• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, December 30, 2021

Walt Disney doesn’t take narrowcasting lying down -- even if that is its starting point. Some reviews of Disney+ say the company’s streaming platform -- initially focused on action-adventure and fantasy content -- will broaden its approach.

That might include Disney’s former CEO Bob Iger.

That executive dramatically expanded Disney’s purview through his long term at the helm -- especially in buying Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and most recently, about half of 20th Century Fox Corp.

Now, in his departing remarks at Disneyland, he thinks this should be top of mind for the company again: “There probably needs to be more dimensionality, meaning, basically, more programming or more content for more people, different demographics.”

While much of this may seem to target Disney+, we’re guessing this should be extended to all things Disney, including live theme-park extensions, as well as traditional linear TV networks.

One area of exploration could be music -- something Apple latched onto some time ago with decent success for its Apple Music, and now other service businesses.

Internal or external growth? Buying other companies is always an option. In the earlier days of streaming, some suggested Disney buy Netflix as a logical extension. But that ship may have sailed. So, does Disney look to Roku, Spotify or maybe Peloton to extend its brand?

Unlike AT&T, Disney has been careful with its acquisitions, making very few missteps. It rarely needs to sell off properties, which in retrospect, might seem a mistake.

Still, at the core of what Iger is talking about is just more "content" -- which can be defined in a number of different ways. Isn’t Facebook, for example -- a seller of content to users and advertisers -- doing it?

No doubt, there are landmines all over the place for some new media. (Some would say Facebook offers tremendous risks -- misinformation, intense scrutiny, high risk of regulation -- along with tremendous rewards, such as continued nonstop ad revenues.)

Under Iger, Disney did not sit still. Legacy Disney executives typically have the same approach, including current CEO Bob Chapek.

As Disney+ seems to be languishing -- a bit, according to critics -- imagine key strategic deal-making efforts are again ready to come out from behind the curtain, offering some needed center-stage impact.