Disney committed to international channel expansion

Disney reported a 1% increase in first-quarter revenues of US$10.8 billion (€8.2 billion) in 2011 and a 12% increase in quarterly net profit of US$2.4 billion. Media networks, which includes domestic and international free and pay TV channels, reported a year on year revenue increase of 3%, taking the total to US$4.8 billion.

Speaking to analysts following the results announcement, Disney CEO Michael Iger said that having hit the 100 channels mark, international networks expansion remains a key part of the company’s strategy.

“We know from research that the Disney Channel is now the strongest brand driver of the Disney brand in most countries in the world,” Iger said. “And as such, we try to get that channel in front of more and more people, which explains why we did the Russian free-to-air joint venture, why we moved from premium to free-to-air and a much broader distribution in Spain and France last year, why we’ve launched in Turkey. This is a great entry point for people into the Disney franchise.”

Separately, Disney admitted that it is weighing imposing a 28-day window in the US between the day that its movies and series go on sale on DVD and the day it is available to rental services such as Redbox. Warners has already imposed a 56-day window in an attempt to shore up DVD sales.