Kareem Daniel: Last News

J. Kim Murphy Bob Chapek, the former Disney CEO who was abruptly ousted from the company last November, is among a group of executives facing a lawsuit claiming violations of securities law for allegedly providing misleading statements and omissions about Disney+ and its subscriber growth. The case, filed by Local 272 Labor Management Pension Fund on May 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, also names former Disney executive Kareem Daniel and current CFO Christine McCarthy, as well as the Walt Disney Co. itself, as defendants. The document states that the case seeks a lead plaintiff and judicial determination for a class action suit representing Disney shareholders from Dec. 10, 2020 to Nov. 8, 2022.

To paraphrase Neil Young, Bob Chapek is gone from Disney but not forgotten.

Vulture reported on Tuesday.The return to its prized slot on the network comes just a year after it became the first live series hosted on Disney+.At the time, the move was justified by Disney’s desperation to expand their “demographic reach” as well as an upcoming Monday Night Football schedule that would trump the tenured dance competition. “The show’s broad appeal, as well as the overwhelming popularity of its Disney-themed competition nights, make Disney+ the perfect home for ‘Dancing With the Stars’ while continuing to expand our demographic reach,” Kareem Daniel, the former chairman of now-defunct Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division, said at the time.The transition followed a major shakeup in the last few years, which included the exit of executive producer Andrew Llinares who oversaw the replacement of co-host Tom Bergeron with Tyra Banks for Season 29.Now, “DWTS” veteran Julianne Hough will replace the notorious supermodel as co-host alongside Alfonso Ribeiro for the upcoming season, which is slated to air this fall.The competition’s return to its coveted slot on ABC has not been officially announced by the network nor Disney, but Vulture reports that Disney+ subscribers will have the best of both worlds: the episodes will continue to be live-streamed via the platform, in addition to being available next-day on Hulu.Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough will return as judges in the upcoming season, but without their legendary fourth panelist Len Goodman.

Disney is initiating the second and largest round of its planned layoffs Monday and expects to reach 4,000 of its projected 7,000 staff cuts by Thursday.

Disney is moving back closer to how things used to be run on the content side with the creation of a new Disney Entertainment unit that will encompass TV and film.

The initial exuberance and relief following Bob Iger’s return as Disney CEO has been replaced by anxiety as speculation about a pending corporate restructuring is intensifying — and with it, rumors about the layoffs that are likely to follow.

When Disney launches the ad-supported tier of Disney+ later this week, about one-quarter of current U.S. subscribers are expected to opt for the lower-cost version with ads, according to new research from Kantar.

Bob Iger, who was reinstalled as CEO of the Walt Disney Co. yesterday, will be eligible to receive up to $27 million in each of the two years he is under contract to lead the company.

Call it a holiday tradition as common as sweet potatoes on the Thanksgiving table, but Disney is going to rule the five-day holiday stretch again after wins in 2016 (Moana), 2017 (Coco), 2018 (Ralph Breaks the Internet), 2019 (Frozen 2) and last year (Encanto), as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s third weekend looks to do $40M over Wednesday-Sunday and Disney Animation’s Strange World hopes to squeeze out $30M+. All of this occurs as Bob Iger is re-installed as the CEO of Disney and the studio’s distribution czar Kareem Daniel exits.

Many Disney employees woke up this morning trying to make sense of a surreal Sunday night that some say felt like a dream.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Disney has upped PR exec April Carretta to head of communications for its direct-to-consumer business. In her new role, Carretta will lead communications globally for Disney’s portfolio of direct-to-consumer video streaming businesses under its Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division (DMED), including consumer, content publicity, international, crisis communications and incident management, as well as internal employee communications. DMED, which is led by chairman Kareem Daniel, manages operations for streamers Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+ Hotstar, as well as broadcast and cable television networks. The direct-to-consumer arm handles P&L management and all distribution, network and engineering operations, sales, advertising, data and technology functions worldwide for these platforms.

BreAnna Bell The television industry has been laser-focused on the transition to streaming in recent years, but that doesn’t mean that the linear side is being ignored or neglected. That was the message Thursday from Kareem Daniel, chairman of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, the unit that oversees all TV and film distribution and monetization within the Disney empire. Daniel was a keynote speaker at Variety‘s Entertainment & Technology Summit at 1 Hotel in West Hollywood. “We’ve always had the focus internally about the variety of platforms that we have in [Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution], or the variety of experience touchpoints that we have across the Walt Disney Company with consumers –– that is no less of a priority now than it ever has been. And we tie these organizations together in a way that, again, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts,” he said.

Making it personal! Charli D’Amelio and mom Heidi D’Amelio have joined the cast of Dancing With the Stars season 31, Us Weekly can confirm.

Disney today raised the curtain on its highly anticipated ad-supported streaming plans, announcing new tiers and pricing led by Disney+ with advertising, a subscription offer that will be available in the U.S. on Dec. 8 for $7.99 a month.

Hitting the dance floor — on a different platform. Season 31 of Dancing With the Stars will premiere in fall 2022 on Disney+ after more than a decade on ABC.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterSUN VALLEY, Idaho — The Elon Musk watch is on.The first full day of Allen & Co.’s exclusive conference and retreat for the wealthy and well-connected concluded Wednesday at the luxe Sun Valley resort. Even among the assembled 1%-ers, there was anticipation for the arrival of the maverick leader of Tesla and SpaceX, who is expected to make an appearance at the annual meeting of moguls and C-suite titans.Following Tuesday’s many arrivals and some solo morning time, during which Verizon chief Hans Vestberg went for a run around the resort in the 6 a.m.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeDana Walden is ready for this moment. On the heels of a shocking Hollywood management shake-up at Disney, the newly promoted chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content now oversees a massive portfolio that includes the programming arms of Hulu, FX, ABC, Freeform, Nat Geo, 20th Century Television, ABC Signature and more.Walden’s ascent at Disney is not a surprise, but the sudden departure of her predecessor and longtime boss, Peter Rice, surely was when the news surfaced on June 9 that Disney CEO Bob Chapek had fired him.Walden has the respect of the Hollywood community, the chops of having run (or co-run) two broadcast networks and multiple studios, plus deep relationships with towering creatives like a certain superstar producer (ahem, Ryan Murphy) who is, by all accounts, itching to reunite with her after a rocky run at Netflix.

A hint of what’s to come! Dancing With the Stars won’t change too much when it moves to Disney+, but judge Carrie Ann Inaba offered fans some clues about how the new season will look.

Mark Bozon, who spent 12 years at Apple in creative and gaming executive roles, has been hired by Disney in a senior post to help oversee the company’s push into the metaverse.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDisney hired Mark Bozon, a top gaming executive from Apple, as a senior creative leader for its cross-divisional Next Generation Storytelling initiative — which encompasses Disney’s “metaverse” ambitions.In a May 20 tweet, Bozon announced he was leaving Apple after 12 years, saying “I’m headed to an absolute dream job” (without revealing he was heading to Disney). Most recently, he served as games creative director for Apple Arcade, the tech giant’s game-subscription service.Bozon was hired by Mike White, Disney’s SVP of Next Generation Storytelling & Consumer Experiences, a 10-year company veteran who earlier this year was appointed to lead development and coordination of Disney’s metaverse strategy.

A big change. Cheryl Burke, Gleb Savchenko and more Dancing With the Stars pros and judges are speaking out after news broke that the competition show will no longer air on ABC.