The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries, is a diversified worldwide entertainment company with operations in five business segments: Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment, Consumer Products and Interactive Media. For convenience, the terms “Company” and “we” are used to refer collectively to the parent company and the subsidiaries through which our various businesses are actually conducted.
Information on the Company’s revenues, operating income, and identifiable assets appears in Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 hereof. The Company employed approximately 144,000 people as of October 3, 2009.
MEDIA NETWORKS
The Media Networks segment is comprised of a domestic broadcast television network, television production and distribution operations, domestic television stations, international and domestic cable networks, domestic broadcast radio networks and stations, and publishing and digital operations.
Domestic Broadcast Television Network
The Company operates the ABC Television Network, which as of October 3, 2009, had affiliation agreements with 233 local stations reaching 99% of all U.S. television households. The ABC Television Network broadcasts programs in the following “dayparts”: early morning, daytime, primetime, late night, news, children and sports.
The ABC Television Network produces its own programs or acquires broadcast rights from other third-parties, as well as entities that are owned by or affiliated with the Company and pays varying amounts of compensation to affiliated stations for broadcasting the programs and commercial announcements included therein. The ABC Television Network derives substantially all of its revenues from the sale to advertisers of time in network programs for commercial announcements. The ability to sell time for commercial announcements and the rates received are primarily dependent on the size and nature of the audience that the network can deliver to the advertiser as well as overall advertiser demand for time on network broadcasts.
ABC.com is the official web site of the ABC Television Network and provides access to full length episodes of ABC shows online. ABCNews.com provides in-depth worldwide news coverage online. ABCNews.com also offers broadband subscriptions to the 24-hour live internet news channel, ABC News Now and to video-on-demand news reports from all ABC News broadcasts.
Television Production and Distribution
The Company produces and distributes live action and animated television programming under the ABC Studios, ABC Media Productions, and ABC Family Productions labels. Program development is carried out in collaboration with independent writers, producers, and creative teams, with a focus on half-hour comedies, one-hour dramas, and reality series primarily for primetime broadcasts. Primetime programming produced either for our networks or for third parties in the 2009/2010 television season include the returning one-hour dramas Army Wives, Brothers & Sisters, Castle, Criminal Minds, Desperate Housewives, Ghost Whisperer, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Private Practice, Raising the Bar, and Ugly Betty; the returning half-hour comedies Gary Unmarried and Scrubs; and new primetime series that premiered in the fall of 2009 which included the one-hour drama Flash Forward, and the half-hour comedies Cougar Town and Ruby & The Rockits. Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, and Ghost Whisperer entered the domestic syndication market during 2009. We also produce Jimmy Kimmel Live for late night and a variety of primetime specials for network television and live-action syndicated programming. Syndicated programming includes Live! with Regis and Kelly, a daily talk show, At the Movies, a weekly motion picture review program; Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, a game show; and Legend of the Seeker, a one-hour drama.
Disney-ABC Domestic Television and Disney-ABC-ESPN Television International distribute the Company’s productions domestically and internationally, respectively. The Company’s productions are also distributed in DVD format by the Studio Entertainment segment and online.
Domestic Television Stations
The Company owns ten television stations, six of which are located in the top-ten markets in the United States. All of our television stations are affiliated with the ABC Television Network and collectively reach 23% of the nation’s television households. Each owned station broadcasts three digital channels: the first consists of local, ABC Television Network, and syndicated programming; the second is the Live Well HD Network; and the third consists of weather reports powered by AccuWeather.
Live Well HD Network debuted in April 2009 and provides high-definition programming focusing on lifestyle topics such as interior design, healthy cooking, and outdoor activities.
PARKS AND RESORTS
The Company owns and operates the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, the Disneyland Resort in California, the Disney Vacation Club, the Disney Cruise Line, and Adventures by Disney. The Company manages and has effective ownership interests of 51% and 47%, respectively, in Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. The Company also licenses the operations of the Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan. The Company’s Walt Disney Imagineering unit designs and develops new theme park concepts and attractions as well as resort properties. In November 2009, the Company’s Project Application Report (PAR) for a Disney theme park in the Pudong district of Shanghai received approval from the relevant authorities of the central government of China. The PAR approval will enable the Company and its Shanghai partners to move forward toward a final agreement to build and operate a park and begin preliminary development work.
The businesses in the Parks and Resorts segment generate revenues predominately from the sale of admissions to the theme parks; room nights at the hotels; merchandise, food and beverage sales; sales and rentals of vacation club properties; and cruise vacation packages. Costs consist principally of labor; depreciation; costs of merchandise, food and beverage sold; marketing and sales expense; repairs and maintenance; and entertainment.
Walt Disney World Resort
The Walt Disney World Resort is located 22 miles southwest of Orlando, Florida, on approximately 25,000 acres of owned land. The resort includes theme parks (the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom); hotels; vacation club properties; a retail, dining and entertainment complex; a sports complex; conference centers; campgrounds; golf courses; water parks; and other recreational facilities designed to attract visitors for an extended stay.
The Walt Disney World Resort is marketed through a variety of international, national and local advertising and promotional activities. A number of attractions in each of the theme parks are sponsored by other corporations through long-term agreements.
Magic Kingdom – The Magic Kingdom, which opened in 1971, consists of seven themed lands: Main Street USA, Adventureland, Fantasyland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Mickey’s Toontown Fair and Tomorrowland. Each land provides a unique guest experience featuring themed rides and attractions, live Disney character interaction, restaurants, refreshment areas and merchandise shops. Additionally, there are daily parades and a nighttime fireworks extravaganza, Wishes.
Epcot – Epcot, which opened in 1982, consists of two major themed areas: Future World and World Showcase. Future World dramatizes certain historical developments and addresses the challenges facing the world today through major pavilions devoted to showcasing science and technology improvements, communication, energy, transportation, using your imagination, life and health, nature and food production, the ocean environment and space. World Showcase presents a community of nations focusing on the culture, traditions and accomplishments of people around the world. Countries represented with pavilions include the United States, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Norway and the United Kingdom. Both areas feature themed rides and attractions, restaurants and merchandise shops. Epcot also features Illuminations: Reflections of Earth, a nighttime entertainment spectacular.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which opened in 1989, consists of a theme park, a radio studio and a film and television production facility. The park centers on Hollywood as it was during the 1930’s and 1940’s and provides various attractions, themed food service and merchandise facilities. The production facility consists of three sound stages, merchandise shops and a back lot and currently hosts both feature film and television productions. Disney’s Hollywood Studios also features Fantasmic!, a nighttime entertainment spectacular.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Disney’s Animal Kingdom, which opened in 1998, consists of a 145-foot Tree of Life centerpiece surrounded by six themed areas: Dinoland U.S.A., Africa, Rafiki’s Planet Watch, Asia, Discovery Island and Camp Minnie-Mickey. Each themed area contains adventure attractions, entertainment shows, restaurants and merchandise shops. The park features more than 300 species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians and 3,000 varieties of trees and plants.
Hotels and Other Resort Facilities – As of October 3, 2009, the Company owned and operated 17 resort hotels at the Walt Disney World Resort, with a total of approximately 22,000 rooms and 468,000 square feet of conference meeting space. In addition, Disney’s Fort Wilderness camping and recreational area offers approximately 800 campsites.
The Walt Disney World Resort also hosts a 120-acre retail, dining and entertainment complex known as Downtown Disney, which consists of the Marketplace, West Side and Pleasure Island. Downtown Disney is home to the 50,000-square-foot World of Disney retail store featuring Disney-branded merchandise, Cirque du Soleil, the House of Blues, and the Company’s DisneyQuest facility. A number of the Downtown Disney facilities are operated by third parties that pay rent and license fees to the Company. In September 2008, the Company commenced a project to enhance Pleasure Island, which will feature new shopping and dining experiences to entertain guests of all ages. The project is expected to be completed in 2012.
Disney’s Wide World of Sports, which opened in 1997, is a 220-acre sports complex providing professional caliber training and competition, festival and tournament events and interactive sports activities. The complex’s venues accommodate multiple sporting events, including baseball, tennis, basketball, softball, track and field, football and soccer. Its stadium, which has a seating capacity exceeding 9,500, is the spring training site for MLB’s Atlanta Braves. The Amateur Athletic Union hosts more than 30 championship events per year at the facility. The Company is currently in the process of rebranding Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex to ESPN’s Wide World of Sports, which is expected to be completed in 2010.
In the Downtown Disney Resort area, seven independently-operated hotels are situated on property leased from the Company. These hotels have a capacity of approximately 3,700 rooms. Additionally, the Walt Disney World Swan and the Walt Disney World Dolphin hotels, which have approximately 2,300 total rooms, are independently operated on property leased from the Company near Epcot.
Other recreational amenities and activities available at the Walt Disney World Resort include four championship golf courses, miniature golf courses, full-service spas, tennis, sailing, water skiing, swimming, horseback riding and a number of other noncompetitive sports and leisure time activities. The resort also includes two water parks: Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon.
Disneyland Resort
The Company owns 461 acres and has the rights under long-term lease for use of an additional 49 acres of land in Anaheim, California. The Disneyland Resort includes two theme parks (Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure), three hotels and Downtown Disney, a retail, dining and entertainment complex designed to attract visitors for an extended stay.
The entire Disneyland Resort is marketed as a destination resort through international, national and local advertising and promotional activities. A number of the attractions and restaurants at both of the theme parks are sponsored by other corporations through long-term agreements.
Disneyland – Disneyland, which opened in 1955, consists of Main Street USA and seven principal areas: Adventureland, Critter Country, Fantasyland, Frontierland, New Orleans Square, Tomorrowland and Toontown. These areas feature themed rides and attractions, shows, restaurants, merchandise shops and refreshment stands. Additionally, Disneyland offers daily parades and a nighttime entertainment spectacular, Fantasmic!.
Disney’s California Adventure – Disney’s California Adventure, which opened in 2001, is adjacent to Disneyland and includes four principal areas: Golden State, Hollywood Pictures Backlot, Paradise Pier and “a bug’s land”. These areas include rides, attractions, shows, restaurants, merchandise shops and refreshment stands.
In October 2007, the Company announced a multi-year expansion that brings new entertainment and family-oriented attractions to Disney’s California Adventure, including an entirely new 12-acre Cars Land inspired by the animated film Cars and a new nighttime water spectacular, World of Color.
Hotels and Other Resort Facilities – Disneyland Resort includes three Company-owned and operated hotels: the 969-room Disneyland Hotel, the 481-room Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel, and Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, a deluxe hotel located adjacent to Disney’s California Adventure. Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa was recently expanded and now has 948 rooms as well as fifty vacation club units.
Disneyland Resort also includes Downtown Disney, a themed 15-acre outdoor complex of entertainment, dining and shopping venues, located adjacent to both Disneyland Park and Disney’s California Adventure. A number of the Downtown Disney facilities are operated by third parties that pay rent and license fees to the Company.
Disneyland Paris
The Company has a 51% effective ownership interest in Disneyland Paris, a 4,800-acre development located in Marne-la-Vallée, approximately 20 miles east of Paris, France, which was developed pursuant to a 1987 master agreement with French governmental authorities. The Company manages and has a 40% equity interest in Euro Disney S.C.A., a publicly-traded French entity that is the holding company for Euro Disney Associés S.C.A.(Disney S.C.A), the primary operating company of Disneyland Paris. Euro Disney S.C.A. and its subsidiaries operate Disneyland Paris, which includes two theme parks (Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park); seven themed hotels; convention centers; a shopping, dining and entertainment complex; and a 27-hole golf facility. Of the 4,800 acres comprising the site, approximately 2,400 acres have been developed to date which includes the Val d’Europe development discussed below. An indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company is responsible for managing Disneyland Paris. Euro Disney S.C.A. is required to pay royalties and management fees to certain indirect, wholly-owned subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company based on the operating performance of the resort.
Disneyland Park – Disneyland Park, which opened in 1992, consists of Main Street and four principal themed areas: Adventureland, Discoveryland, Fantasyland and Frontierland. These areas include themed rides, attractions, shows, restaurants, merchandise shops and refreshment stands. Disneyland Park also features a daily parade.
Walt Disney Studios Park – Walt Disney Studios Park opened in March 2002 adjacent to Disneyland Park. The park takes guests into the worlds of cinema, animation and television and includes four principal themed areas: Front Lot, Toon Studios, Production Courtyard and Backlot. These areas each include themed rides, attractions, shows, restaurants, merchandise shops and refreshment stands.
Hotels and Other Facilities – Disneyland Paris operates seven resort hotels, with a total of approximately 5,800 rooms and 250,000 square feet of conference meeting space. In addition, several on-site hotels opened between 2003 and 2006 that are owned and operated by third-party developers and provide approximately 2,400 rooms.
Disneyland Paris also includes Disney Village, a seven-acre retail, dining and entertainment complex, located between the theme parks and the hotels. A number of the Disney Village facilities are operated by third parties that pay rent and license fees to a subsidiary of Euro Disney S.C.A.
Val d’Europe is a planned community that is being developed near Disneyland Paris. The completed phases of the development include: a town center, which consists of a shopping center; a 150-room hotel; office, commercial, and residential space; and a regional train station. Third parties operate these developments on land leased or purchased from Euro Disney S.C.A. and its subsidiaries.
In fiscal 2005, Euro Disney S.C.A. completed a financial restructuring, which provided for an increase in capital and refinancing of its borrowings. Pursuant to the financial restructuring, the Company agreed to conditionally and unconditionally defer certain management fees and royalties and convert them into long-term subordinated debt and provide a new ten year line of credit for liquidity needs, which is currently €100 million.
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
The Company owns a 47% interest in Hong Kong Disneyland Resort through Hongkong International Theme Parks Limited, an entity in which the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) owns a 53% majority interest. A separate Hong Kong subsidiary of the Company is responsible for managing Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.
Located on 311 acres on Lantau Island, the resort is in close proximity to the Hong Kong International Airport. Hong Kong Disneyland Resort includes one theme park and two themed hotels.
Hong Kong Disneyland – Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005 and consists of the following themed lands: Adventureland, Fantasyland, Main Street USA and Tomorrowland. These areas feature themed rides and attractions, shows, restaurants, merchandise shops and refreshment stands. Additionally, there are daily parades and a nighttime fireworks extravaganza.
Hotels – Hong Kong Disneyland Resort includes two themed hotels: the 400-room Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and the 600-room Disney’s Hollywood Hotel.
In July 2009, the Company and the HKSAR agreed to a capital realignment and expansion plan for Hong Kong Disneyland. The expansion will bring three new themed areas to Hong Kong Disneyland, which are scheduled to be completed in phases by 2014. Pursuant to the plan, the Company converted a loan to Hong Kong Disneyland into equity and made an additional $40 million capital contribution and the HKSAR converted a like amount of its loan into equity. This increased the Company’s effective ownership interest from 43% to 47% as of October 3, 2009. The Company expects to make additional capital contributions over approximately five years to fund the expansion of Hong Kong Disneyland. See Note 7 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Based on the operating performance of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, the Company is entitled to receive royalties and management fees. The Company has, however, waived management fees and deferred royalties for the 2008 and 2009 fiscal years.
Tokyo Disney Resort
Tokyo Disney Resort is located on approximately 494 acres of land, six miles east of downtown Tokyo, Japan. The resort includes two theme parks (Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea); three Disney-branded hotels; six independently operated hotels; and a retail, dining and entertainment complex.
Tokyo Disneyland – Tokyo Disneyland, which opened in 1983, was the first Disney theme park to open outside the United States. Tokyo Disneyland consists of seven principal areas: Adventureland, Critter Country, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Toontown, Westernland and World Bazaar.
Tokyo DisneySea – Tokyo DisneySea, adjacent to Tokyo Disneyland, opened in 2001. The park is divided into seven unique “ports of call,” including Mediterranean Harbor, American Waterfront, Port Discovery, Lost River Delta, Mermaid Lagoon, Mysterious Island and Arabian Coast.
Hotels and Other Resort Facilities – The resort includes the 504-room Disney Ambassador Hotel, the 502-room Tokyo DisneySea Hotel MiraCosta and the 705-room Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. The resort also includes the Disney Resort Line monorail, which links theme parks and resort hotels with Ikspiari, a retail, dining and entertainment complex; Bon Voyage, a Disney-themed merchandise location; as well as the first Cirque du Soleil theatre in Japan.
The Company earns royalties on revenues generated by the Tokyo Disney Resort, which is owned and operated by Oriental Land Co., Ltd. (OLC), a Japanese corporation in which the Company has no equity interest. OLC markets the Tokyo Disney Resort through a variety of local, domestic and international advertising and promotional activities. In addition, third parties sponsor many of the theme park attractions under long-term arrangements.
Disney Vacation Club
The Disney Vacation Club (DVC) offers ownership interests in ten resort facilities located at the Walt Disney World Resort; Disneyland Resort; Vero Beach, Florida; and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Available units at each facility are offered for sale under a vacation ownership plan and are operated as rental property until the units are sold. DVC inventory consists of a mix of units ranging from one bedroom studios to three bedroom villas. Unit counts in this document are presented in terms of two bedroom equivalents. As of October 3, 2009, DVC has 3,060 units including the second phase of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas, Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort and the Treehouse Villas at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, all of which opened in 2009 on Walt Disney World Resort property. Additionally, DVC opened its first property on the West Coast in 2009 with the opening of 50 units at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa at Disneyland Resort. In 2007, the Company purchased 21 acres of oceanfront property on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, which will be home to a new DVC resort. This resort, scheduled to open in phases beginning in 2011, will include 350 traditional hotel rooms and 480 vacation club units.
Disney Cruise Line
Disney Cruise Line, which is operated out of Port Canaveral, Florida, is a vacation cruise line that includes two 85,000-ton ships, the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder. Both ships cater to children, families and adults, with distinctly-themed areas and activities for each group. Each ship features 877 staterooms, 73% of which are outside and provide guests with ocean views. Cruise vacations often include a visit to Disney’s Castaway Cay, a 1,000-acre private Bahamian island. The Company packages three, four and seven-day cruise vacations with visits to the Walt Disney World Resort and also offers cruise-only options.
In 2007, the Company announced that it is expanding its cruise business by adding two new ships, the Disney Dream in 2011 and the Disney Fantasy in 2012. The new ships will each be approximately 128,000 tons with 1,250 staterooms. In 2009, the Company announced that the Disney Wonder will move its home to the Port of Los Angeles in 2011, to accommodate Pacific itineraries.
Adventures by Disney
Adventures by Disney, which began operations in 2005, offers a series of all-inclusive guided vacation tour packages at predominantly non-Disney sites around the world. The Company provided 22 specialized excursion packages during 2009.
Walt Disney Imagineering
Walt Disney Imagineering provides master planning, real estate development, attraction and show design, engineering support, production support, project management and other development services, including research and development for the Company’s operations.
Competition and Seasonality
The Company’s theme parks and resorts as well as Disney Cruise Line and Disney Vacation Club compete with other forms of entertainment, lodging, tourism and recreational activities. The profitability of the leisure-time industry may be influenced by various factors that are not directly controllable, such as economic conditions including business cycle and exchange rate fluctuations, travel industry trends, amount of available leisure time, oil and transportation prices and weather patterns.
All of the theme parks and the associated resort facilities are operated on a year-round basis. Historically, the theme parks and resort business experiences fluctuations in theme park attendance and resort occupancy resulting from the seasonal nature of vacation travel and local entertainment excursions. Peak attendance and resort occupancy generally occur during the summer months when school vacations occur and during early-winter and spring-holiday periods.
STUDIO ENTERTAINMENT
The Studio Entertainment segment produces and acquires live-action and animated motion pictures, direct-to-video content, musical recordings and live stage plays.
The Company distributes produced and acquired films (including its film and television library) in the theatrical, home entertainment and television markets. Each of these market windows is discussed in more detail below.
In August 2009, the Company entered into an agreement with DreamWorks Studios (“DreamWorks”) to distribute live-action motion pictures produced by DreamWorks over the next seven years under the Touchstone Pictures banner. As part of the agreement, the Company will provide certain financing, which as of October 3, 2009, totaled $100 million.
Theatrical Market
Walt Disney Pictures, a subsidiary of the Company, produces and acquires live-action motion pictures focusing on the production of Disney-branded films that are distributed primarily under the Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Disneynature banners. Miramax Film Corp. (Miramax), another subsidiary of the Company, acquires and produces motion pictures under the Miramax banner. The Company also owns and distributes motion pictures under the Dimension banner that were produced and distributed by the Company under that banner with initial release dates before September 30, 2005. The Company also produces and distributes animated motion pictures under the banners Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar.
During fiscal 2010, we expect to distribute domestically approximately 14 feature films under the Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures and Disneynature banners and approximately seven films under the Miramax banner. These releases include several live-action family films and full-length animated films, with the remainder targeted to teenagers and/or adults. As of October 3, 2009, the Company had released domestically 949 full-length live-action features, 83 full-length animated features, approximately 548 cartoon shorts and 53 live action shorts under the Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax and Dimension banners.
We distribute and market our filmed products principally through our own distribution and marketing companies in the U.S. In the international markets, we distribute our filmed products both directly and through independent distribution companies or joint ventures. Films released theatrically in the U.S. can be released simultaneously in international territories or generally up to six months later.
The Company incurs significant marketing and advertising costs before and throughout the theatrical release of a film in an effort to generate public awareness of the film, to increase the public’s intent to view the film and to help generate consumer interest in the subsequent home entertainment and other ancillary markets. These costs are expensed as incurred; therefore, we typically incur losses on a film in the theatrical markets, including in periods prior to the theatrical release of the film.
Home Entertainment Market
In the domestic market, we distribute home entertainment releases directly under each of our motion picture banners. In the international market, we distribute home entertainment releases under each of our motion picture banners both directly and through independent foreign distribution companies. In addition, we acquire and produce original content for direct-to-video release.
The domestic and international home entertainment window typically starts four to six months after the theatrical release in each market with the issuance of a variety of physical and electronic versions of each title (including DVD, Blu-ray and electronic formats). Most titles are sold simultaneously to both “rentailers,” such as Blockbuster, and retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy.
As of October 3, 2009 under the banners Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax and Dimension, there were approximately 1,900 active produced and acquired titles, including 1,500 live-action titles and 400 animated titles, in the domestic home entertainment marketplace and approximately 2,900 active produced and acquired titles, including 2,400 live-action titles and 500 animated titles, in the international marketplace.
Television Market
Pay-Per-View (PPV)/Video-on-Demand (VOD): Generally about one to two months after the home entertainment window begins, the studio’s television distributors, Disney-ABC Domestic Television and Disney-ABC-ESPN Television International, license titles for use on a PPV/VOD basis in the cable and satellite markets, as well as for internet, console games, and mobile platforms. PPV/VOD services deliver one-time rentals electronically to consumers at a price comparable to that of physical media rentals.
Pay Television (Pay 1): There are generally two pay television windows. The first window is generally sixteen months in duration and follows the PPV/VOD window. The Company has licensed exclusive domestic pay television rights to substantially all films released under the Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax and Dimension banners to the Starz pay television service through fiscal 2013.
Free Television (Free 1): The Pay 1 window is followed by a television window with telecasts accessible to consumers without charge. This free window may last up to 84 months. Motion pictures are usually sold in the Free 1 window on an ad-hoc basis to major networks, including the ABC Television Network, and basic cable services, including ABC Family, Disney Channel, Disney XD, and SOAPnet.
Pay Television 2 (Pay 2) and Free Television 2 (Free 2): In the U.S., Free 1 is generally followed by a fourteen- month Pay 2 window under our license arrangement with Starz, and finally by a Free 2 window. The Free 2 window is a syndication window where films are licensed both to basic cable networks and to third-party television station groups. Major packages of the Company’s feature films have been licensed for broadcast under multi-year agreements.
International Television: The Company also licenses its theatrical and television properties outside of the U.S. The typical windowing sequence is broadly consistent with the domestic cycle such that titles premiere on television in PPV/VOD then air in pay TV before airing in free TV. Windowing strategies are developed in response to local market practices and conditions, and the exact sequence and length of each window can vary country by country.
Disney Music Group
The Disney Music Group includes Walt Disney Records, Hollywood Records (including the Mammoth Records and Buena Vista Records labels), Lyric Street Records, Buena Vista Concerts and Disney Music Publishing.
Walt Disney Records produces and distributes compact discs and music DVDs in the United States and licenses our music properties throughout the rest of the world. Music categories include infant, children’s read-along, teens, all-family and soundtracks from film and television series distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and Disney Channel. Hollywood Records develops, produces and markets recordings from talent across a spectrum of popular music. Nashville-based Lyric Street Records develops, produces and markets recordings in the country music genre.
Each of the labels commissions new music for the Company’s motion picture and television programs, records the songs and licenses the song copyrights to others for printed music, records, audio-visual devices, public performances and digital distribution. Buena Vista Concerts produces live-entertainment events with artists signed to the Disney Music Group record labels.
Disney Music Publishing controls the copyrights of thousands of musical compositions derived from the Company’s motion picture, television, record and theme park properties, as well as musical compositions written by songwriters under exclusive contract. It is responsible for the management, protection, and licensing of the Disney song catalog on a worldwide basis, including licensing for printed music, records, audio-visual works and new media.
Disney Theatrical Group
The Disney Theatrical Group includes both Disney Theatrical Productions and Disney Live Family Entertainment.
Disney Theatrical Productions develops, produces and licenses live entertainment events. The Company has produced and licensed Broadway musicals around the world, including Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Elton John & Tim Rice’s Aida, Mary Poppins (a co-production with Cameron Mackintosh Ltd), TARZAN®, the professional touring stage version of High School Musical, and The Little Mermaid. In addition, the Company licenses musicals for local school and community theatre productions.
Disney Live Family Entertainment delivers worldwide touring productions under the Disney On Ice and Disney Live! brands under a license to Feld Entertainment. North American tours for Disney Live! Rockin’ Road Show and Disney On Ice’s latest ice show, Celebrations!, were launched in August 2009 and September 2009, respectively.
Competition and Seasonality
The Studio Entertainment businesses compete with all forms of entertainment. A significant number of companies produce and/or distribute theatrical and television films, exploit products in the home entertainment market, provide pay television programming services and sponsor live theater. We also compete to obtain creative and performing talents, story properties, advertiser support and broadcast rights that are essential to the success of our Studio Entertainment businesses.
The success of Studio Entertainment operations is heavily dependent upon public taste and preferences. In addition, Studio Entertainment operating results fluctuate due to the timing and performance of releases in the theatrical, home entertainment and television markets. Release dates are determined by several factors, including competition and the timing of vacation and holiday periods.
CONSUMER PRODUCTS
The Consumer Products segment engages with licensees, manufacturers, publishers and retailers throughout the world to design, develop, publish, promote and sell a wide variety of products based on existing and new Disney characters and other Company intellectual property through its Merchandise Licensing, Publishing and Retail businesses. In addition to leveraging the Company’s film and television properties, Consumer Products also develops new intellectual property with the potential of also being used in the Company’s other businesses.
Merchandise Licensing
The Company’s worldwide merchandise licensing operations include a diverse range of product categories, the most significant of which are: toys, apparel, accessories, footwear, home furnishings, home décor, health, beauty, food, stationery and consumer electronics. The Company licenses characters from its film, television and other properties and earns royalties, which are usually based on a fixed percentage of the wholesale or retail selling price of the products. Some of the major properties licensed by the Company include Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Disney Princess, Cars, Hannah Montana, and High School Musical. The Company also designs individual products and creates exclusive themed and seasonal promotional campaigns for retailers based on characters, movies and TV shows.
Publishing
Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW) publishes children’s books and magazines in multiple countries and languages. DPW’s businesses include Disney Global Book Group, Global Children’s Magazines, Disney FamilyFun Group, and Disney English. In fiscal 2009, the Disney Global Books Group published titles around the world in support of such franchises as Disney Princess, Disney Fairies, Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, High School Musical, Cars and Hannah Montana, and of the films Bolt, UP, and G-Force. The Global Children’s Magazines business launched new titles in over 30 languages to support Disney Channel hits, including High School Musical, Hannah Montana, JONAS, and Camp Rock. The Disney FamilyFun Group includes the Disney FamilyFun and Disney en Familia magazines, special publications and branded books, and custom media solutions. Disney English currently offers more than 400 hours of classroom programming for young children at five Disney English centers in Shanghai.
Retail
The Company markets Disney-themed products directly through retail stores operated under the Disney Store name and through internet sites in North America (as DisneyStore.com and DisneyOutlet.com) and the United Kingdom (as DisneyStore.co.uk). The stores, which are generally located in leading shopping malls and other retail complexes, carry a wide variety of Disney merchandise and promote other businesses of the Company. The Company owns and operates 231 stores in North America and 109 stores in Europe. In Japan, the stores are operated by a subsidiary of Oriental Land Co., Ltd. under a licensing arrangement.
Competition and Seasonality
The Company’s merchandise licensing, publishing and retail businesses compete with other licensors, publishers and retailers of character, brand and celebrity names. Based on independent surveys, we believe the Company is the largest worldwide licensor of character-based merchandise based on retail sales. Operating results for the licensing and retail businesses are influenced by seasonal consumer purchasing behavior and by the timing and performance of animated theatrical releases and cable programming broadcasts.
INTERACTIVE MEDIA
The Disney Interactive Media Group creates and delivers Disney-branded entertainment and lifestyle content across interactive media platforms. The primary operating businesses of the Disney Interactive Media Group are Disney Interactive Studios which produces video games for global distribution and Disney Online which produces web sites and online virtual worlds in the United States and internationally. The Disney Interactive Media Group’s internet operations derive revenue from a combination of advertising and sponsorships, subscription services and e-commerce. The Disney Interactive Media Group also manages the Company’s Disney-branded mobile phone initiative in Japan and provides technical infrastructure services to the Company’s non Disney-branded websites, such as ABC.com and ESPN.com, and to its Disney-branded e-commerce websites, principally DisneyStore.com and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online. The Disney Interactive Media Group is reimbursed for the cost of providing these technical infrastructure services, and since these other websites are managed within the Company’s other segments, the financial results of these websites are reported within the Company’s other segments rather than as part of the Disney Interactive Media Group.
Disney Interactive Studios
Disney Interactive Studios creates, develops, markets and distributes multi-platform video games worldwide based on the Company’s creative content, including Pirates of the Caribbean, High School Musical and The Chronicles of Narnia and from properties developed by Disney Interactive Studios, such as Pure and Spectrobes. The division has been increasing its investment in internally developed and published games through the acquisition of studios and increased product development spending. Disney Interactive Studios also licenses properties for games, such as Cars, Finding Nemo and Ratatouille to third-party publishers. The Company has a licensing agreement with THQ, Inc. that includes one upcoming Pixar title.
Disney Online
Disney Online develops, publishes and distributes content for Disney-branded online services intended for family entertainment. Disney Online produces Disney.com, DisneyFamily.com, which is an online lifestyle destination for moms, and a portfolio of virtual worlds, including Club Penguin, Disney’s Toontown and Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean Online. Disney.com integrates many of the Company’s Disney-branded internet sites including sites for the Disney Channel, Disney Parks and Resorts, Walt Disney Pictures and Disney Consumer Products.
Competition and Seasonality
The Company’s internet sites and products compete with other internet sites and products. The Company’s video game business competes primarily with other publishers of video game software and other types of home entertainment. Operating results for the video game business fluctuate due to the timing and performance of video game releases which are determined by several factors, including theatrical releases and cable programming broadcasts, competition and the timing of holiday periods. Revenues from our internet and mobile operations are generally not subject to significant seasonal trends.