HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution (DMED), formerly Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International (DTCI), is one of
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
's five major business segments consisting of Disney's streaming services and overseas media businesses, formed in March 2018. As part of the segment's formation, Disney Streaming Services (formerly BAMTech) was placed under Direct-to-Consumer & International. On October 12, 2020, the division was dissolved and its business segments were split into Disney International Content and Operations and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution after Disney initiated a reorganization of its various media and entertainment divisions. The business currently consists of Disney's streaming services, its advertising sales division, and its linear and syndicated television networks. It is focused on the strategic monetisation of titles from Disney's three content groups:
Studios A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery ( ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...
,
General Entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousand ...
, and ESPN & Sports.


Background

In 1997, Disney and Sony Pictures formed a film distribution joint venture in
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
which covered five countries. From 1999 to 2000, Bob Iger was president of Walt Disney International and chairman of ABC TV Group. until he was promoted to president and chief operating officer of the Walt Disney Company. Michael O. Johnson, later CEO of Herbalife, was president of Walt Disney International from 2000 - 2003.
Andy Bird Andy Bird CBE is a British executive. He was chairman of Walt Disney International until 2018. Bird is the current CEO of Pearson Education. Early life Bird grew up in Warrington, England and was educated at King's School, Macclesfield. In 1 ...
became the next president of Walt Disney International in 2004. At the time of Bird's appointment, most countries' units except in
Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
operated independently. He took the Latin America-integrated operation as a guide for other regions. Strategically, Bird wanted their companies to be the Walt Disney Company of India and other countries, not the Walt Disney Company of a certain country, basically tailoring the company to the country with, for example, localization of programming. Diego Lerner, who led Disney Latin America, was thus named President of Disney Europe, Middle East & Africa in 2009. Buena Vista International and Sony Pictures Releasing International formed fourteen distribution joint ventures, including in Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines. Another Buena Vista-Sony distribution joint venture was set up in Russia in December 2006. The Walt Disney Company's CIS office in Russia opened in 2006. The company's original plan was for to release three films per year.Translation
In 2009, Disney CIS released its first Russian language-film, ''The Book of Masters'' which took in 10.8 million on a budget of $8 million. By April 2011, the company announced that director Vladimir Grammatikov was hired by the company as creative producer, while two more Russian films were placed into production: A fairy tale and a youth story. Instead, the country's unit took a seven-year hiatus until they announced the production on '' The Last Knight'' in April 2016. On November 26, 2017, the film became the highest-grossing local-language release of all time in Russia, with a gross of 1.68 billion rubles ($28.8 million). In 2014, Walt Disney International appointed Luke Kang to head its Greater China unit. Disney's South East Asia managing director Rob Gilby appointed three managers for Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, who were Herry Salim, Veronica Espinosa-Cabalinan, and Subha-Orn Rathanamongkolmas (Soupy) respectively, in May 2017. Paul Candland was promoted from president of Walt Disney Japan to president of The Walt Disney Company Asia, consisting of Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and
Greater China Greater China is an informal geographical area that shares commercial and cultural ties with the Han Chinese people. The notion of "Greater China" refers to the area that usually encompasses Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan in East ...
in July 2014. Stanley Cheung was also promoted from managing director to chairman of TWDC Greater China. Both reported to Andy Bird, chairman of Walt Disney International. With the retirement of the Asia unit's head Paul Candland after 19 years in September 2017, Disney split the Asia unit into two:
North Asia North Asia or Northern Asia, also referred to as Siberia, is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographical terms and is coextensive with the Asian part of Russia, and consists of three Russian regions east of the Ural Mountains ...
and
South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
. North Asia consists of Japan, South Korea and Greater China and is headed by Kang, while South Asia combined India and South East Asia. The India unit's head Mahesh Samat would assume leadership of the South Asia unit by October 1, and the South East Asia unit's head Gilby left the company. Later in September, Lerner was transferred to a new position within Walt Disney International, with Rebecca Campbell, the then-president of
ABC Daytime ABC Daytime (sometimes shortened to ABC-D or ABCD) is a division responsible for the daytime programming block on the ABC Network and syndicated programming. The block has historically encompassed soap operas, game shows and talk shows. Histor ...
and
ABC Owned Television Stations ABC Owned Television Stations is a division of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution operated by Disney Networks Group that oversees the owned-and-operated stations of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), a division of The Walt Disney ...
, named to replace him as president of Disney
EMEA EMEA is a shorthand designation meaning Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The acronym is used by institutions and governments, as well as in marketing and business when referring to this region: it is a shorthand way of referencing the two ...
. In February 2017, Sony Pictures withdrew from the Philippines-distribution joint venture, followed by a withdrawing in August 2017 from the remainder of the Southeast Asian distribution joint venture with Disney. In November 2015, Disney UK started Disney's test streaming service, DisneyLife, with Disney films, TV series, books and music tracks, under general manager Paul Brown. The original plan had the service spreading to other countries in Europe, including France, Spain, Italy and Germany in 2016. In October 2017, the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
was the second country where DisneyLife was made available. DisneyLife was launched in China in December 2017 through a partnership between Disney and Alibaba Digital Entertainment, only to have the Chinese government shut it down in August 2018 because of foreign content rules. Instead, in February 2018, Disney and Alibaba reached a new deal that placed Disney content on Alibaba's Youku streaming platform. On May 25, 2018, DisneyLife was expanded to the Philippines, making it the third country where the service was available. In 2019, following the announcement of the UK Disney+ release date, Disney revealed that existing service DisneyLife would be folded into Disney+. In August 2016,
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
acquired a 1/3 stake in
BAMTech Disney Streaming (formerly known as BAMTech Media from 2015 to 2018, and Disney Streaming Services from 2018 to 2021) is a technology subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company located in Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 2015 as a spin ...
for $1 billion, with an option to acquire a majority stake in the said company the future. On August 8, 2017, Disney announced that it would increase its ownership in the company to a 75% controlling stake for $1.58 billion. Disney also reiterated its plan to launch an ESPN-branded over-the-top service in early-2018, followed by a Disney-branded direct-to-consumer streaming service in 2019.


History


As Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International (2018–2020)

Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) were formed as part of
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
’s March 14, 2018 strategic reorganization in anticipation of integrating 21st Century Fox's
assets In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can ...
, with units coming from all of the other segments.
Kevin Mayer Kevin Mayer (, or , born 10 February 1992) is a French athlete. He is two-time world champion (2017, 2022), two-time Olympic silver medalist ( 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo) and world record holder in the decathlon. He is also a world and ...
was named as the new segment's chairman. With the restructuring, Disney International chairman Andy Bird is expected to leave The Walt Disney Company. On May 25, 2018, Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International was incorporated. ESPN+ would officially launch on April 12, 2018.
BAMTech Disney Streaming (formerly known as BAMTech Media from 2015 to 2018, and Disney Streaming Services from 2018 to 2021) is a technology subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company located in Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 2015 as a spin ...
was renamed to Disney Streaming Services by October 10, 2018. At that time, ESPN's chief technology officer Aaron LaBerge was named to the new position as executive vice president and chief technology officer of DTCI Technology, leading a group that combined technologists and teams from across multiple parts of The Walt Disney Company. On October 31, 2018,
ESPN International ESPN International is a family of sportscasting and production networks around the world. It was begun in 1989, is operated by ESPN Inc. and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Operating regions Latin America Spanish-speaking countries * ES ...
's executive vice president and managing director Russell Wolff was named executive vice president and general manager of ESPN+, reporting to Disney Streaming Services (formerly BAMTech Media). ESPN International's regional general managers started reporting to DTCI's regional leadership. The post-merger organization of the company was announced on December 13, 2018, with Lerner and Campbell remaining over the Latin American and EMEA regions. The EMEA region added Russia and
Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...
countries, while a new Asia Pacific region would replace South Asia and North Asia. Disney named
Uday Shankar Uday Shankar (8 December 1900 – 26 September 1977) was an Indian dancer and choreographer, best known for creating a fusion style of dance, adapting European theatrical techniques to Indian classical dance, imbued with elements of Indian cl ...
, who previously served as president of Fox Asia and chairman of the Star India, as head of the new region and chair of Disney India. The three regional heads and Janice Marinelli, president of global content sales and distribution, would report to Mayer. Mahesh Samat, South Asia's head, moved to Disney Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products as executive vice president of Disney Consumer Products for Asia Pacific in late November 2018. The
Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney The acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney was announced on December 14, 2017, and was completed on March 20, 2019. Among other key assets, the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company included the 20th Century Fox film and ...
was completed on March 20, 2019, with Disney International took ownership of Fox's networks outside the United States. Shankar announced the Asia-Pacific unit's management team on April 1, 2019. The team included former several Fox executives, including Star Regional Media Networks' K Madhavan as head of Star India's regional language channels and Kurt Rieder as studio chief of Asian Pacific, with India's film operations reporting separately. Certain other Fox executives left the company in the reorganization, including head of international distribution Andrew Cripps, and Zubin Gandevia, head of Fox Networks Group in Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Disney's Malaysia and Singapore head Amit Malhotra would lead emerging markets and South Asia Pacific content sales, reporting to Shankar. Chafic Najia, a Disney senior vice president, was promoted to the Middle East'x media cluster manager. Disney's Australia and New Zealand manager Kylie Watson-Wheeler added media networks and direct-to-consumer to her responsibilities. In July 2019, Marinelli announced her resignation, ending a 34-year long tenure with the company. Disney announced it would combine all the company's media sales and channel distribution into one organization. ESPN's executive vice president Justin Connolly was promoted to the newly created role of president of media distribution, reporting to Mayer. On January 31, 2020, it was announced that Hulu CEO Randy Freer would be stepping down, as the position of CEO was removed, with all Hulu executives now reporting directly to corresponding DTCI business heads. Hulu's original programming team would continue reporting to chairman of Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment and FX on Hulu to the FX chairman. On March 12, 2020, Vanessa Morrison, who previously served as President of Fox Family and Fox Animation, was appointed President of Streaming for Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production and will oversee development and production of Disney+ film content from The Walt Disney Studios for both Disney Live Action and 20th Century Studios. Morrison answers directly to head of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production
Sean Bailey Sean Bailey is an American film and television producer. Bailey is currently the president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, a role he has served since his appointment in 2010. Career Early career As a co-founder and executiv ...
. On May 18, 2020, Mayer stepped down as DTCI chairman to become the CEO of
TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version o ...
. He was succeeded by Rebecca Campbell, who was previously the president of
Disneyland Resort The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks (D ...
. This was soon followed by the transfer of the sales division (ad and distribution) to Disney Media Networks. On August 4, 2020, Disney announced that it would launch a Star-branded streaming service in 2021. This will be a general entertainment service, featuring content from
ABC Signature ABC Signature is an American television production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...
,
20th Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Comp ...
, FX, Freeform, 20th Century Studios and
Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century St ...
. The streaming service will be integrated with Disney+ in most countries.


As Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution (2020–present)

On October 12, 2020, it was announced that Disney would effectively restructuring its media and entertainment businesses, which resulted in the dissolution of
Disney Media Networks Disney Media Networks was a business segment of The Walt Disney Company that oversaw the company's television networks, cable channels, television production and distribution studios, and owned-and-operated television stations. The segment' ...
and Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International, thus two business segments being created in their place: Disney International Content and Operations, responsible for managing the international operations of The Walt Disney Company; and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, responsible for handling the company's streaming services, advertising operations, and its linear and syndicated television networks. Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution was formed as part of The Walt Disney Company's media and entertainment structural reorganization, which took place October 12, 2020 and made primarily due to the success of Disney's streaming services, mainly
Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
. Kareem Daniel was named as the chairman for the new segment. As part of this reorganization, Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International along with
Disney Media Networks Disney Media Networks was a business segment of The Walt Disney Company that oversaw the company's television networks, cable channels, television production and distribution studios, and owned-and-operated television stations. The segment' ...
were dissolved and two business segments were created in their place: Disney International Content and Operations, focused on Disney's international subsidiaries, and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, focused on said streaming services, its advertising divisions, and Disney's linear and syndicated television networks. Following the segment's financial losses in Q4 2022, Bob Iger was reinstated as Disney's CEO and announced that he would replace DMED with a new structure that gives decision-making and operational control back to the creative teams. As part of the impending restructure, Daniel exited as chairman of DMED.


Leadership

* Bryan Castellani, Executive Vice President, Finance, Media & Entertainment * Justin Connolly, President, Platform Distribution * Rita Ferro, President, Advertising Sales * Aaron LaBerge, Chief Technology Officer * Jim Lygopoulos, Senior Vice President, Human Resources * Debra OConnell, President, Networks * Michael Paull, President, Direct to Consumer ** Alisa Bowen, President,
Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
** Joe Earley, President, Hulu ** Russell Wolff, Executive Vice President and General Manager, ESPN+ * Justin Warbrooke, Executive Vice President, Finance & Operations, Direct-to-Consumer & International * Mike White, Senior Vice President, Next Generation Storytelling and Consumer Experiences


Units


Current


Disney Streaming Disney Streaming (formerly known as BAMTech Media from 2015 to 2018, and Disney Streaming Services from 2018 to 2021) is a technology subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company located in Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 2015 as a s ...
(Direct-to-consumer & Technology)

*
Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
**
Star (Disney+) A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...
* ESPN+ (full control, 80% stake) * Hulu (full control, 67% stake) * Disney+ Hotstar (known as Hotstar in Canada, Singapore and the United Kingdom) *
Star+ A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...


Ad sales

* Disney Advertising Sales ** Disney Creative Works


Digital products

*
Disney Digital Network Disney Digital Network is an American multi-channel network located in Culver City, California. It was originally the successor to Maker Studios, co-founded by Lisa Donovan, Danny Zappin, Scott Katz, Kassem Gharaibeh, Shay Carl, Rawn Erickson ...
*
FiveThirtyEight ''FiveThirtyEight'', sometimes rendered as ''538'', is an American website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States. The website, which takes its name from the number of electors in th ...
*
Movies Anywhere Movies Anywhere (MA) is a cloud-based digital rights locker and over-the-top streaming platform that allows users to stream and download purchased films, including digital copies redeemed from codes found in home video releases as well as d ...


Networks

*
ABC Owned Television Stations ABC Owned Television Stations is a division of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution operated by Disney Networks Group that oversees the owned-and-operated stations of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), a division of The Walt Disney ...
**
Localish Localish (formerly Live Well Network, stylized as LOCALISH) is a lifestyle TV network owned by ABC Owned Television Stations, part of Walt Disney Television, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Localish's 24/7 channel streams on Hulu Li ...
(operated by
Walt Disney Television Disney General Entertainment Content, doing business as Walt Disney Television, is an American entertainment company that oversees television content and assets owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. Forming the company's General Enter ...
US) *
Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven yea ...
(operated by
Disney Branded Television Disney Branded Television is a unit of Disney General Entertainment Content which oversees development and production of content geared towards children, teenagers and families for Disney+, Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD. The unit al ...
US)


Platform distribution

*
Disney Platform Distribution Disney Platform Distribution, Inc. is a business unit within Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution (DMED) that manages all third-party media sales efforts for distribution, affiliate marketing and affiliate-related business operations for ...
**
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It ha ...
- theatrical exhibition **
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, an ...
- home media distribution ***
El Capitan Theatre El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood. The theater and adjacent Hollywood Masonic Temple (now known as the El Capitan Entertainment Centre) is owned by The Walt Disney Company and serves as the ...
** Domestic Television Distribution ** International Television Distribution **
Disney Music Group Disney Music Group (DMG) is the music recording arm of Disney Platform Distribution, a division of The Walt Disney Company. It is located at the studio's headquarters in Burbank, California. The division's subsidiaries consist of two owned record ...
- music recording and publishing


Former


Digital products

* DTCI Technology * DTCI Digital Media


International


= Transferred

=


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International Media and Entertainment Distribution Disney Media Networks Mass media companies of the United States Entertainment companies based in California American companies established in 2018 Direct-to-Consumer and International 2018 establishments in California Mass media companies established in 2018 Companies based in Burbank, California