Christine McCarthy, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer speaking at the SVB MoffettNathanson Technology, Media & Telecom Conference earlier this morning, commented on the company’s plans for investing in the Disney theme parks.
Disney Theme Parks to Incorporate Disney+ Data
Christine McCarthy, CFO spoke at the SVB MoffettNathanson Technology, Media & Telecom Conference earlier this morning. She explained the company’s plans for theme park investment based on Disney+ usage and data.
McCarthy stated that The Walt Disney Company will continue working on using existing intellectual property with special focus on “the ones that really resonate with our consumers.” She indicated that Disney utilizes consumer data from Disney+ to inform the company on viewing patterns. The Imagineers and executives can then use this data to identify trends “to exploit in the theme park business.”
By identifying popular titles and media within Disney+, McCarthy hopes to incorporate the most popular intellectual properties within the parks and fund their expansion appropriately.
Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek made similar commentary last fall just before being fired, where he said he sees a theme park future that integrates Disney+ much more closely.
Chapek’s Commentary Last Fall
Chapek gave significant insight into this concept last fall. He stated that Disney+ would have detailed data of what a subscriber does during their theme park visits and would be able to adjust their Disney+ content and recommendations to fit. This concept would work both ways, as theme park experiences would also be tailored based on the individual’s Disney+ viewing habits. Presumably this would be done through a service like Disney Genie or Disney Genie+. The app could make recommendations for a park guest to view specific shows or alert them to available character meet and greet opportunities based on their Disney+ viewing habits.
Chapek also added last fall that Disney+ would “become a platform for consumer engagement with The Walt Disney Company, not just a movie service platform.” It seems McCarthy is continuing the promotion of this concept, hoping to utilize the Disney+ data to enhance theme parks based on what viewers prefer.
Investor’s Lawsuit
This isn’t the only thing McCarthy and Chapek have in common, as they are both listed alongside former Entertainment Chief Kareem Daniel as defendants in a new lawsuit filed against the Walt Disney Company. The lawsuit claims the corporation restructured last year during Chapek’s leadership only to create a fraudulent scheme, hiding Disney+ streaming costs in order to deceive investors of actual losses and inflate growth trajectory of the service.
The filing states these executives “repeatedly misled investors about the success of the Disney+ platform by concealing the true costs of the platform, concealing the expense and difficulty of maintaining robust Disney+ subscriber growth, and claiming that the platform was on track to achieve profitability.”
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