Disney
hasn’t yet decided what it will do with ABC and other traditional broadcast television channels, a spokesman said.
That followed a report from Bloomberg that Disney (ticker: DIS) had held talks with Nextar Media about selling the stations.
Disney is trying to increase returns for shareholders after a rough time for the stock. It recently had a dispute with cable company
Charter Communications
about prices for services including Disney channels in pay-TV bundles. Disposing of traditional, so-called linear broadcast assets might please shareholders who see them as having limited room to become more profitable.
“While we are open to considering a variety of strategic options for our linear businesses, at this time the Walt Disney Company has made no decision with respect to the divestiture of ABC or any other property and any report to that effect is unfounded,” a spokesperson for Disney told MarketWatch.
Disney shares rose 0.7% to $86.06 in premarket trading Friday. They are down 22% over the past 12 months.
Disney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Barron’s.
Write to Brian Swint at [email protected]
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