Get the latest gossip

‘Subscribers Were Overwhelmed’: How Disney Made Streaming Profitable


Dana Walden and Alan Bergman on the past, present, and future of Disney+.

After racking up more than $10 billion of losses over the last half-decade, 2024 was the year Disney finally started making money from its digital platforms, turning the corner in what’s been an exceedingly difficult effort to reinvent itself for the Netflix era. During a roughly 40-minute phone conversation (and one brief follow-up email exchange), the duo discussed everything from the current state of Marvel and Star Wars (including why The Acolyte was cancelled) to whether FX will continue to take risky bets like Shōgun in an era of cost-cutting. (This interview was conducted prior to a couple of Disney-related news developments, including ABC’s decision to settle pending litigation with president-elect Donald Trump and the revelation that a trans-related storyline has been removed from an upcoming Disney+ kids’ series.)

Get the Android app

Or read this on VULTURE