Disney mulling own online movie, TV service
updated 09:20 am EST, Wed March 4, 2009
Disney Mulls Online Video
Disney chief Bob Iger late yesterday said his company is considering its own online video service. Speaking at the Deutsche Bank Media and Telecommunications Conference, the executive says the service would be subscription-based and could follow a potentially Netflix-like model with online downloads, DVD mailings, or both. It's not known whether the proposed service would be limited to streaming or else allow full downloads, though it would draw on Disney's own catalog of movies and TV shows.
It's unclear how close the studio is to embarking on such a service and whether it has considered a potential conflict of interest with iTunes. Apple CEO Steve Jobs is currently on the board of directors at Disney and has used his influence within the latter company to strike deals for iTunes movie and TV show downloads for both Disney as well as its sub-brand ABC.
Additionally, ABC currently streams many of its own TV shows for free on the web, albeit often at lower quality than complete downloads or physical copies. [via SAI]
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Joined: Aug 2006
interesting
I wonder how the board deals with discussions like this. On the one hand, Jobs represents a competitor to Disney so he should not be privvy to the discussions (like when Google dude has to leave when the Apple board discusses certain things). On the other hand, Steve is a major shareholder and has every right to try to steer Disney in a direction that he likes. I'm sure some lawyers are thinking about possible class action lawsuits down the road.