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Disney’s new CEO Josh D’Amaro sees broader role for streaming

March 18, 2026

By Thomas Buckley | Bloomberg

Walt Disney Co.’s new Chief Executive Officer Josh D’Amaro outlined his vision for the entertainment giant, one that involves a broader connection between subscribers of the flagship Disney+ streaming service and the company’s other offerings.

“Disney+ will continue to evolve beyond a traditional streaming service to become the digital centerpiece of our company – a portal that connects our stories, experiences, games, films, and more in entirely new ways,” D’Amaro said Wednesday at his first annual meeting as CEO.

Also see: Josh D’Amaro’s Disney journey takes him from Disneyland president to CEO

His goal is to “deliver a more connected, personalized, and immersive experience to our consumers – wherever they are and whenever they would like to engage with us.”

At the meeting, shareholders elected all 11 board nominees proposed by the company, including former CEO Bob Iger. They approved Disney’s executive compensation plans but rejected proposals that would have studied the company’s disability and gift matching programs. They also rejected a proposal to allow shareholders to concentrate their votes for one board member.

Also see: Disneyland president named Disney Parks boss

The annual meeting marked a formal passing of the baton as D’Amaro takes over from Iger, who received a video tribute at the start of the event. He’s leaving his successor with a long to-do list.

After two decades at the top of one of the world’s largest entertainment companies, Iger hands D’Amaro a business with a much-expanded and thriving film studio, a growing and successful global parks operation and a profitable streaming service.

And yet the company’s shares have underperformed the broader market and its peers since Iger returned for a second stint as CEO in 2022, reflecting investor anxiety about the shifting media landscape that Disney once dominated.

D’Amaro, a 28-year Disney veteran, has for the last five years been running the parks and experiences side of Disney, which has overtaken the entertainment wing as the company’s profit engine. His appointment as CEO signals the direction where Disney sees its future heading. But the company also recently issued issued a weak growth forecast, citing difficulty in attracting international tourists to its domestic parks and warned of ongoing increased costs to air sports.

D’Amaro will have to shore up the company’s traditional power base in media, an area where he has less experience and that’s getting buffeted by the erosion of traditional TV and tougher streaming subscriber growth after serial price hikes.

For that, he’ll work closely with Dana Walden, his main rival for the CEO job who now becomes Disney’s first president and chief creative officer. She’s been given an expanded remit, overseeing the company’s film, streaming and TV business along with its growing games investment. Walden, who was instrumental in running Disney’s streaming platform under Iger and has extensive relationships in Hollywood, will continue to share oversight of that business with Alan Bergman, who oversees the company’s slate of films.

The annual meeting was the first time D’Amaro addressed an audience in the CEO role. He hasn’t given many interviews since he was named as the successor on Feb. 3, but did speak on conference call with popular bloggers who primarily cover Disney’s theme parks.

On that call last month, D’Amaro spoke of “a vision for unification of a very large company,” Lou Mongello, who participated in the interview and hosts the WDW Radio podcast, said on a subsequent episode. “He made references to everything from Fortnite to park vacations to ESPN and Disney+ all sort of having ways that they will start to be interconnected.”

D’Amaro often repeated the word “boundless” to describe his vision, Mongello said. The new chief didn’t offer specifics, but spoke of looking at artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality to build “far more immersive experiences, not just in the parks, but on every platform and across every touch point.”

His challenge will be to turn that vision into results.

Disney’s shares are up 9% since Iger returned as CEO in November 2022. During the same period, the S&P 500 is up 70% while Netflix Inc. shares have more than tripled. Fox Corp. has nearly doubled.

Boosting Disney’s share price will require “increasing investors’ confidence that streaming can deliver double-digit revenue growth” alongside improved profit margins, Robert Fishman, a media analyst at MoffettNathanson, wrote in a research note titled “A Letter to D’Amaro,” after the news of his appointment last month.

Once Paramount Skydance Corp. closes its proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., Disney will have a new and formidable streaming competitor.

The combination of Paramount+ and HBO Max — which will unite shows from Paramount’s Yellowstone universe with the expansive Warner Bros. film library including Harry Potter and titles based on the DC comic book superheroes — will have about 200 million subscribers globally. That’s about the same as Disney’s streaming services, excluding ESPN.

Rich Greenfield, an analyst at LightShed Partners, has argued that Disney could unlock value by spinning off ESPN and the ABC networks, where sports sometimes air simultaneously.

The bidding for sports rights has become feverish after the entry of tech giants including Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc. and Netflix Inc. “ESPN and ABC increasingly look like distractions” for Disney given its focus on entertainment, theme parks and cruises, Greenfield said.

D’Amaro has already begun setting his leadership team: He’s promoted Disneyland California President Thomas Mazloum to lead the theme parks business, which is in the midst of a massive $60 billion expansion that includes doubling its fleet of cruise ships.

Paul Roeder has been tapped as chief communications officer, replacing Kristina Schake. Roeder, who rose through Disney’s ranks running public relations for its fabled film studio, will help D’Amaro forge closer relationships in Hollywood. Joe Earley and Adam Smith will run the streaming business with oversight from Walden and Bergman. Debra OConnell, head of the company’s ABC News and local stations, will also oversee TV production at ABC, Hulu and National Geographic.

The new CEO need to deliver on Disney’s $1.5 billion investment in Fortnite publisher Epic Games Inc. — a deal D’Amaro brokered in 2024. The two companies are set to unveil an entertainment universe based on Disney’s brands and characters later this year.

In an interview with ABC last month, D’Amaro noted that he shares what he considers some of his predecessor’s winning characteristics.

“Bob’s a big risk taker and I’m a big risk taker, and that’s been true my whole life and how I’ve approached growing as an individual and how I’ve approached the business world,” D’Amaro said. He noted as an example the agreement to build a resort in Abu Dhabi — Disney’s first all-new location since the Shanghai Disney Resort opened in 2016.

“When you understand the legacy of this place and the fact that you need to keep pushing forward, and be innovative — I feel I’m ready for that challenge,” D’Amaro said.

Orange County Register

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Disney’s new CEO Josh D’Amaro sees broader role for streaming

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