side of the line. What strike? Silence golden for moguls [THR]

Rupert Murdoch named number two most powerful person in business. We predict he will be #1 next year or we will say nice things about David Pecker

-SDH Media king Rupert Murdoch came in on Fortune's "Power 25" list at number two right behind Apple iGod Steve Jobs. However we have to say that we think it should be the other way around. Rupe along with the Google dudes at number 4 and Disney's Bob Iger who came in second to last at 24 are the only media figures on the list. Missing from the list are media heavies like Time Warner's Dick Parsons and Jeff Bewkes, Jeff Zucker, Sumner Redstone and Les Moonves to name a few. Then again none of the above mentioned pulled off any major accomplishments this year. Some are empire builders. Others are hired guns. But if they truly have world-class oomph, they're on Fortune's subjective - yet really quite accurate - list of the most powerful businesspeople in the world. 25 most powerful people in business [Fortune]

and now this morning's worthy media business news

-BY YOSH Bob Iger may have dazzled Wall Street in his first two years as Disney's head mouse. But will he be able to dazzle his way out of economic road blocks just up the road? We think so. [NYT] For Les Moonves, a strike by CBS News writers, could hit him even harder on the profits side. [NYT] Bebo to give it all away for free, as if you aren't already getting it for free [Guardian] Take down that wall. Rupert Murdoch to knock down WSJ.com paywall even if it generates $50 million [AP] Jeff Bewkes may be TimeWarner Chairman by end of 2008. No shit [B&C]

Disney's first brown princess "Maddy" probably has old Walt turning in his grave, and narrow minded white folks pissed

-Shomari Hines The Walt Disney Company finally realized that they should probably create a character that little brown children can relate to. After all brown parents contribute a huge chunk of the billions of dollars Disney rakes in every year. But why now? Why didn't this happen under the Eisner regime. Since taking over as Disney head mouse Bob Iger has been taking the company into new directions and one of these is making sure that brown people know that Disney has love for them too, or something to that effect. Disney's first brown princess will make her debut in the new Disney animation titled “The Frog Princess” which is currently in production. “The Frog Princess,” a musical scored by composer Randy Newman, is “an American fairy tale” starring a girl named Maddy who lives in the French Quarter in New Orleans, said John Lasseter, chief creative director for Disney and Pixar Animation Studios. However some narrow minded brown folks would probably ask why does the company have to debut their first black princess in a film called "The Frog Princess"? Or why did the film have to take place in New Orleans? But again, that would be narrow minded individuals who can't see past the fact that Disney has come out of the closet. But how will America respond to an animation film featuring a brown princess when they are used to only Caucasian princesses? Will Disney do some kind of tie in with black cable networks like TV One and BET? It would make sense wouldn't it, or would it? Only time will reveal how America feels about a brown princess, (and there are many in the world), when the film hits theaters in 2009. Disney should also make sure that it’s first brown princess has the features to match. Don’t try to get one over on the brown folks by darkening the skin of a white princess. Ya dig! Disney first: black princess in animated film [MSNBC]

Afternoon Wire: Eisner Topps | Viacom continues to whore itself online | Bob Iger predicts, and more in this afternoon's worthy media news...

-Shomari Hines Former Disney dictator Mike Eisner is really getting his pockets wet in since leaving Disney. First he dropped some cash on Team Baby Entertainment, the online video site VEOH and now he and some of his deep pocketed buddies are getting into the baseball and bubblegum business by taking control of TOPPS for $385.4 million [USA Today] Time Warner telecom wants to wash itself clean of any and everything Time Warnerish [Investors] Virgin gives Sky 30 day deadline [BTN] Viacom and Miscrosoft will stay in bed longer so Viacom can flood MS's Xbox Live Internet service. [MarketWatch] Bob Iger said they built it, and now he wants advertisers to come [HR]

Looking Back: Where in the world would Disney be today if they did get swallowed by Comcast?

-Shomari Hines Remember back in 2004? The media industry thought it was going to have to digest yet another mega merger between cable giant Comcast and Entertainment giant Disney. The media blitz that always surrounds such rumored mergers was already in full swing with cover stories and none stop coverage in newspapers and on business TV shows. But it never happened? Was it because plans to merge got out too quick? Did Comcast CEO Brian Roberts do a Bob Pittman and do the cliche Businessweek cover? Or did Mike Eisner realize he was out of his mind? To be honest we have no idea why this was even thought about at all. A company like Disney should never sell out. Disney is truly an American institution that should be preserved and luckily a CEO is in place that is doing just that. Mike Eisner must have been really desperate, then again if we remember correctly, at that point we don't think Eisner had much choice as Roberts reportedly went over his head. We just had to touch back on this because we were wondering where would a Disney Comcast marriage be today. Comcast was only in it for the content and the content only. So where would that have left Disney? Would the Disney name even exist today? Below is a link to the Businessweek cover story that accompanied Brian Robert’s premature cover shot. Go back in time when we all thought Walt would come back from the dead only to die again, this time from terminal disappointment Mega Media Mergers: How Dangerous? [BusinessWeek Feb 2004 Issue]

Poll: Which media couple was the best dressed media couple at the Oscars?

WHICH MEDIA COUPLE DRESSED TO KILL AT THE OSCARS? THE REDSTONES THE MURDOCHS THE MOONVES' THE FRESTONS THE IGERS

What better way to cap off a great earnings report than with a seriously revamped web portal

Disney's Bob Iger is on a roll and Wall Street is loving him. Not only did Disney report strong earnings, the company also pulled the curtains back on their new Disney.com portal. Disney.com

Bob Iger isn't worried about being outdone by user generated content

Disney boss Bob Iger has really come into his own as one of Disney's brightest stars and he isn't dancing around on a stage with Corbin Bleu. He has nursed Disney back to glory and Wall Street rolls out the red carpet for him whenever he is in town. Iger recently sat with Financial Times to share his take on user generated content and what it means for the future of traditional media among other things. FT: One of your hallmarks as CEO has been a real focus on digital distribution. To what extent do you see the digital revolution as an opportunity for Disney and companies like it? And to what extent is it a threat? Iger: The technology is just a means for the consumer to access content that is made, or to communicate with other people, or to socialise in some form with others.For a company like Disney, what it provides is many, many more opportunities to serve our consumers better. So, what we’ve been doing is recognising this great opportunity and taking full advantage of it, but in many respects it’s just the tip of the iceberg.What we will see in the future, I believe will provide this company with more opportunities than we could ever have imagined in terms of reaching more and more people more often with our great branded content. View from the Top: Bob Iger [FT]

Iger tells Disney shareholders Wall-E is coming

We had no idea media company heads had to send letters to shareholder informing them of up coming releases but apparently they do, or Disney CEO Bob Iger just loves to keep his shareholder in the loop on everything. Disney-Pixar's next release, "Ratatouille," about a cuisine-loving rat living in a Paris restaurant, is scheduled to be released this summer. "Wall-E" will be directed by Andrew Stanton, whose "Finding Nemo" was Pixar's highest-grossing film, taking in about $865 million at box offices worldwide. Disney-Pixar film to feature robot named Wall-E [Reuters]

Weekend Wire: Iger's performance as head mouse, paying off lovely

Disney boss Bob Iger is one of the media execs in a very small pool who actually deserves the $24.9 million he reportedly made in 2006. On his watch Disney's stock has danced a good dance and Disney's board is rewarding their leader. Iger, 55, received $2 million in salary, a $15 million bonus, options worth $2.92 million, long-term pay of $4.3 million and $666,000 in other compensation, according to a regulatory filing yesterday by Disney. Iger, who made $12.7 million in total pay prior to taking over from Eisner, has overseen a 46 percent increase in Disney's stock price since becoming CEO in October 2005. Disney shares rose 22 cents yestereday to $35.21 in New York Stock Exchange trading. DISNEY'S IGER PAID $24.9M IN '06 [NYP]

And In Closing: Bobby can do no wrong!

Former Disney dictator Mike Eisner should really feel proud because the last good thing he did before leaving Disney was hand picking Bob Iger as his successor. Under Bobby, things have just been swell. He patched things up with Steve Jobs and the creative folks at Pixar before buying them. And now because of his strong dedication to beating the shit out of this digital thing, Wall Street is paying attention and its showing in the company's stock performance. Shares added 7 cents to $35.06 in afternoon trading after earlier in the day hitting a new 52-week high of $35.16 on the New York Stock Exchange. Previously, the stock traded in a 52-week range between $24.90 to $35.03, and is up 36 percent in the same period.Credit Suisse analyst William B. Drewry in a client note dated Thursday reiterated an "Outperform" rating on the stock. Walt Disney Hits New 52-Week High [AP]

Disney,Dems causing jitters among greedy investors

Shares of Disney dropped 4 percent to $32.24. The No. 2 U.S. entertainment company posted a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit late on Thursday, but investors were concerned about sustainability of earnings growth in the months ahead. "Disney is selling off because people are afraid it's going to be hard to do an encore," said Jim Awad, chairman of Awad Asset Management in New York. These investors are in the wrong business. They should all be psychics. Stocks dip as Disney, drug shares fall [Reuters]