Disney keeps ABC options open, including spin-off

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Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Bob Iger said on Wednesday the top US media company is keeping its options open for dealing with TV network ABC and its struggling news division, including a spin-off.

At Disney's shareholders' meeting, Iger noted that ABC News, which cut 300 to 400 jobs as part of a drive to refocus and to recapture viewers lost to the Internet, is in a business undergoing significant challenges because of changes in the way people access and consume news.

Asked by a shareholder whether Disney intended to spin off ABC, Iger said he was comfortable with Disney's current mix of assets but added that the company was always reviewing the longer-term options for all its businesses.

"There are no guarantees in terms of what will remain part of our company and what will not," he said.

Speculation has surfaced from time to time in the media and among market analysts that ABC might be split from Disney. Alan Gould, analyst with Soleil Research, does not believe that Iger was signalling any developments in the works.

"Iger was just making sure he was not locking himself into a position by saying he'd never sell ABC News. He was keeping all of his options open," Gould said.

At its annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas, Disney also unveiled a USD 700 single annual pass to both Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.

Disney generated USD 36 billion in revenues in its most recent fiscal year and owns media properties including the Walt Disney Pictures movie studio, ABC Television Networks and cable sports network ESPN, plus part of online video website Hulu.

Disney last month reported better-than-expected earnings on the back of a strong performance at its cable division and cost cuts at its film studio, but signalled that its theme parks division remained under pressure, with room reservations at its parks for the second quarter down 10 percent from a year before.

Noting that 2009 was challenging, Iger said the company has put in place various strategic measures, citing its newly restructured film division's success with the recently released "Alice in Wonderland" and drawing applause when he unveiled previews of its upcoming "Toy Story 3" and "Tron Legacy."

Shareholders at the meeting elected Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, and reelected the 12 other nominees to its board, expanding its size to 13.

The move to tap Sandberg reflects Disney's aggressive push into the younger, popular world of online social networks, which was a key part of its successful marketing of "Alice."

Sandberg's experience at Facebook, which has more than tripled in size during the past 16 months to more than 350 million users, will provide Disney with helpful insight from one of the Web's fastest-growing companies in a way that is more cost-efficient than acquiring a company.

Shareholders voted against a proposal on executive pay that had asked for a nonbinding, advisory vote on the pay packages of top Disney executives. The "say on pay" initiative was voted down in the previous year's annual meeting, and Disney was one of many companies facing such a proposal.