Disney boss Bob Iger vows to spend LESS on making new movies and TV to rein in ... trends now Disney boss Bob Iger has vowed to cut costs across the billion-dollar company as it makes promises to spend less on making new movies and TV shows as the fate of Hulu remains unclear. The changes are part of the company's plans to navigate the new media environment and decline of linear TV, a theatrical film business with an uncertain future and a growing streaming business. Iger said that the company would specifically look at how much spending is going toward certain content including fewer sequels and making a judgement following the review, according to Hollywood Reporter. 'I'm really pleased that the support that I'm getting from the content creators of the company is significant and real, and it comes in the form of reducing the expense per content, whether it's a TV series or a film, where costs have just skyrocketed in a huge way and not a supportable way in my opinion. They all agree to that,' Iger said. Disney boss Bob Iger has vowed to cut costs across the billion-dollar company as it makes promises to spend less on making new movies and TV shows as the fate of Hulu remains unclear He added that it was also about 'understanding how much volume we need, reducing how much we make. So, it's how much we spend on what we make and how much we make.' The potential for selling content elsewhere remained on the table, however. 'And as we look to reduce the content that we're creating for our own platforms, there probably are opportunities to license to third parties,' Iger said. 'For a while that was verboten or something we couldn't possibly do because we were so favoring our own streaming platforms. 'But if we get to a point where we need less content for those platforms, and we still have the capability of producing that content, why not use it to grow revenue? And that's what we would likely do.' Marvel, Star Wars, Frozen and others would remain exclusive to Disney owned platforms Iger stating that the company has the 'most powerful brand' in family entertainment. But sequels, much to the relief of some, are expected to take a backseat. 'What we have to look at [with] Marvel is not necessarily the volume of Marvel storytelling, but how many times we go back to the well on certain characters,' Iger said. 'Sequels typically work well for us, but do you need a third or a fourth for instance? Or is it time to turn to other characters? There's nothing in any way inherently off in terms of the Marvel brand. I think we just have to look at what characters and stories we are mining. 'If you look at the trajectory of Marvel over the next five years, you'll see a lot of newness. Now, we're going to turn back to the Avengers franchise, but with a whole set of different Avengers, as an example.' Iger also added that a goal would be to focus on high-quality programming, calling out not only the core franchises, but also FX, which he praised as both a producer of content and as a brand. 'You know, there's so much consumer choice right now, and it comes back to is what is differentiated,' Iger said. 'That's one thing obviously we have talked about is those brands: Star Wars, Marvel and Disney and Pixar, for instance. But quality is also a differentiator. 'I think HBO proved that well, you know, in their halcyon days when high quality programming made a big difference, and not volume. 'Because the streaming platforms require so much volume, one has to question whether that's the right direction to go, or if can you be more curated more — I used the word judicious a few times — but I guess more picky about what you're making, and to concentrate on quality and not volume.' The changes are part of the company's plans to navigate the new media environment and decline of linear TV, a theatrical film business with an uncertain future and a growing streaming business Marvel, Star Wars, Frozen and others would remain exclusive to Disney owned platforms Iger stating that the company has the 'most powerful brand' in family entertainment The fate of Hulu remained up in the air while Iger said they 'studied' the business carefully. 'What we're doing right now, because we own two-thirds of Hulu, and we have an agreement with Comcast that may result in us owning 100 percent, is we're really studying the business very, very carefully, all those competitive dynamics with an understanding that we have a good platform in Hulu,' Iger said. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts also said he had an interest in owning Hulu outright, but many saw the comments to drive up Hulu's price. Disney is the majority owner of Hulu, holding a two-thirds stake, while Comcast owns a third. Starting in January 2024, Comcast can use a put option to require Disney to take over its stake, while Disney can tell Comcast to sell it its stake. As per an agreement between the two companies, Hulu would get a fair-market value assessment from independent experts. However, the guaranteed minimum Hulu valuation of $27.5 billion means that Disney would have to cough up at least around $9 billion, if transferred. According to Hulu's quarterly revenue 2019 to 2022, the streaming platform brought in a whopping $10.7 billion for 2022, $6.3 billion of which was from streaming. Its live tv revenue saw $4.4 billion while it saw a peak in subscribers in 2022 at 45 million. Hulu users compared to competitors is still lower than fan favorites YouTube and TikTok and is still lower than Disney+, Prime Video and streaming veteran Netflix. Hulu's net worth is $16 billion as of early 2023 with the company taking 11 percent market share in streaming services. Approximately two-thirds of customers remain with Hulu after six months and more than 60 percent of Hulu users watch content with ads. Last month, Disney employees pushed back against a mandate requiring them to return to the office four days a week. More than 2,300 workers signed a petition asking Iger to reconsider the order which cuts back on their remote work days first implemented during the pandemic. The mandate, employees claim, will lead to 'forced resignations among some of our most hard-to-replace talent and vulnerable communities' while also 'dramatically reducing productivity, output, and efficiency.' The petition comes just weeks after Disney announced 7,000 layoffs to cut back on costs in the entertainment and ESPN divisions. Iger announced the layoffs as part of a 'significant transformation' to cut back costs. The CEO, took over the position from Bob Chapek in November, and plans to restructure the company into three divisions: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Experiences and Products. The restructure and layoffs will predominantly cut those in the entertainment and ESPN divisions as the cuts will impact roughly 3.5 percent of the company's workforce. Frontline employees at the parks are reportedly not in danger. According to Hulu's quarterly revenue 2019 to 2022, the streaming platform brought in a whopping $10.7 billion for 2022, $6.3 billion of which was from streaming The company has faced major backlash, however, after the company announced that it earned $1.28 billion in the three months through December 31. After Disney aired an ad during the Super Bowl celebrating their 100-year anniversary, the company saw criticism from the public. 'Something about that Disney celebratory ad bugs me ... maybe it's the recent announcement they're laying off 7,000 employees and spending at least $7m on the ad,' Kristina Monllos, senior marketing editor at online trade magazine Digiday, said. Commercials during the Super Bowl can cost upwards of $7 million a slot for just 30 seconds. All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility