Disney has set a $24 billion spending budget in 2026 for its content, and that will will be divided in half for entertainment and sports. This will allow for more local content in the future.
Content Spending Budget
At the Wells Fargo Technology, Media, and Telecom Summit in Rancho Palos Verdes, California Disney CFO Hugh Johnston said 2026’s budget is an increase of $1 billion from 2025 in an attempt to halt “overproducing.”
The 50-50 split will be between the ESPN portion of the business and the entertainment portion of the business, Johnston said. In particular, Disney wants to focus more on local content in certain markets.
We have rights to succeed with respect to Disney content, but we need to supplement that with local content. So the strategy is very much to do that.
So far, Disney is very happy with ESPN Unlimited, which launched in August.
Speaking again towards the “overproduction” in content, Johnston added that the company was not happy with the quality of some of the content coming out at the time.
Disney’s total content spending will not grow faster than its direct-to-consumer revenue, which he wants to see in the double digits in the years ahead. This will likely be done through commerce and gaming avenues. CEO Bob Iger recently talked about the possibility of “game-like” and AI features coming to Disney+.
The company wants to merge Hulu into Disney+ in a unified app experience, stating they want to ensure they get the technological product correct in order for this to be successful.
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Source: Variety