00:00Now, Disney has a new boss. Josh Damaro is in his first day as the new CEO, taking over from
00:06Bob Iger, who's stepping down after a total of nearly two decades.
00:11Damaro is taking the helm with the challenge of steering the company through a rapidly changing entertainment landscape with disruption
00:18to the industry caused by AI and, of course, declining television viewership.
00:23So let's discuss this now. Santosh Rao is the head of research, the partner at Manhattan Venture Partners.
00:29Hello, Santosh. So he really has big shoes to fill with the departure of Bob Iger, who, of course, had
00:35to be brought back in 2022 after leaving in 2020.
00:39What makes it such a difficult role to fill? And is Damaro the right fit?
00:45Yes. Thank you for having me. It is very difficult to fill his shoes.
00:50I mean, he's a big he's icon there and he's been there forever. He's built Disney literally.
00:55So he's he's going to be a tough act to follow. But then they need a change.
01:01And Disney stock is going nowhere. I'm sure investors he's heard it from his investors and the board.
01:07So this change is the right change. They are going to Josh, who is who comes within the company from
01:15the company from its core competency,
01:17which is the experiences division of Disney, which is cruises and parks.
01:22That's where the money is. That's where the growth is, if there is any growth.
01:27So I think that's one thing. So he's the right man for the and the focus is right.
01:31And I see something bigger happening because Disney needs to make some drastic changes.
01:36Business as usual is not going to work. I think they probably have to spin off a few linear TV
01:41assets or something like that.
01:43But just going along the way it is, something has to change.
01:46And the focus on Josh seems to be that the company is moving towards the experience as part of the
01:52business.
01:53So a lot of challenges facing Disney. But one big one, of course, is A.I.
01:57Is Disney seeing it as the big bad wolf or the cash cow?
02:02Yeah, I think A.I. can be a cash cow. They're going to use it well.
02:06They have a good deal with open A.I. So I think it's going to be supplementary.
02:11It's going to assist the business and they have to really dip into A.I.
02:15They cannot just kind of walk past it. So they're going to use it and it's going to enhance their
02:21business.
02:21They're going to create characters. They're going to license their characters to open A.I.'s,
02:27open source model that they have. So I think the ways that Disney can work with the open A.I.
02:35and A.I. in general. So I think it's going to be a net positive for Disney that A.I.
02:41will come into their mix. Yeah, certainly time for strong leadership.
02:44Of course, there were big expectations around a new Disney park in the UAE, given the gulf disruptions
02:51currently. Do you think that project is going to go ahead?
02:54Absolutely. I think it's going to go ahead. It's it's going to be it's going to add about
02:58two billion dollars a year, according to some estimates every year to Disney's balance sheet.
03:05It's I mean, it's such a good location. It's within four hours of any I mean,
03:12one third of the population of the world is within four hours of that area.
03:15So it's going to be a huge boost. So I think demand side is going to be great.
03:19Yes, there might be some delays because of the war. We'll see where that goes.
03:23It's not going to be ready till late 2030. So there have there is time.
03:27There's going to be some plus or minus here and there, but they're definitely going ahead.
03:30I have not heard anything. So, in fact, I was looking around even this morning to see if
03:36they're cancelling it, but they're not. They're not cancelling.
03:38This is something that is transitory. It's going to go away and they'll be back on track.
03:44Thank you so much for chatting to us. Santosh Rao is from Manhattan Venture Partners.
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