Disney will be yanking some content from streaming as it rethinks its costs and strategy, and is looking at a content impairment charge of $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion as it does.
“We are in the process of reviewing the content on our DTC services to align with the strategic changes in our approach to content curation,” said CFO Christine McCarthy on the company’s post-earnings call.
“As a result, we will be removing certain content from our streaming platforms, and currently expect to take an impairment charge of approximately $1.5 to $1.8 billion. The charge, which will not be recorded in our segment results will primarily be recognized in the third quarter as we complete our review and remove the content.” She didn’t give any programming details.
She said “going forward, we intend to produce lower volumes of content in alignment with this strategic shift.”
She also noted another upcoming $180 million charge for the rest of the fiscal year, following a hit last quarter of $150 million for severance. Disney is laying off 7,000 staffers and said today it is on track to meet or exceed cost savings of $5.5 billion.
More to come…