Kevin Mayer, Bob Iger’s Right-Hand Man at Disney

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- For more than a decade, Mayer has helped the world's largest entertainment company strategize and expand its offerings. He provided the rationale for acquiring Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, and the entertainment assets of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. for $71 billion in March. The idea has been that Walt Disney Co. needs to own franchises it can milk for movies, TV shows, games, toys, and theme park rides.

Now Mayer's job is to deploy that content across three subscription services—Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu—that will further shift the company's focus from DVDs and regularly scheduled programming to on-demand streaming. Mayer's division will spend $1 billion next year on original programing for Disney+, complementing movies and TV shows from Avengers: Endgame to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the $7-a-month subscription. The service isn't expected to be profitable until 2024, by which time Disney projects it will have as many as 90 million subscribers worldwide. Mayer could have a new title by then: CEO Bob Iger is due to retire in 2021, and Mayer is considered a strong candidate to replace him.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bret Begun at bbegun@bloomberg.net, Jeremy Keehn

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