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Jan Köppen
Courtesy of The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company has made great efforts to reinvigorate its creative juices since Bob Iger returned as CEO and recently fended off a challenge from dissenting shareholder Nelson Peltz. Indeed, the Hollywood conglomerate is focused on positioning itself as a creator of hit content that can form deep, long-lasting “connections” with consumers, and its portfolio of businesses across platforms and experiences helps create lasting engagements between fans and franchises across lifetimes and generations.
That was the message the entertainment giant’s president for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Jan Koeppen sent at Deloitte’s Media & Telecom 2024 and Beyond conference on Tuesday, as he shared his thoughts on why the company “stands out in an industry that is hyper-competitive and constantly changing.”
His conclusion was, “These differences have served us well for the past 100 years, and they will provide the foundation for continued growth for many years to come.” The Lion King This is a key example of Disney’s advantage in creating “epic stories and characters that don’t just stand the test of time, but grow with time and become part of culture.”
Other examples he cited include “timeless Disney classics.” Peter Pan, beauty and the beastor Moana“The Epic Story” Star WarsExpanding the scope to include not only movies but also TV series, The Mandalorian“And it highlights the breadth of Disney’s content, with a different kind of epic storytelling than Marvel Studios.”
While some critics worry about franchise fatigue among fans, the head of Disney EMEA is optimistic about hit characters if managed well: “What these examples show is that the best and most beloved stories and characters can endure for many years – they open up the possibility of new adventures and connections with new generations,” he said.
Koeppen also teased upcoming summer releases on Tuesday. Deadpool and Wolverine The latter, which was released in theaters in July, is cited as an example of Disney’s franchise power: it has already become the most-watched movie trailer of all time, with over 365 million trailer views.
meanwhile, The Lion King Koeppen argued that it’s a perfect example of storytelling leveraging the breadth of Disney’s business, with its many consumer touchpoints, from cinemas and linear channels to streaming and other distribution formats, even though it may already be 30 years since the original was released. The Lion King The film was released, but Disney Mufasa: The Lion King The show hits cinemas in December and marks the West End show’s 25th anniversaryNumber To date, the park has attracted 20 million visitors on its anniversary. The Lion King He noted that the franchise will include Disney theme parks, consumer products and a presence on Disney+.
The executive also highlighted Disney’s long-term commitment to the U.K. and the broader EMEA region on Tuesday, asserting that the company is focused on working with creative, distribution, marketing and other partners to best achieve its goals. Koeppen expressed confidence in Disney’s position in the U.K. and EMEA and predicted continued growth.
A video played before the appearance highlighted that over the past five years, Disney has spent 3.5 billion pounds ($4.5 billion) on production in the UK, supporting more than 32,000 jobs in the UK and producing 29 feature films, 41 TV shows and shows for Disney+, 90 shows for National Geographic in the UK, as well as 17 theatrical productions.
He also emphasized Disney’s commitment to theatrical releases, despite the rise of streaming. “This starts with our belief in the importance of theatrical distribution. Everyone at Disney loves movies, and we love making blockbuster movies,” Koeppen said. “Audiences seem to love it, too. In fact, since the beginning of filmmaking, eight of the top 10 box office grossing films have been Disney productions.”
Overall, box office success is “positively impacting our entire portfolio,” the executive emphasized, “and this doesn’t just extend to screens, but also to live events, consumer products and theme parks.”
With streaming accelerating cable-TV churn, Koeppen suggested Tuesday that Disney still believes in traditional TV networks. “Our approach to distribution of films and television series after theatrical release varies by title and market,” he said. “Our linear networks are a key part of this mix. The evidence shows that people still watch plenty of broadcast television across a variety of genres, including entertainment, documentaries and drama.”
Content licensing is all the rage in Hollywood, thanks to the success of films like: suit The conglomerate’s initial streaming strategy was focused on keeping all its content in-house, in a walled garden approach. Koeppen paid tribute to the change in strategy, saying that “we will later license some of our content to partners such as the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and UKTV.” He explained, “This will not only help generate revenue but also raise awareness of our key titles. We strongly believe that the breadth of our business is a key source of advantage. It gives us strength, resilience and opportunity.”
Of course, streaming was a big part of the keynote. Disney’s president for EMEA said at the Deloitte conference that its streaming service, Disney+, has tens of millions of customers across 85 countries in the region since its launch four years ago. He shared some data points that might surprise people, including the fact that roughly half of Disney+ EMEA customers are households without children, and that general entertainment programming accounts for roughly two-thirds of the total time watched on streaming services in the region.
Shogun Koeppen noted that it was the most-watched general entertainment series premiere of all time in the EMEA region, and the UK original. Coleen Rooney: The true story of Wagatha Second to The Kardashians The final data point shared by Koeppen for the streamer’s most-watched non-scripted series in the UK was the average Grey’s Anatomy Viewers watched more than 120 hours of the show on Disney+.
Disney’s most recent quarterly earnings report and management conference call, released in early May, contained a lot of stuff that Wall Street likes, including progress toward streaming monetization and an increased full-year profit forecast.
Koeppen hinted at further streaming improvements on Tuesday, without offering details: “Disney+ will play an even bigger role in Disney’s future, and we have plans to continue to improve the service,” he said.
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