Disney plans to close 100 international TV channels in streaming shift

CEO Bob Chapek, speaking Monday at JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s technology and media confere­nce, said the clo­s­ures come in ad­dition to the 30 foreign netw­orks the company shuttered last year

Walt Disney Co. plans to close 100 of its international TV channels this year as it marches toward a future where streaming services such as Disney+ are front and center.

Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek, speaking Monday at JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s technology and media confere­nce, said the clo­s­ures come in ad­dition to the 30 foreign netw­orks the company shuttered last year.

“The great majority of that content will migrate to Disney+,” Chapek said. “That continues to be a core strategy for us as we pivot toward direct-to-consumer.”

The company’s purge of networks last year included the Disney Channel in the UK, part of Chapek’s efforts to streamline and modernise the entertainment giant. This year, the company has added more con­t­ent for grown-ups to its Dis­ney+ offering in Europe, using the Star brand. Chapek said the majority of Disney+ customers in the region have begun wat­ch­ing the Star programming.

Disney introduced Disney+ Hotstar in India last year. That service, which features cricket matches and other local cont­ent, now accounts for 30 per cent of Disney+’s total subsc­r­iber count of 103.6 million globally. In April, mean­wh­ile, Disney an­n­ounced plans to close a number of its sports networks in So­u­­­theast Asia and Hong Kong.

Cha­p­ek said the closures will dep­e­nd on con­t­racts the company has in ind­ividual markets. Pr­o­­fits from some of its traditional TV netw­orks are hel­p­ing pay for progra­m­ming that can run on its str­eaming services inc­luding Hulu and ESPN+ in the US.

But consumers are increasingly choosing to watch content online, and Disney wants to stay ahead of the trend, Chapek said. “We don’t want to be on the back end of that wave,” he said. “We want to be on the front end of that wave.”