Bob Iger says Disney will retain TV networks amid industry divestments

Bob Iger, chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Co., said Tuesday that the company plans to retain its linear television networks while further integrating them with its streaming services, diverging from recent moves by other major media companies.

Speaking in an interview on CNBC, Iger discussed Disney’s finalized acquisition of Comcast’s remaining stake in Hulu. Disney paid Comcast $438.7 million, concluding a multi-year appraisal process. The deal grants Disney full control of the streaming service.

Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery both recently announced plans to spin off their television assets into separate entities. Comcast will move most of its cable channels into a new company called Versant, while retaining NBC, Bravo, Peacock, and its theme parks. Warner Bros. Discovery plans to split its operations between its studios and HBO Max streaming business, and its global television networks.

Iger said Disney considered a similar restructuring but chose to maintain its current structure after internal evaluation.

“Two years ago, soon after I returned to Disney, I put everything on the table,” said Iger. “Whether we should buy Hulu or whether we should sell Hulu, whether we should sell our linear television networks, or whether we should hold on to them.”

“After a pretty lengthy process internally and really taking a long look at what these properties could mean to us long term, we decided that the best course for us to take was to not only hold on to Hulu and buy it in its entirety, but also to hold on to the linear television networks and to integrate them seamlessly with our streaming business,” Iger said.

Iger emphasized the continued value of the broadcast and cable channels, citing revenue from advertising and subscriber fees. He highlighted that combining linear and streaming assets allows Disney to aggregate audiences and manage programming under a single structure, supporting margin growth and cost efficiency.

He pointed to ABC, ESPN, FX, Disney Channel and National Geographic as networks that contribute content across both platforms.

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This cross-distribution supports content amortization and broader audience engagement, according to Iger.

In the same interview, Iger said Disney+ will likely stop reporting subscriber numbers quarterly, following a precedent set by Netflix.

The Hulu transaction is expected to close by July 24.