Disney Gets New Streaming Lead as D2C Division Shake-Up Continues

There have been some significant recent changes in Disney’s senior leadership, especially in its direct-to-consumer division. Brandon Blake, entertainment lawyer with Blake & Wang P.A., has the full story. 

                                                                            Brandon Blake


New Streaming Head


Joe Earley, the exiting president for Disney’s D2C interests, will now move to a new role as President of the Disney Entertainment TV Franchise and Content Strategy. Adam Smith will step into his shoes as chairman. This will leave him overseeing pretty much everything that falls under Disney’s D2C banner, including their products and engineering, ad technology, programming, partnerships, viewer experience, and the ever-more-important data and analytics. That’s across both Disney+ and Hulu. 


Adam Smith joined Disney two years ago after leaving his roles in Music and Premium with YouTube. At the time, his mandate was to bring that experience with streaming to the company to develop Disney further. This change now brings all of Disney’s DTC efforts under a single executive structure. No doubt, part of Josh D’Amaro’s drive to make digital the heart of Disney’s operations. 

                                                                        Blake & Wang Lawyer


Other Shifts


In addition to Joe Earley’s move, where he will now report to Debra OConnell, Eric Schrier will be stepping away from his DTC international role, where he handled strategic programming alongside international originals and emerging media. After 26 years of experience with Disney and FX, he will be producing with Disney Entertainment TV. 


One thing is for certain with all the changes: Disney’s executive structure for streaming is now considerably simpler. Many of the different division heads and reporting structures will now condense into one clear leadership lineage, no doubt simplifying growth for streaming operations as well. This should significantly support D’Amaro’s efforts to expand Disney’s digital footprint and conquer the market. It will be interesting indeed to see what else comes of the changes down the line. 


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