Disney's Iger Talkin' the Good Talk

David Card | October 02, 2005, 10:14 AM

Let's see if he can make Disney more than walk. Wall Street Journal Weekend Page One profile on new Disney CEO Robert Iger shows him acknowleging two of Jupiter's favorite themes: Digital Ubiquity and On-Demand Everything. He's not ignoring big issues:

- Simultaneous multichannel releases for movies
- Who funds digital theaters?
- Mobile entertainment (phones and devices)
- Disney branding vs. more adult content
- One of my favorites: optimizing content for the medium:

One of Mr. Iger's top lieutenants, Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney, recently handed out to her staff Sony's PSP portable video and games devices, loaded with programming such as the teen TV show "That's So Raven," "ABC News," and the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean." She wanted them to see what their shows looked like playing on a smaller screen.

Soon, she says, staffers were discussing fundamental change. Should shows that might prove popular on such devices be shortened? Should certain camera angles be emphasized? Would different promotional techniques be warranted?

Disappointingly, there's almost no talk of advertising.