Disney+ Trailing Netflix … in a Big Way

 by Ray Keating

News/Analysis

DisneyBizJournal.com

January 26, 2023

 

When it comes to streaming, we all hear that content is king. And Disney+, with the impressive studios and franchises that Disney owns, was supposed to challenge the top dog. But the Nielsen streaming rankings for 2022 show that Disney has plenty of work to do.

 

In general, Netflix remained the king of streaming in 2022, with Disney ranking tops in streaming movies.

As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, in the overall streaming category (i.e., original series, acquired series, and movies), Netflix held 11 of the top 15 spots, with Disney holding two, and one series (Criminal Minds) crossing over three streaming services (Netflix/Hulu/Paramount+).

 

How do these ratings/rankings work? As the Reporter explained: “Nielsen’s streaming ratings cover viewing on TV sets only and don’t include minutes watched on computers or mobile devices. The ratings only measure U.S. audiences, not those in other countries.”

 

Looking at original series, which is often viewed as the streaming Holy Grail, Netflix held 13 of the top 15 spots, with Amazon Prime Video earning the other two spots. None of the Disney+ big shows – for example, Moon Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk – cracked the top 15 for 2022.

 

As for acquired series, Disney+ had two in the top 15 – the children’s cartoon show Bluey and The Simpsons. Ten went to Netflix, one for HBO Max, one for Amazon Prime Video, and then Criminal Minds across three streaming services.

 

But Disney+ was the clear leader in terms of streaming movies, holding 10 of the top 15 spots, with Netflix holding the other five. The following list offers the top streamed movies (again, based on minutes viewed) and it points to Disney benefiting from material leaning toward younger children, or families with younger children. 

 

1. Encanto (Disney+), 27.4 billion

2. Turning Red (Disney+), 11.4 billion

3. Sing 2 (Netflix), 11.3 billion

4. Moana (Disney+), 8.6 billion

5. The Adam Project (Netflix), 6.1 billion

6. Hocus Pocus 2 (Disney+), 5.7 billion

7. Don’t Look Up (Netflix), 5.1 billion

7 (tie) Frozen (Disney+), 5.1 billion

9. Luca (Disney+), 5 billion

9 (tie) The Gray Man (Netflix), 5 billion

11. Zootopia (Disney+), 4.4 billion

12. Coco (Disney+), 4.3 billion

13. Eternals (Disney+), 4.24 billion

14. Frozen II (Disney+), 4.2 billion

15. Uncharted (Netflix), 4.18 billion

 

That’s not surprising, of course. After all, this is Disney. But Disney has made clear that in order for its streaming service to be a success, it needs to offer more than that. At least in 2022, its big franchises – Marvel and Star Wars – didn’t make that happen.

 

It should be noted that Season 1 of The Mandalorian – the Star Wars show on Disney+ - ranked fifth on Nielsen’s 2019 measure for original streaming series, and it ranked fifth again in 2020. Also, Marvel’s WandaVision ranked 14th in 2021. But that’s been it for Disney+ in terms of original streaming series.

 

The good news for Disney+? The Mandalorian Season 3 arrives in March of this year.

 

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, and the Alliance of Saint Michael novels; and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right? 

 

Consider books by Ray Keating…

 

• The Weekly Economist: 52 Quick Reads to Help You Think Like an Economist. Signed paperbacks at RayKeatingOnline.com or paperbacks, hardcovers and Kindle editions at Amazon.com.

 

• Cathedral: An Alliance of Saint Michael Novel. Signed paperbacks and/or paperbacks, hardcovers and the Kindle edition at Amazon. 

 

• The Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries. The latest in the series is Persecution: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel. Get the signed books here, or paperbacks and Kindle editions right here.

 

• The Lutheran Planner: The TO DO List Solution combines a simple, powerful system for getting things done with encouragement, inspiration and consolation from the Christian faith.

 

• Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York  –  signed books  or at  Amazon.

 

•  Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know is available at  Amazon  in paperback or for the Kindle edition, and signed books at  www.raykeatingonline.com. 

 

Also, check out Ray’s podcasts – the Daily Dose of Disney, Free Enterprise in Three Minutes, and the PRESS CLUB C Podcast.

 

PRESS CLUB C Podcast with Ray Keating – Episode #53: Disney+ Needs Loki to Excel

After “WandaVision” and “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” fell short, Ray argues that Disney really needs “Loki” to excel. Tune in now!

“WandaVision” Falls Apart in the End

 by Ray Keating

Review – SPOILER ALERT

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 8, 2021

 

WandaVision – the Marvel Cinematic Universe show streaming on Disney+ - started off with a bang and much-deserved praise, but it fell apart in the end due to absurdity, major plot holes, and cowardice from its creators.

Indeed, the bizarre message to take away from WandaVision amounts to the following: If you’re really, really sad because of a personal loss, you’re allowed to behave like a villain, to the point of enslaving others. In fact, not only will you not even be considered a villain, but you’ll be embraced as sympathetic and misunderstood.

 

WandaVision serves up the story of Wanda Maximoff (or The Scarlet Witch) after her love, Vision, died (twice!) in the movie Avengers: Infinity War. No doubt, Wanda has had a tough time, when also considering that her brother died in Avengers: Age of Ultron. 

 

Using her enormous but not understood powers, Wanda has crawled inside a world she re-created from a town named Westview. The show’s creators and writers excelled in fostering questions, mystery and curiosity among viewers early on in the series, as each episode of WandaVision nodded to an episode from actual television sitcoms – from The Dick Van Dyke Show up to The Office, for example. It was a fascinating, off-beat idea. In fact, WandaVision worked exceedingly well – for the most part – until links to old sitcoms were basically left behind in favor of a more traditional effort to wrap up the story of this limited-run series.  

 

The shortcomings become rather numerous by the time we’re done with the final episode. Among the most glaring, for example, the character Tyler Hayward, the director of S.W.O.R.D., becomes the bad guy, but there’s no real reason why he does so. Motivation? Nah. And by the end, Hayward has gone from trying to stop Wanda to attempting to shoot children. Whoa. Why? Who knows? Apparently, we just needed some evil dude, perhaps to mitigate what Wanda actually is doing. One could argue that the character Agatha Harkness came to serve the same rather empty purpose.

 

And make no mistake, Wanda’s actions make her rise to super-villain status. She selfishly “resurrects” Vision and creates two children for them. She takes over the minds and enslaves an entire town – depriving them of free will, and imposing real and significant pain. To the credit of those creating and writing WandaVision, they actually didn’t shy away from this grim development, that is, until the story called for actually dealing with the actions and their consequences. Then the WandaVision showrunners didn’t just take a pass, but chose to whitewash the evil done by their main character. 

 

At the end of the series, Wanda walks among the people of Westview, and their wariness and hatred of this woman who controlled their lives and thoughts, who inflicted enormous pain, are unmistakable. But an emerging “hero” – Captain Monica Rambeau – steps forward to provide bizarre and cheap absolution. 

 

Rambeau actually says to Wanda, “They’ll never know what you sacrificed for them.” And Wanda replies, “It wouldn’t change how they see me.” Excuse me, what? There was no real sacrifice.

 

Wanda then asks Rambeau, “You don’t hate me?” Rambeau actually answers, “Given the chance and given your power, I’d bring my mom back. I know I would.” Given that the totality of Wanda’s actions are manifest at this point, one has to wonder about Rambeau’s moral compass, or lack thereof.

 

In fact, the moral obtuseness or bankruptcy of these two characters is quite stunning. After what Wanda did and then seeing this exchange, neither character should be considered a “hero,” but the show’s creators clearly want to leave viewers with that impression.

 

While coming down the stretch in WandaVision, there clearly are individual scenes that pack emotional wallop, but they turn out to be rather hollow. There is no redemption arch, and/or as noted, no true sacrifice. There are no real consequences – except that Wanda is sad, again, because the world she controlled is gone (or is it?). 

 

WandaVision’s creators ultimately chickened out. They set up a story that cried out for wrestling with evil actions taken by a “hero,” but viewers got nothing, other than a lame, passing “I’m sorry” from Wanda. 

 

Well, after getting viewers engaged with some enticing early episodes, each of the creators and writers of WandaVision owe viewers a real “I’m sorry.”

 

__________

 

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the  Pastor Stephen Grant novels and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

 

Keating has two new books out. Vatican Shadows: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel is the 13ththriller/mystery in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com. Past Lives: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story is the 14th book in the series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed book at www.raykeatingonline.com. 

 

You also can order his book Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York  from Amazon or signed books  at RayKeatingOnline.com. His other recent nonfiction book is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know. 

 

Please support the efforts of DisneyBizJournal.com to bring news, analysis and commentary on Disney to readers such as yourself. Make a contribution right here via PayPal. Thanks!

 

Specialty Treats at Amorette’s in Disney Springs

 by Beth Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

February 19, 2021

 

There’s an old saying that calories inside the Walt Disney gates magically don’t count… And besides, you’re on vacation, so you aren’t eating as rigidly as you would at home anyway. That being said, among my guilty indulgences at Disney are Mickey Bars, and just about anything at Amorette’s Patisserie in Disney Springs.

 

The glass bakery cases at Amorette’s are filled with in-house created deliciousness, from Crème Brûlée to petit cakes, to Éclairs and Crêpes. You can even watch the pastry artists at work, which is always interesting. But among the most fun creations are their themed desserts. Over the course of several days, we tried two of the specially designed, limited time confections.

Right now, Disney is basking in the sweet success of its WandaVision Disney+ series, and Amorette’s has picked up the challenge. And it was quite the challenge for us to get our hands on one of the little nuggets. Amorette’s has invented a miniature television cake, complete with an edible scene from the past week’s WandaVision show.  It took three trips to Amorette’s to finally be able to tune-in to the goody – they were sold out each time we went.  Even at 2:00 in the afternoon, they were down to just two TV sets left for the day when we finally captured our prize!

 

The television is just over four inches long, coated in chocolate ganache, with an edible paper scene on the front. There have been different scenes from each of the WandaVision decades released each week as the new episode airs on Disney+, and ours was from the ‘90s “Halloween” episode. Each cake lasts only one week before the next episode, and hence the next week’s TV, is released with the new Friday WandaVision episode. Early versions of the TVs were in black and white reflecting the 50s era, while more modern eras have been “colorized.”

 

Inside, the petit cake is a combination of light and dark cakes, and white and dark chocolate mousse.  The cakes were light and airy, and the rest of the TV was super sweet. We couldn’t agree on the flavor of the darker cake, however. It was reddish in tint, but didn’t taste like the typical red velvet cake. It didn’t quite come off as chocolate, either. Maybe because the chocolate ganache was so sweet, the cake came across more delicately.  $20.00 is a bit steep for a dessert, but the cake was large enough that we split it three ways, so it seemed a much more reasonable indulgence for a late afternoon pick-me-up, and was so sweet you probably couldn’t have eaten it by yourself anyway.

Next on the dessert menu was the Soul petit cake, themed to the recent Disney/Pixar movie and coinciding with the Celebrate Soulfully events currently going on in Disney Springs, including some top-notch live music at night. The Soul cake was beautifully decorated with music notes and the face of jazz musician Joe Gardner, the protagonist at the center of the animated film.  The chocolate chiffon cake was filled with chocolate and raspberry mousse, with a bold layer of raspberry fruit, and little white chocolate crispy pearls. It was coated in a sweet blue ganache with white trim.  The cake again was $20.00, and was more than adequate to split three ways.

 

We didn’t try it, but there was also a limited time Princess Tiana petit cake with a similar flavor make-up as the Soul cake. 

 

Amorette’s is always coming up with new holiday and themed creations. If you are interested in the Soul cake or the WandaVision TV, you’d better hurry, because their days are limited.

 

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Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.

 

Please support the efforts of DisneyBizJournal.com to bring news, analysis and commentary on Disney to readers such as yourself. Make a contribution right here via PayPal. Thanks!

WandaVision Off to a Wonderfully Quirky Start

 by Ray Keating

Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

January 16, 2021

 

Finally, there’s a television show that combines my arcane knowledge of classic television sitcoms, and my love for Marvel Comics since childhood. Who would’ve thought such a thing would ever exist? But WandaVision is anything but typical, and it’s off to a wonderfully quirky and intriguing start on Disney+.

 

The first two episodes – without giving anything major away – offered the veneer of two classic sitcoms (clearly, The Dick Van Dyke Show and Bewitched), with clear signals that much more is at work below the surface. After all, this is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and if you saw Avengers: Endgame, then you know there’s a great deal more that will be revealed as to what’s actually occurring.

 

There are probably three main groups taking in WandaVision. The first are those with knowledge of key moments in the actual comic books in terms of the relationship between Wanda (a.k.a. Scarlett Witch) and the Vision. They are left wondering what parts of those comics might wind up on screen in this Disney+ series.

 

The second group knows the movies, understands how things ended for these two characters, and is trying to figure out what’s real and illusion.

 

And finally, there are those who have not watched the movies, don’t know the comics, and have flipped over because they have a Disney+ subscription. For that group, good luck. My advice is go back and watch the movies. If not, at least check out the first two Marvel Studios: Legends episodes on Disney+ focused on Wanda and Vision, and try to enjoy the mysterious ride.

 

WandaVision has a run of nine episodes, running through March 5. I’m certainly looking forward to the next seven Friday nights, expecting twists, turns, mysteries, revelations, action, and hopefully, more tips of the hat to classic sitcoms.

 

What happens after that? Well, two weeks later, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series premieres on Disney+.

 

__________

 

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the  Pastor Stephen Grant novels and assorted nonfiction books. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

 

Keating’s new book Vatican Shadows: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel is the 13th thriller/mystery in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com. 

 

You also can order his book Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York  from Amazon or signed books  at RayKeatingOnline.com. His other recent nonfiction book is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know. 

 

Please support the efforts of DisneyBizJournal.com to bring news, analysis and commentary on Disney to readers such as yourself. Make a contribution right here via PayPal. Thanks!

Disney Investor Day Update 4: Marvel on Disney+ and in Theaters

 by Ray Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

December 10, 2020

 

During the December 10 Walt Disney Company’s Investor Day 2020 online event, the Marvel slate for Disney+ and movies was updated.

 

We already knew that WandaVision will debut on Disney+ on January 15. But we also got dates (well, months) for when some other already-announced series would premiere. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – described by Kevin Feige as a movie played out over six episodes – will arrive in March 2021. Loki, being classified as a crime thriller, comes in May 2021. The animated What If…? series arrives in the summer of 2021.

Late in 2021, both Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye will land on Disney+.

 

After noting that She Hulk and Moon Knight are still happening, Feige announced other series – Secret Invasion starring Sam Jackson as Nick Fury; Ironheart; Armor Wars with Don Cheadle; and coming in late 2023, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.

 

In terms of new information on the MCU movies front, Feige noted that the role of Black Panther will not be recast, and work on Marvel’s first family, the Fantastic Four, has begun, and it will be directed by Jon Watts.

 

Also, Peyton Reed will direct the third Ant-Man film, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and it will include Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror.

 

Finally, it was interesting to hear Bob Iger declare that Disney+ will be producing 100+ new titles each year.

 

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. Pre-order the latest thriller/mystery in the series – Vatican Shadows: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel – for the Kindle or signed books. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

Pre-order The Disney Planner 2021: The TO DO List Solution today!

 

Please support the efforts of DisneyBizJournal.com to bring news, analysis and commentary on Disney to readers such as yourself. Make a contribution right here via PayPal. Thanks!

 

Also, get the paperback or Kindle edition of Ray Keating’s new book Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York.

Disneynomics: Disney’s Near-Infinite Opportunities with Marvel

 by Ray Keating

Disneynomics Column

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 27, 2020

 

When The Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel for $4 billion in 2009, then-Disney CEO Bob Iger said, “This is perfect from a strategic perspective. This treasure trove of over 5,000 characters offers Disney the ability to do what we do best.” But I doubt that Iger at the time fully grasped the vast opportunities that would open up.

Looking at what’s happened at the box office for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with 23 movies raking in almost $23 billion, the success of this deal should be obvious to all. Toss in all of the related revenues, and simply based on the movies so far, Disney’s purchase of Marvel turns out to be one of the greatest deals in Hollywood history. Ah, but there is and will be so much more.

 

Indeed, as time passes, the Disney-Marvel deal should prove to be far more lucrative and impressive, as long as storytellers continue telling quality stories, of course. The gains promise not only to come via movie theaters (post-COVID-19), but thanks to the Disney+ streaming service.

 

Consider a couple of recent news items regarding Marvel and Disney+. 

 

Variety reported that, according to sources, Samuel L. Jackson will be back as Nick Fury in a Disney+ series. It was noted, “The exact plot details of the show are being kept under wraps, but multiple sources say Jackson is attached to star with Kyle Bradstreet attached to write and executive produce.” Jackson’s Fury has played a key role in the MCU on the big screen.

And then there’s the release of an extensive trailer for the forthcoming Disney+ series WandaVision, starring Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. the Scarlett Witch, and Paul Bettany as Vision. WandaVision looks fascinating and reportedly will arrive on Disney+ in December.

 

Also coming to Disney+ is The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki – some time in 2021. What If…? will be an animated series also coming in 2021. What else? Reports point to Disney+ Marvel shows titled Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk. 

 

What makes the Disney-Marvel deal increasingly fascinating, even though it was signed and sealed eleven years ago, is that with 5,000+ characters, Disney now has  multiple times 5,000 stories to tap. For one of the great storytelling companies in history, this equates to a near-infinite amount of resources. Tales from the pages of decades of Marvel comic books have been waiting to come alive via the silver screen and now via online streaming. That time is now.

 

It’s already is well under way, of course, with some classic comic stories feeding into the movies, and now, apparently, into WandaVision. Yes, the stories of the Scarlett Witch and Vision, together and apart, offer a wealth of potential material, from the madness of Wanda to Vision trying to synthesize a normal life – with dire consequences in each case. (What? Hey, read the comics, man!) Consider these backgrounds, and check out how Disney describes WandaVision: “The series is a blend of classic television and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Wanda Maximoff and Vision—two super-powered beings living idealized suburban lives—begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.”

 

And Nick Fury? Well, in the comics, his stories range from the battlefields of World War II to espionage and running SHIELD to saving the world from afar.

So, consider everything you’ve already seen at the movies with the MCU – along with what Fox and Sony have offered, such as the X-Men and Spider-Man – the ABC television shows Agent Carter and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Marvel shows that appeared on Netflix (i.e., Daredevil, The Punisher, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and The Defenders). Add in what we know is coming from Marvel for Disney+. 

 

Oh, yeah, and note the forthcoming Marvel movies – Black Widow on May 7, 2021, Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on July 9, 2021, Eternals on November 5, 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on February 11, 2022; Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on March 25, 2022; Black Panther 2 still scheduled for May 6, 2022, and Captain Marvel 2 on July 8, 2022.

 

“Wow” would not be an unreasonable reaction to all of this. And yet, it barely scratches the surface of what’s available for Disney thanks to Marvel. Sure, Disney’s deal to get Star Wars was impressive, but it likely will pale in comparison to the ongoing results from buying Marvel.

 

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

Also, get the paperback or Kindle edition of Ray Keating’s new book Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York.

 

Disney Earnings Beat Expectations and More Coming from Marvel and Star Wars for Disney+

by Ray Keating

News/Analysis

DisneyBizJournal.com

February 4, 2020

The Walt Disney Company beat market earnings expectations for its first-quarter fiscal year 2020 (ending on December 28, 2019), as reported today. There were interesting facts reported on a variety of fronts, including regarding Marvel, Star Wars, streaming services, and theme parks.

Consider some key points that emerged from the earnings call, the earnings report, and an interview that Disney CEO Bob Iger did with CNBC:

• Disney+ subscriptions hit 26.5 million at the end of 2019, and registered 28.6 million as of Monday, February 3. That nicely beat market expectations of between 20 and 25 million. In terms of sources, 50 percent of Disney+ subscribers have come from the Disney+ website, 20 percent from Verizon and its one-year-free offer, and the other 30 percent from additional sources/partners.

• ESPN+ subscriptions showed impressive growth as well. As of November 7 of last year, ESPN+ had 3.5 million subscribers. That grew to 6.6 million at the end of 2019, and hit 7.6 million on February 3. That’s more than double where it stood in early November. Clearly, the Disney+/ESPN+/Hulu package has been a hit.

• Hulu subscribers registered 30.4 million at the end of 2019, and came in at 30.7 million on February 3. Consider that Hulu had 22.8 million subscribers at the end of 2018. FX content and production is going to play a big part for Hulu content going forward, and Iger noted that the company plans on making an international push on Hulu in 2021, after the big initial push for Disney+.

• Iger noted that in addition to three Marvel Disney+ shows coming soon – The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (debuting in August), WandaVision (coming in December) and Loki– there are seven more Marvel shows in various stages of production. And yes, they will tie in with the Marvel movie universe and future films.

• As for Star Wars, Iger reiterated that the short-term emphasis is on Disney+ shows – noting the expectation for spinoffs from The Mandalorian (season 2 coming in October). However, future feature films are in development as well.

• On the theme parks front, it was noted that traditionally 18 percent to 22 percent of domestic park attendance comes on the international front, though attendance from Asia is “not significant,” with only Japan breaking into the top five nations in terms of attendance at Disneyland.

• Revenue at Disney’s domestic parks was up 10 percent in the quarter, with income up 6 percent. There was a 2 percent income gain in attendance, 10 percent in per capita spending, and four percent via hotels. As noted in the earnings report: “Growth at our domestic parks and resorts was due to higher guest spending and, to a lesser extent, increased attendance, partially offset by higher costs. Guest spending growth was primarily due to higher average ticket prices and an increase in food, beverage and merchandise spending. Higher costs were due to new guest offerings, driven by Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and the impact of wage increases for union employees.”

• Iger highlighted an increase in Disney brand popularity among younger people thanks to the success of Disney+.

• The Walt Disney Company had earnings per share of $1.53 in the first quarter, which beat market expectations that were around $1.44. Total revenues were up by 36 percent compared to the same quarter in the previous year, with operating income up 9 percent.

That was a strong first quarter for Disney. The big questions looming in the short run are tied to how long the Shanghai and Hong Kong theme parks will be closed due to the coronavirus. Meanwhile, streaming promises to get an added boost with Disney+ going live in late March in much of Western Europe and in India.

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of The Disney Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution and the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.