That's Entertainment.

The Murdoch chapter ends.

Disney’s once and current CEO, Robert Iger, made news last week when, as CNBC reported, he “opened the door to selling the company’s linear TV assets as the business struggles during the media industry’s transition to streaming and digital offerings.” Disney’s “linear TV assets” include ABC and ESPN. Mr. Iger said both companies were not necessarily “core” to the parent company’s future.

It’s unlikely that these thoughts popped into Mr. Iger’s mind as he was chatting with CNBC’s David Faber “live” from the Allen & Company summer conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. Such thoughts are not the sort of thing the CEO of one of the world’s largest (and most important) entertainment conglomerates mentions casually.

As you can imagine, a predictable uproar ensued. Upon his return to Los Angeles, Iger embarked on some textbook corporate damage control, reassuring executives and minions at the “linear TV assets” that selling those companies was not necessarily “the plan” or “a plan,” it was more like the idea of a plan, which one might muse upon when talking to Mr. Faber on a beautiful day in a beautiful place, surrounded by the biggest big shots in finance, media and technology. As if to prove his commitment to something he’s clearly no longer committed to, Iger declared that he was “ridiculously passionate” about ABC News. As are we all, no doubt.

The short answer to the question of why Iger would be “thinking” about selling ABC and ESPN is pretty straightforward: He overpaid for the entertainment assets of (what is now) Fox Corp. That mistake, combined with the pandemic shutting down its theme parks and ongoing digital disruption, left Disney exposed to the valuation whims of “Wall Street strategists.” The whims have been grim. Disney’s stock price is down 22% since the summer of 2018.

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