• by Wayne Friedman , February 6, 2008

Walt Disney Co. president/CEO Bob Iger, during the company's first-quarter fiscal earnings call, echoed NBC chief Jeff Zucker regarding the TV advertising upfront market: Disney wants to participate in grabbing upfront dollars, but not necessarily an upfront presentation.

"Advertisers are probably going to demand some kind of process in the spring--under normal time circumstances," said Iger. "I see us participating fairly aggressively in that process--the process of selling a significant amount of upfront time. How we present the schedule and how it is presented is still open for discussion."

Zucker, president/CEO of NBC Universal, recently said at the NATPE convention that NBC was considering not holding its usual big, glitzy upfront event at Radio City Music Hall. But he didn't rule out a smaller upfront gathering, perhaps more akin to NBC's recent digital/out-of-home upfront presentation of a few weeks ago.

On Monday, News Corp. President/COO Peter Chernin said during the company's earnings call that it was fully behind an upfront presentation.

Questions about whether networks would be conducting their usual upfront presentations have risen in regard to the long-running writers' strike, which has curtailed new-season program development.

For its earnings call, Walt Disney's cable and broadcasting networks witnessed big double-digit percent financial increases in its fourth quarter. ABC's operating income climbed 30% to $322 million for Disney's first fiscal quarter ending Dec. 31, thanks to a tight network inventory--which saw double-digit percent pricing increases over upfront pricing, according to the company.

Disney said this partially offset the impact of lower ratings at the network in the period. Revenues at ABC rose 6% to $1.8 billion.

Tom Staggs, senior executive vice president/CFO of Walt Disney Co., said the company has "fewer makegoods now than what [ABC] had a quarter ago. Scatter market continues to be strong."

Disney's cable networks climbed 27% to $586 million. Advertising revenue at ESPN was higher thanks to new NASCAR programming, rising by double-digit percent increases. At the same time, NASCAR programming costs were also up. Disney noted that ESPN's affiliate fees also grew.

Disney Channel, as well as ABC Family Channel, also boosted financials. The company said strong DVD sales of "High School Musical 2," as well as higher affiliate revenue at those networks, helped profit results.

The company's studio entertainment division was the laggard for Disney in the period--with operating income going south by 15% to $514 million. Revenues were flat at $2.6 billion. Lower results stemmed from higher comparative DVD sales of the same period a year ago when "Cars," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" and "Little Mermaid Platinum Release" performed well.

This season's "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," "Ratatouille" and "Jungle Book" did not do as well. However, Disney did see big growth from the "Hannah Montana" concert tour and "High School Musical" CDs.

All this pushed the company's overall income from continuing operations 25% lower to $1.25 billion, while revenues grew 9% to $10.5 billion.

The two Disney Channel franchises--"Hannah Montana" and "High School Musical"--were a major part of the company's Consumer Products strong financial results: Revenue gains up 29% to $870 million, and operating income 38% higher to $322 million.