Josh D'Amaro named next Disney CEO

This seems like an obvious choice, and I'm not sure why it took so long. Dana Walden is promoted to Chief Creative Officer as well, which I think helps with the "spiritual" center of their IP. Lucasfilm recently named Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan as co-presidents too, which makes sense since Filoni has been the heart of Star Wars for a long time. It feels like they have all of the right people in place, though I wouldn't want to have to navigate linear TV's future or the streaming-versus-broadcast problem.

It's a hard nut to crack, for sure. Making it even harder: live sporting events are pretty much the last thing anyone has to watch in real time. Meaning: the last thing that is more or less guaranteed to get ad revenue. And if I am reading this all correctly, rights fees are increasing faster than ad/broadcast revenue. Something is going to have to give there, eventually.

Also, it feels like Pixar has been slumping as of late. No huge original hits in awhile

i guess that’s why they keep digging up Toy Story.

I think strong leadership, creativity, and curiosity can overcome some of the "shortcomings" D'Amaro might have with certain segments of the business. And, if D'Amaro is good at identifying talent and surrounding himself with it, that will work in his favor as well.

Honestly, very few people have the breadth of experience needed to just slide into a role like this. If D'Amaro is as committed to the values of the company as I think he is, I am optimistic.

Re: Pixar. They don't need to be original. They just need to be hits.

I think Pixar's Hoppers is going to be very successful. It's an original idea and looks really funny. We'll see.

Huh. I had NO IDEA that was coming out next month, and I thought was relatively plugged in to the Disneyana world.