The house that Mickey built isn’t being rebuilt from the ground up, but the process has been pretty close to that for a large segment of the company. The recently reorganized Disney (NYSE: DIS) Interactive Media Group (DIMG) has undergone hundreds of job cuts in cost-cutting measures. John Pleasants, co-president of DIMG has stated that an additional 25 percent cuts in operating costs is necessary to achieve profitability. Pleasants will undertake these steps, while James Pitaro, who shares presidency responsibilities with Pleasants, stands at the helm of the online segment of the division.
More than trimming the fat is involved in Disney’s efforts to turn around the struggling group. A few of the steps outlined in the roadmap involve shifting the development focus from console gaming to mobile/social/online gaming, which is experiencing global growth, building games whose lives can be extended with upgrades and content over time, making Club Penguin the anchor for youth-oriented Disney virtual worlds, and building a virtual currency system that extends across all the Disney media platforms.
Disney CEO Bob Iger reinforced the focus of the company, which includes technology, creative strength, and international growth.
“We view technology as more an opportunity than a threat,” said Iger, drawing a contrast between Disney and other media conglomerates. “We believe it’s only going to become a threat if we fail to adopt it or try to will it away.”
For the DIMG division itself, the bottom line objective for DIMG is to implement the complete roadmap that was outlined to be able to operate in the black by 2013.
[Source: PaidContent]
