• Reuters, Thursday, May 7, 2009 11:15 AM

During a first quarter earnings call, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger on Tuesday said the media giant was developing an online subscription service of Disney branded content. "We realize that monetizing at a rate that is as robust as the traditional platforms doesn't exist yet, but we believe... that eventually it will," Iger said. "We are looking to create a real blend in terms of how we monetize and how we reach consumers and what kind of product we make available," he said.

The announcement follows a string of major interactive moves by Disney, including last week's announcement that it would buy a near 30% stake in Hulu.com, the online video venture brought to market by News Corporation and NBC Universal in 2007. Disney also has a deal in place to put excerpts of its content on YouTube, Google's online video sharing site. Iger said the Hulu announcement did not preclude the possibility of Disney's longer form content ending up on YouTube one day. "We feel pretty, pretty confidently that if we don't put our product out online in a well-timed and well-priced basis, it will still ... be demanded by consumers," he said.

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