• Disney owns and operates the ABC Television Networks which reaches 99% of all U.S. Television households (p. 28). Additionally, “Disney owns 10 television stations” and “six are located in the top 10 television markets in the United States” (David, 2011, p. 29)
• “Walt Disney is the leader in theme parks with a 8.4% share of the market, over competitor Six Flags who holds only 0.8%. (David, 2011, p. 34)
• Licensing feature films to third party studios, allows Disney to earn a licensing fee on the films, while passing the high cost of production and distribution to the 3rd party (David, 2011, p. 35).
Disney’s internal weaknesses are recapped below:
• Disney Interactive Media division-operating income declined 97% to a loss of $128 Million for 6 month period ending April 2, 2011 indicating weakness in this segment (David, 2011, pg. 27).
• Disney has low Gross Margins at18.58% compared to competitor at 40.88% for the industry and 44.42% for competitor time Warner indicating Disney is operating with a higher cost of goods sold when compared to competitors (David, 2011, p. 31).
• Difficulties in “tailoring the niche attractions to local markets while keeping the Disney brand reputation”-this could potentially hinder Disney’s ability to expand further globally with regard to Parks & Recreations segment (David, 2011, p. 33).
Examples of External Opportunities for Disney are listed below:
• Florida is installing a commuter rail system in Orlando, Florida area-which could potentially bring “jobs and economic gain to the region where (Disney) has operations”-resulting in potential additional patronage (David, 2011, p. 38).
• As indicated in the Strengths sections- “Disney owns and operates the ABC Television Networks which reaches 99% of all U.S. Television households (David, 2011, p. 28). Additionally, “Disney owns 10 television stations” and “six are located in the top 10 television markets in the United States”