Disney is open to finding a new strategic partner for ESPN, Iger says

Disney is unfastened to perchance selling an equity involvement successful ESPN and is looking for a strategical spouse successful the concern arsenic it prepares to modulation the sports web to streaming, CEO Bob Iger said Thursday.

The linear TV concern has degraded implicit the past twelvemonth much than Iger expected, the Disney CEO told CNBC's David Faber Thursday successful an interrogation astatine Sun Valley, Idaho. Disney announced yesterday Iger has extended his contract to 2026 arsenic CEO. He returned to tally Disney past twelvemonth aft stepping down arsenic CEO successful 2020.

Disney has held aboriginal conversations with imaginable partners that could amended an ESPN streaming work by extending its organisation and adding content, Iger said. He declined to sanction circumstantial partners. Disney presently owns 80% of ESPN. Hearst Communications owns the different 20%.

Disney has held disconnected from putting its premier ESPN contented connected its ESPN+ streaming work arsenic it continues to marque billions of dollars successful gross each twelvemonth done accepted cablegram TV. Still, millions of Americans cancel their cablegram subscriptions each year, and that fig has accelerated successful caller years.

"The challenges are greater than I had anticipated," Iger said. "The disruption of the accepted TV concern is astir notable. If anything, the disruption of that concern has happened to a greater grade than adjacent I was aware."

Iger said helium had go much definite successful his reasoning astir erstwhile ESPN volition motorboat its implicit direct-to-consumer offering. He declined to accidental erstwhile that volition happen.

In summation to uncovering a strategical spouse for ESPN, Iger said helium was unfastened to selling oregon spinning disconnected Disney's bequest cablegram networks, including FX and NatGeo, and its broadcast group, ABC Networks. Iger said Disney would beryllium "expansive" successful its reasoning astir the bequest cablegram and broadcast assets, extracurricular of ESPN.

Iger besides said Disney plans to get Comcast's number involvement successful Hulu arsenic planned. The 2 companies struck a woody successful 2019 that would springiness Disney the enactment to bargain Comcast's number involvement astatine a just marketplace value.

CNBC reported earlier this year that Comcast CEO Brian Roberts had floated the thought of Disney selling it ESPN arsenic portion of Hulu negotiations erstwhile anterior Disney CEO Bob Chapek was inactive moving the company. Disney declined those overtures astatine the time.

Disclosure: Comcast is the genitor institution of NBCUniversal, which includes CNBC.