English Entertainment
‘After TV, the next stage will be consumer products and theme parks’ : David Hulbert – Walt Disney TV International president
He may not look like a born fan of Mickey and gang, but is passionate about increasing the reach of the gang as also the Disney brand equity. And he does it with as much sincerity in the various markets as he is honest about the different levels of regulations in various countries. Meet David Hulbert, president of Walt Disney Television International, who has the responsibility for the consolidated international free and pay television activities of The Walt Disney Company in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.
These activities include branded and non-branded programme distribution through Buena Vista International Television (BVITV), production and broadcasting, including the development and management of 24 world-wide Disney Channels that can be seen in 67 countries, and other media investments in Europe.
Through Disney Clubs and Disney animation, WDTV-I provides 100 branded shows per week in 65 countries around the world. BVITV licenses internationally successful series from Walt Disney Television and Touchstone Television, feature films from Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures and Miramax Films plus ABC News, entertainment, sports and children’s programming. In total, BVITV licenses more than 30,000 hours of programming world-wide annually and services the distribution of the FKE (Fox Kids Europe) & BVS portfolios of children’s programming.
WDTV-I’s portfolio of investments in Europe includes Super RTL and RTL2 in Germany, Multicanal in Iberia, and GMTV in the UK. WDTV-I is also well- positioned to respond to growth in the emerging markets of central Europe through equity participation with HBO in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Czech Republic/Slovakia.
Previously, Hulbert was managing director for European Broadcasting for WDTV-I, during which time he managed the launch and roll-out of six European Disney Channels. Prior to joining Disney in 1995 as senior vice president and managing director of business development, Hulbert ran his own consulting and venture management company, Ravensbeck plc. Between 1983 and 1986, he was vice president of business development for Europe and general manager for Benelux at Seagram Distillers. He also worked for international consulting company McKinsey & Company after beginning his career with the Unilever subsidiary Lever Bros.
Indiantelevision.com’s Anjan Mitra caught up in Delhi for a short but freewheeling conversation with Hulbert, a graduate of Caius College, Cambridge and Stanford Business School in the US, where he was a Harkness Fellow. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Management Accountants.
Excerpts:
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On an overview of Disney’s global functioning. The division of Disney that I head comprises the international TV business, excluding ESPN which handles the sports business. We are in the business of selling TV programming through broadcasters and we create TV channels, both free-to-air and pay. In different countries, we follow different models. We are present in all the major markets through our channels and other business ventures like publishing, films, theme parks, merchandising and exploiting new technologies. India is one of the major markets for us and I think it fits in very well with our global plans. |
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On the bullishness shown in the Asian market by Disney and some drawbacks in this region. If you have a global business, then Asia is an important hub. For example, we are focussing on the Disney theme park, which is scheduled to open in Hong Kong next year. That is likely to pave the way for the growth of other businesses. TV (industry) is growing fast in Asia, but it also has a long way to go. As for Disney, we are pretty aggressive in almost all the segments in Asia, except, probably, films. May be piracy is a reason for this because we are very particular about our properties and intellectual property rights. However, it’s a trend we have been witnessing: as the local industry grows, piracy has been coming down and that is pretty encouraging for us. |
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On Disney’s entry into the Indian market despite controversies with Indian joint venture partner in the past. The population of India, as in the case of China, makes it an attractive market for those in the TV business. We are starting off with TV, but the next stage is to bring other businesses like consumer products, theme parks and tap various media. As a group, we are very interested in India. But I would not be able to comment on how the other businesses would unfold here over a period of time. |
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On using other media and new technology in India. We do have some plans but for that Rajat would be the best person to answer the query. (Rajat Jain, MD, Walt Disney India: As the business grows in India fuelled by TV, we would look at tapping newer technologies and mode of delivery to exploit the Disney brand to the fullest. For example, with the rise in awareness about Disney, we may offer Disney characters as a download on computers and hand-held devices. Downloads may also include ringtones, wallpapers and, thus, help in creating the total Disney experience.) |
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On Disney’s plans to have (or not have) a full-fledged Disney Playhouse. We had planned the channel launches for India for a long time and in the original plans there were no moves to bring Playhouse Disney as a (full-fledged) channel. There are markets where Playhouse is a dedicated block in the existing Disney channels, while in other markets it’s an independent channel. Everything should be done step by step. This (bringing two Disney channels,The Disney Channel and Toon Disney) is a big step. But I won’t rule out an independent Playhouse channel (for India in future). There are some distribution challenges that need to be addressed first. |
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On whether Disney plans to have an Indian version of ABC. We recently launched ABC1 in the UK, but there are no plans for India (at the moment). On some of the “challenges” of running the channel business in India. Agreed, India is a growing TV market, but there is a large number of cable operators. Then there are many TV sets with limited capacity (to receive TV channels). I’d say, India is a complicated, but vibrant market in terms of structure and creativity. |
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On the various targets for the Indian business venture. I cannot talk figures, but the initial target is to bring two channels to India and seek awareness about them and consumer satisfaction quickly. Also, bring in advertisers and work on that effectively. We would also like to do well in both areas (of advertising and distribution revenue). (Rajat Jain: The Disney channels would be carrying advertisements. Since the concept of a pay channel in the strictest sense doesn’t exist in India at the moment in the absence of addressability, we too are likely to follow the general trend of having dual revenue streams through advertising and subscription in the ratio of 70:30. Over a period of time, it should form an equal split in revenues. Initially, we may not have ads during the Playhouse block.) |
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On the likely breakeven point for the Indian venture. Generally speaking, such business ventures of Disney in other parts of the globe take four to five years to turn profitable. Since we expect to invest every year (in India), I guess the same should hold true for the Indian market too. |
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On Indian regulations for the broadcasting industry. I am not really an expert on regulations in India. But we have found that those markets develop well where there is less regulation. To help a market grow, it should be fairly less regulated. |
UK: The aerial is losing its grip. As broadband becomes the default way Britons watch television, the UK is edging towards a decisive, and divisive, question: should Freeview be switched off by 2034? The issue, highlighted in reporting by The Guardian, has exposed deep fault lines over access, affordability and the future of public service broadcasting.
For nearly 25 years, Freeview has delivered free-to-air television from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 to almost every corner of the country. Even now, it remains the UK’s largest TV platform, used in more than 16m homes and on around 10m main household sets. Yet the same broadcasters that built it are now pressing for its closure within eight years.
Their case rests on a structural shift in viewing. Smart TVs, superfast broadband and the Netflix-led streaming boom have pulled audiences online. Advertising economics have followed. By 2034, the number of homes using Freeview as their main TV set is forecast to fall from a peak of almost 12m in 2012 to fewer than 2m, making digital terrestrial television, or DTT, increasingly costly to sustain.
But critics say the rush to switch off risks abandoning those least able, or least willing, to move online.
“I don’t want to be choosing apps and making new accounts,” says Lynette, 80, from Kent. “It is time-consuming and irritating trying to work out where I want to be, to remember the sequence of clicks, with hieroglyphics instead of words. If I make a mistake I have to start again.”
Lynette is among nearly 100,000 people who have signed a “save Freeview” petition launched by campaign group Silver Voices. She fears the government is about to “take [Freeview] away from me and others who either don’t like, can’t afford, or can’t use online versions”.
Official figures underline the fault lines. A report commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport estimates that by 2035, 1.8m homes will still depend on Freeview. Ofcom’s analysis shows those households are more likely to be disabled, older, living alone, female, and based in the north of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Freeview is owned by the public service broadcasters through Everyone TV, which also operates Freesat and the newer streaming platform Freely. After two years of review, DCMS is expected to set out its position soon, drawing on three options proposed by Ofcom: a costly upgrade of Freeview’s ageing technology; maintaining a bare-bones service with only core PSB channels; or a full switch-off during the 2030s.
The broadcasters have rallied behind the third option. They argue that 2034 is the logical cut-off, when transmission contracts with network operator Arqiva expire. By then, they say, the cost of broadcasting to a dwindling audience will far outweigh the returns from TV advertising.
Ofcom agrees a crunch point is approaching. In July, the regulator warned of a “tipping point” within the next few years, after which it will no longer be commercially viable for broadcasters to carry the costs of DTT.
Others see risks beyond economics. Questions remain over whether internet TV can reliably deliver emergency broadcasts, such as the daily Covid updates, in the way that universally available DTT can. The UK radio industry has also warned that an internet-only future for TV could push up distribution costs and force some radio stations off air if PSBs no longer share Arqiva’s mast network.
“It is a political hot potato,” says Dennis Reed, founder of Silver Voices, who says he has “dissociated” his organisation from the government’s stakeholder forum, which he believes is “heavily biased” towards streaming.
The Future TV Taskforce, representing the PSBs, counters that moving online could “close the digital divide once and for all”. “We want to be able to plan to ensure that no one is left behind,” a spokesperson says, adding that rising DTT costs could otherwise mean cuts to programme budgets.
The numbers show the scale of the challenge. Of the 1.8m Freeview-dependent homes projected for 2035, around 1.1m are expected to have broadband but not use it for TV. The remaining 700,000 are forecast to lack a broadband connection altogether.
Veterans of the analogue switch-off, completed in 2012 after 76 years, recall similar fears of “TV blackout chaos”. Around 6 per cent of households were labelled “digital refuseniks”, yet a targeted help scheme and a national campaign, fronted by a robot called Digit Al voiced by Matt Lucas, delivered a largely smooth transition.
This time, the BBC is less keen to foot the bill. Tim Davie, the outgoing director general, has said the corporation should not fund a comparable support programme for a Freeview switch-off.
Research for Sky by Oliver & Ohlbaum suggests that with early awareness campaigns and digital inclusion measures, only about 330,000 households would ultimately need hands-on help ahead of a 2034 shutdown.
Meanwhile, viewing habits continue to fragment. Audience body Barb says 7 per cent of UK households no longer own a TV set, choosing to watch on other devices. In December, YouTube overtook the BBC’s combined channels in total UK viewing across TVs, smartphones and tablets, albeit measured at a minimum of three minutes.
That shift may accelerate. YouTube has recently blocked Barb and its partner Kantar from accessing viewing session data, limiting transparency just as online platforms consolidate power.
“When the government chose British Satellite Broadcasting as the ‘winner’ in satellite TV it was Rupert Murdoch’s Sky instead that came out on top,” says a senior TV executive quoted by The Guardian. “There already is such an outsider ready to be the winner in the transition to internet TV; it is YouTube.”
Freeview’s future now hangs on a familiar British dilemma: modernise fast and risk exclusion, or protect universality and pay the price. Either way, the aerial’s days as king of the living room look numbered.
