文章來(lái)源：《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》Feb 18th 2023 期 Leaders 欄目 Green energy

Nelson peltz is a man accustomed to winning. So when his hedge fund, Trian Partners, called off a proxy fight for a seat on Disney’s board on February 9th, it was no surrender. A day earlier Bob Iger, Disney’s newly returned ceo, announced sweeping changes to the entertainment powerhouse of the sort Trian had sought.

納爾遜·佩爾茨是個(gè)習(xí)慣于勝利的人。因此，當(dāng)他的對(duì)沖基金Trian Partners在2月9日取消了爭(zhēng)奪迪士尼董事會(huì)席位的代理權(quán)之爭(zhēng)時(shí)，這并不是投降。一天前，迪士尼新回歸的首席執(zhí)行官鮑勃·艾格宣布對(duì)這家娛樂巨頭進(jìn)行全面改革，這正是Trian所尋求的。

A new organisational structure will shift power from bean-counters back to creative teams. That reverses the changes under Bob Chapek, whom Mr Iger hand-picked as successor in early 2020 and then replaced in November. Operating costs will be slashed by $2.5bn, with a further $3bn to be cut from content spending, together equivalent to 8% of expenses; 7,000 staff will go. To stanch financial losses at its Disney+ streaming service, in December Mr Iger raised subscription prices in America by 38%. Disney will sit out the “global arms race for subscribers”, he says. Instead, he hinted that it may license more of its catalogue to competing platforms to juice profits. To top it off, Disney will restart paying out dividends by the end of 2023.

一種新的組織結(jié)構(gòu)將把權(quán)力從精打細(xì)算的人轉(zhuǎn)移到創(chuàng)意團(tuán)隊(duì)。這顛覆了鮑勃·查佩克領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下的變革，艾格在2020年初親自挑選了他作為繼任者，然后在去年11月將其取代。運(yùn)營(yíng)成本將削減25億美元，內(nèi)容支出將再削減30億美元，合計(jì)相當(dāng)于支出的8%; 7000名員工將離職。為了彌補(bǔ)迪士尼+流媒體服務(wù)的財(cái)務(wù)損失，去年12月，艾格將美國(guó)的訂閱價(jià)格提高了38%。他表示，迪士尼將不參與“爭(zhēng)奪訂閱用戶的全球軍備競(jìng)賽”。相反，他暗示他可能會(huì)將更多產(chǎn)品目錄授權(quán)給競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的平臺(tái)，以提高利潤(rùn)。最重要的是，迪士尼將在2023年底重新開始分紅。

For all that, Mr Iger left several key questions unanswered. The first concerns Disney’s long-term plan for streaming, which he has yet to articulate. Mr Iger has said he wants to focus on “core brands and franchises”. Their online home is Disney+. He also wants to avoid “undifferentiated” general entertainment. That is the preserve of Hulu, a streamer two-thirds-owned by Disney. Disney’s arrangement with Comcast, a cable giant that owns the remaining third, is set to expire in 2024. Hulu’s slowing growth and deteriorating margins suggest that the status quo is no longer working. Comcast’s boss indicated in September he would be open to buying Disney’s stake “if it was up for sale”. Mr Iger must decide whether to let go of Hulu’s shows, which according to Parrot Analytics, a data firm, do better than those of Disney+ with older viewers and women, or to fork over around $9bn for Comcast’s stake.

盡管如此，艾格仍留下了幾個(gè)關(guān)鍵問題沒有回答。第一個(gè)問題涉及迪士尼在流媒體領(lǐng)域的長(zhǎng)期計(jì)劃，他還沒有明確表示。艾格曾表示，他希望專注于“核心品牌和特許經(jīng)營(yíng)”。他們的在線家園是Disney+。他還希望避免“無(wú)差別”的一般娛樂。這是Hulu的專利，迪士尼持有 Hulu 三分之二的股份。迪士尼與有線電視巨頭康卡斯特的協(xié)議將于2024年到期，康卡斯特?fù)碛蠬ulu剩余的三分之一。Hulu的增長(zhǎng)放緩和利潤(rùn)率惡化表明，現(xiàn)狀不再適用?？悼ㄋ固氐睦习逶?月份表示，“如果迪士尼的股份可以出售”，他愿意購(gòu)買。艾格必須決定是放棄Hulu的節(jié)目(根據(jù)數(shù)據(jù)公司Parrot Analytics的數(shù)據(jù)，Hulu的節(jié)目在老年觀眾和女性觀眾中比Disney+的節(jié)目表現(xiàn)更好)，還是拿出約90億美元收購(gòu)康卡斯特手里的股份。

The second unresolved question for Disney relates to another part of its media empire, ESPN. The sports network has always been an uneasy fit with Disney’s strategy, first laid out in 1957 by its founder, Walt Disney, of monetising creative franchises across several formats and distribution channels. Mr Iger’s decision to split espn out as a separate business unit is a tacit recognition of its awkward position. For now, Mr Iger says Disney has no intention of spinning out espn. That may change if the firm decides to make another big acquisition, either of Hulu or, say, in the rapidly growing market for video games. Given Disney’s hefty $40bn of net debt, proceeds from the sale of espn may be needed to help bankroll any deal.

迪士尼尚未解決的第二個(gè)問題與其媒體帝國(guó)的另一部分，即ESPN有關(guān)。體育網(wǎng)絡(luò)一直不太符合迪士尼的戰(zhàn)略，該戰(zhàn)略由其創(chuàng)始人沃爾特·迪士尼于1957年首次提出，即通過多種形式和分銷渠道將創(chuàng)意特許經(jīng)營(yíng)權(quán)貨幣化。艾格決定將ESPN分拆為一個(gè)獨(dú)立的業(yè)務(wù)部門，這是對(duì)其尷尬處境的默認(rèn)。艾格表示，目前迪士尼無(wú)意分拆ESPN。如果該公司決定再進(jìn)行一次大規(guī)模收購(gòu)，比如收購(gòu)Hulu，或者是快速增長(zhǎng)的視頻游戲市場(chǎng)，這種情況可能會(huì)改變。考慮到迪士尼400億美元的巨額凈債務(wù)，出售ESPN的收益可能可以為任何交易提供資金。

That is a lot for Mr Iger to sort out in the 22 months he has left on his contract, during which he must also find an abler successor than Mr Chapek. Disney’s market value of $200bn or so is up by 19% since his return, suggesting that investors have more faith in him than they did in the other Bob (see chart). But they may trust him less than they did his younger self: the firm is still worth $60bn less than when he retired in early 2020.

艾格的合同還剩22個(gè)月，在此期間他還必須找到一位比查佩克更有能力的繼任者。自他回歸以來(lái)，迪士尼2000億美元左右的市值上漲了19%，這表明投資者對(duì)他的信心超過了對(duì)另一個(gè)鮑勃的信心(見圖表)。但他們對(duì)他的信任可能不如年輕時(shí)那么深: 與他2020年初退休時(shí)相比，該公司的市值仍少了600億美元。