Why Disney’s Distribution Model Might Be The Most Interesting In Media Right Now
Industry legend Justin Lebbon sits down with Rita Ferro, President of Disney Advertising in the first in a series of exclusive video interviews from Cannes 2025. Look for the rest of the series in the days to come featuring Justin with other iconic industry figures.
In this interview, Rita Ferro and I discuss how Disney is expanding globally — what’s driving that growth, how they manage adtech to compete with social video, and how they’re evolving into a Super Aggregator of their own services with the launch of ESPN’s long-awaited DTC app, just called: ESPN!
Hot take: it’ll be bundled into Disney+.
P.S. I’ve always wondered why so many broadcasters and massive TV companies — with some of the most iconic brands in television — launch “new” services that are essentially just the same as the old ones, moved online, with a new name. Why!?
As Rita said: TV is thriving — and linear is a big part of that. Disney is seeing growth across both linear and digital, as you’d expect. It’ll be interesting to see whether they spin off their broadcast services like others have, but I doubt it. With operations across regions like LATAM and Europe, broadcast remains a big part of the business. To be clear, that's my opinion not what Rita said!
Streaming services are bundling. Why?
Because it’s stickier, gives consumers more reasons to subscribe, and helps with churn — a huge challenge for streamers. Disney now has a strong base of subscribers they can upsell, and as the traditional US pay-TV model continues its systemic decline, bundling is key to creating new distribution options.
There’s plenty more in the interview so do watch it all through.
