Walt Disney Co. felt the pain of the recession across the board last quarter, as revenue dropped for every division and overall net income plunged 26%.
The conglomerate's revenue fell 7% to $8.6 billion. The drop was in line with competitor Time Warner Inc. and smaller than that of Viacom Inc. Another Disney rival, News Corp., hasn't yet reported earnings for the quarter that ended June 30.
Revenue at Walt Disney Studios fell 12% despite stronger theatrical revenue from hits like "Hannah Montana" and "Up." While the studio racked up marketing expenses to promote the movies in this quarter, it will reap more of the benefits from those hits, along with "The Proposal," later in the year.
"The content cycle has started to improve, however, and generally we believe the worst is over for the Disney studios," wrote Anthony J. DiClemente, media analyst for Barclays Capital.
The studio lost $12 million for the quarter, compared to a $97-million operating profit in 2008.
Disney's television networks, usually a bright spot for the company, experienced a 2% drop in revenue as even stalwart ESPN saw advertising income decline. Broadcaster ABC took the biggest hit, however, as higher programming costs and falling ad revenue drove down its operating income 34% to $204 million. Operating income for Disney's cable networks was $1.1 billion, down 8%.
Parks and resorts saw a 9% decline in revenue and 19% decline in operating income as guests at Disney World and Disneyland spent less because of the economic downturn.
Second-quarter margins for the parks were squeezed by aggressive promotions to keep visitors traveling to Disney's domestic parks, including discounted hotel rates at the Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. These promotions largely propped up attendance, which slipped a modest 1% in Orlando, and grew by 2% at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim.
Travel to Orlando, which is a loose proxy for attendance at Walt Disney World, has showed signs of stabilizing since June, DiClemente wrote in a July 30 report.
Disney's interactive media division, which oversees online content and video games, had the steepest drop in revenue at 20%. But it narrowed from a $91-million operating loss last year to a $75-million loss because of reduced marketing and product development costs for games.
Consumer products revenue fell 10% as sales declined at Disney Stores.
-- Ben Fritz and Dawn C. Chmielewski
Photo: Revenue at Walt Disney Studios fell 12% despite stronger theatrical revenue from hits like "Up," which hit movie theaters at the end of May. Credit: Disney / Pixar.
Get to know your Watcher
The Television Critics Association summer press tour began a couple of days ago in lovely Pasadena, Calif., and I am headed there on Thursday. The idea of my blog going three full days without new content began to fill me with anxiety, until I recalled that I had something in the hopper that I'd been meaning to post for a while. So until I begin filing stories from TCA press tour, this little tidbit may tide you over.
A few months ago, as part of a reader-rewards program that the Tribune runs, I was asked to answer a few questions about myself. So if you want to know more about my background, how I got this job and what a typical day is like, read on.
Get To Know Maureen Ryan: 10 Questions
1. What made you want to become a reporter/writer, and more importantly, how did you get the cherry gig of TV reporter? How did The Watcher get started?
I realized I wanted to be a writer when I got the chance to travel the world for almost a year. I got that chance in about 1991 when I was laid off from my first post-college job. Although it wasn't fun, I began to see being laid off as a big opportunity. I was only 25, so I decided to sell most of my possessions and travel, and I had many adventures and (for the most part) a fantastic time (except for a few weird incidents in Australia, the less said of those the better).
But I realized I was constantly writing in my travel journal and I wanted to see if I could expand those interests and skills into a profession. I knew I didn't want to pursue fiction (which I have zero talent for), so when I returned from that yearlong experience of working and traveling abroad, I applied for and was accepted to a graduate journalism program.
After a stint at a public-affairs magazine and then several years at a company that produced a variety of entertainment magazines, as well as a lot of freelancing and a long stint producing my own music-oriented "zine" (the title: "Steve Albini Thinks We Suck"), I was hired by the Tribune in 1997. I was mostly an editor for about seven years, but I still wrote pieces about pop culture, books, music and, increasingly, TV. About five years ago, when our TV critic at the time went on sabbatical, myself and a colleague named Sid Smith began covering TV full time, and eventually I was named the Tribune's TV critic.
The Watcher site began five or six years ago when I began writing about TV in earnest. The best aspect of the site is that it allows me to see what readers are thinking and saying. Our readers are really smart and I'm always learning new things or getting new perspectives from them. And being able to post thoughts and reactions instantly is just a thrill. I love that part of the online experience. (Twitter is the even more addictive version of this, by the way.)
2. Could you explain a typical workweek for you to our readers? How do you typically view the hours of programming needed to stay current?
I watch a lot less TV than people think I do. As much as I wish the job involved putting my feet up and clicking around with the TV remote for eight or nine hours a day, that's not really what it's like.
I usually only get to watch one hour of TV in the daytime. I usually try to do that first thing, then spend some time writing, before I turn on the Internet, e-mail, Twitter and what I generally refer to as "noise." Don't get me wrong, I love "noise" but if I didn't have a couple of hours in the morning during which I tried to ignore the outside world as best I can, I'd get nothing done.
The rest of a typical day is spent writing print columns, writing blog pieces, reading and responding to reader e-mail and comments, communicating with publicists, doing interviews, putting together my monthly schedule and working with my editors on what I'll be writing about and when. I also try to keep up with a range of good TV Web sites written by fan bloggers and other TV writer/reporters in the media. All of that kind of stuff keeps me busy much of the rest of the day.
At night is when I do a lot of my "regular" TV viewing, and my husband is the unsung hero of the Watcher universe. We sometimes watch things I have to review for work in the evenings, or watch shows we want to keep up with. The upshot is, he sometimes has to watch terrible television but does not get paid for it. The man is a saint.
We have two TiVo DVRs in our house, and I also get a fair amount of TV on DVD from various networks. So we've always got something to watch, and I'd say on an average night we watch between 3-5 episodes of drama and/or comedy.
I'm lucky in that my husband and I have quite similar tastes in TV, but when we disagree about a show or an episode, it's actually a great thing. I find that it sharpens my thinking about a show when I have to defend it. Just keep in mind, if you think I'm wrong about a show, there's a good chance my own spouse and my other family members agree with you.
3. You’ve been widely praised for your keen TV eye, and sticking with shows you believe in (recently for shows like Chuck and Dollhouse, which this question-asker fully backs). Is there a secret to weeding through the muck, and finding the goods?
When I'm dealing with new shows I know nothing about, I usually look at a few factors in deciding whether I will review something. Is it a one-off program? If so, I may not want to review it, unless it's a really worthy documentary or film or miniseries.
Is it going to be an ongoing series? If it's on a broadcast network and it's scripted, I will usually try to review it. If it's a reality show, on either the broadcast or cable networks, it has to have something exceptional going for it -- an interesting idea or compelling people. There's so much copycat reality fare out there, that I find myself reviewing less and less of it as time goes on.
If it's a scripted cable show, I will usually try to at least view the show -- much of the most interesting work on TV is being done in the cable realm these days. And I always pay attention to the credits on any show -- the writers, the directors, the actors, the producers, the creators. If there are names involved that I have associated with quality work in the past, I will generally try to give that show a look.
As far as "finding the goods" in other ways, I rely on readers and various TV sites to help me out there. I wasn't a huge fan of the first season of "Chuck," but readers and other TV writers obviously were really enjoying the show, so I looked at its second season, which I ended up loving.
Another good example was ABC Family's "The Middleman." I didn't review it out of the gate, but so many readers and other TV writers were fans of it that I made time to watch it (and ended up enjoying it immensely).
With something like "Dollhouse," I had been such a fan of Joss Whedon's earlier work that I had faith that he'd find an interesting show in that strange concept at the heart of that show, and he and his writers did. Being able to write that both "Dollhouse" and "Chuck" got additional seasons -- well, that was a great week!
In any case, with the number of networks sending me DVDs these days, there's no way I can keep up with everything -- it's great having readers act as an "early warning system." Via e-mail and comments on the blog, I'll usually start to hear buzz on a show that I may not have reviewed yet, and that'll put that show on my radar screen.
But the best part of my show involves pulling a DVD out of a press kit, popping it in, and -- without knowing much about that show -- being really wowed by how good it was. "Lost," "Veronica Mars," "Battlestar Galactica," "Mad Men" -- that's just a partial list of shows I didn't know much about before I watched them. Quality work like that just jumps out at you, even if I hadn't heard any "buzz" ahead of time.
4. With the emergence of quality and popular original, scripted-programming on channels like USA, FX and TNT, is this the direction you see TV heading towards?
Yes, definitely. Just this past spring, Starz premiered a new show called "Party Down" that I really ended up loving. It wasn't a show with a huge budget, but the cast was outstanding and the writing was really sharp. Cable has been coming up with many gems in recent years, and I hope that stays the case.
Of course, cable networks are capable of producing bland, uninteresting and derivative shows too -- the networks don't have a monopoly on that. And it's worth recalling that the broadcast networks are capable of producing some pretty fine fare as well. But generally it seems to me that the cable networks are taking more chances, which is something I'm always in favor of.
5. In same vein, premium channels like HBO and Showtime seem to have taken quite a hit from their…well, lack of hits recently. Do you see a future without such premium channels, as cable channels firmly establish themselves as credible, original programming?
Don't know that I agree. I think Showtime has been perceived as being on the upswing in recent years -- "Dexter" did a lot to cement Showtime's reputation as a network with a lot of "buzz." And "Nurse Jackie" is definitely my favorite new show of 2009.
HBO, however, has had some stumbles in its post-"Sopranos" era. I don't think, at this stage, HBO has fully gotten its groove back -- Showtime, FX and AMC probably have the hotter shows at the moment, and in particular, AMC has some shows that seem as though they would have been HBO shows in years past.
But HBO has been perking along with compelling cult shows such as "Flight of the Conchords," "In Treatment" and "True Blood," all of which cater to very rabid fan bases, and "True Blood's" audience seems to be expanding each week. It's never a good idea to count HBO out -- they're developing a bunch of new shows I am looking forward to, just based on the track record of the creators involved.
In any case, I'll always give HBO and Showtime programs a look, because even when they don't work, they typically don't work in quite interesting ways.
6. What are you’re thoughts on reality TV?
I used to watch a lot more reality TV than I do now. I was definitely a fan of the genre when it first arrived -- it showed us characters and story lines that were surprising and unexpected. Now, however, most reality shows are predictable and full of cliches -- and those are things I want to avoid when I'm watching TV. I want to be surprised and moved and provoked by stories, whether they're in a book, in a film or on TV.
If the stories on a reality show can do surprise or move or provoke me, that's great, but I find that I usually have those kinds of "wow" reactions when I'm watching scripted fare such as "Mad Men" or "Friday Night Lights" or "The Shield" or "Battlestar Galactica." I do still watch "The Amazing Race" with my husband and son, but I don't watch much else in the reality realm, aside from "Project Runway" and the occasional "Top Chef" episode. And of course I have to write about "American Idol," or, as I call it, the Death Star of TV.
7. How did your connection with TiVo come about? What has the response been like?
The connection to TiVo came about through James Warren, who is the Tribune's former managing editor. He started talking to executives at TiVo about having me do segments for TiVo viewers, and the reaction has been really positive. I've heard from quite a few folks who have seen me that way and they seem to enjoy the segments. They're quite fun for me -- I love talking about TV in any medium, including on camera. Though I have to admit, when I was in journalism school, half the attraction of being a print major was the thought that I'd never have to be on camera. I still have a lot to learn in that arena.
8. Have you ever thought of stepping over from the critical side to the production side of TV?
Too much work! Seriously, people who work on quality TV shows work very, very hard. It can be quite a time commitment to write for, act on, direct or otherwise have a major creative voice on a quality TV show. Also, as I mentioned above, I have absolutely no talent for telling fictional stories Whether I have a talent for what I do now, I leave to the beholder, but I definitely know that I don't have the kind of imagination it takes to tell fictional stories. All things considered, I'm quite happy to sit on my couch and just watch what people who are good at TV come up with.
9. You lived in England for some timeâ€"what brought you there? What brought you back?
I first went to England when I was 20, as part of a Junior Year Abroad program. I was there for 12 months, and after that, the English authorities had a hard time getting rid of me (kidding! I think).
I usually go back there about every other year. Part of the reason I go back so much is because I have relatives who live outside London (translation=free place to stay). And about 10 years ago, I met the man who became my husband, so in the last decade we've been back a few times to visit his family and expose our son to the finer aspects of English culture (and their reality TV is not one of those things, trust me. Our reality TV shows are positively quaint and timid by comparison).
I really love England, and especially London, and I feel at home there. However I would not want to live there, because I'd have to wait longer to see new episodes of most of my favorite shows. Not going to happen.
10. Lastly, what do you like to do to relax, when you’re not updating The Watcher?
I am a very keen gardener. I don't think a lot of people know that about me -- that I love to garden and be outside and commune with my compost. I think most people probably picture me as a pale, TV-obsessed person who never leaves her couch. True, I am pale, but that's because of the SPF 70 sunblock I wear (the pale Irish skin -- it's a blessing and a curse). But I love gardening because its a way of being creative and being in touch with the world yet it does not involve words. After a day spent at the computer keyboard, that's a great relief.
Other than that, I watch movies, play board games and run around outside with my husband and son. Well, my son, who is seven, runs. I just try to keep up.
Swimming holes in the San Lorenzo River, and beyond
Deep in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the San Lorenzo River offers secret spots for a cool dunk to those willing to explore, dodge poison oak and share space with water skeeters.
Map San Lorenzo River swimming spots
Other area swimming holes to check out
A Date With Dolphins, And Death, In 'The Cove'
In an isolated village in Japan, an annual hunt rounds up thousands of dolphins. A few go to marine parks; the rest never return to the sea. A stirring new documentary lifts the veil on the annual dolphin hunt.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar