The Uneasy State of Screen Media: Can Disney Survive The New Phase of Entertainment?

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Oct. 17, 2023 - PRLog -- By: Reece Hooker, 360info in Melbourne

Disney is ringing in its hundredth anniversary amid a precarious landscape of on-screen entertainment.

Since its start as a Kansas City film studio, the company has become a global entertainment conglomerate, a juggernaut that dominates media, theme parks, merchandising and more.

With a portfolio spanning Star Wars, GoPro, SportsCenter, The Avengers and the History Channel, Disney has extended its reach far beyond the silver screen.

But it hits the century mark at a time when the future of screen media feels more uncertain than ever.

In 2019, legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese argued it was a "perilous time in film exhibition" – and then a pandemic struck.

Now the golden age of television could be coming to an abrupt halt: streaming subscription numbers are plummeting, and the big providers are panicking: Netflix is cracking down on password sharing, Warner Bros. Discovery canned near-finished streaming projects in a tax write-off, and Disney is yanking content from its platform (sometimes, leaving creators with no access to their own work).

To add to the mess, a bruising strike by the Writers Guild of America cost California's economy more than USD$3 billion, due to projects paused or cancelled amid the work stoppage. In September, a deal was struck to end the strike, with writers landing concessions on pay and the use of artificial intelligence in production.

Meanwhile, video games — the rising giant of screen media — are hitting an inflection point of their own.

Microsoft has just sealed a USD$69 billion acquisition of game publisher Activision Blizzard after nearly two years in regulatory limbo. The deal, which could net beleaguered chief executive Bobby Kotich USD $375 million, may reshape the industry.

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