The Iger Sanction

Filed in archive Internet TV on September 20, 2006

Disney.com will re-launch early next year and try to be all things to all demographic groups.

A new web feature will customize the interface to fit the user by age, according to Disney President-CEO Bob Iger, who spoke yesterday at a Goldman Sachs investor conference in New York.

Iger has identified ABC, ESPN and Disney as the three brands the company will exploit on every platform, with their broadband operations serving as "the networks of the future for our company."

Accordingly, if DVRs, fragmentation and other hurdles reduce the number of linear TV viewers or theatergoers, then Disney.com, ESPN.com and ABC.com become critical on-demand distribution platforms. (The redesigned Disney.com will include an upgraded broadband player.)

"We don't view an ABC as just a broadcast television network today," Iger added.