Costco Connection - November 2005

membe
pro

Name: Bob Iger

Age: 54

PHOTO COURTESY OF DISNEY

r file

there’s nothing political about it. We create great Mickey, Minnie and friends celebrate Disneyland’s experiences for people. And so we’re welcomed just 50th anniversary: from left, Diane Disney Miller about everywhere we go. (Walt’s daughter), Bob Iger, Michael Eisner, California

That’s been the case for decades. Walt Disney Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Art Linkletter, who brought many different products to the world start- ^hosted ^the ^live ^telecast ^of ^the ^resort’s ^opening.ing in the 1930s, so we’ve never really had a problem.

and movies; the so-called super cell phones; and so on?

CC: Domestically, what are the growth opportu- BI: We use technology to do two things: One is nities here, in terms of radio, TV, other media, theme to make a better product, to make it more com- parks? In other words, where can and will Disney pelling so more people use more of it. High-defini- expand next? tion DVDs or HD television are great examples of

BI: Right now, there are numerous growth that. When you experience an ESPN sporting event opportunities. We love the fact that, as the world or an ABC TV show or a Disney movie in an HD grows technologically, opportunities for more world, it’s a lot better experience. So we’ve been very people to access more high-quality entertainment aggressive in moving in that direction. And we are will grow by leaps and bounds. Whether it’s ESPN extremely excited about that format and that tech-or ABC or Disney, whether it’s music or movies or nology as it begins to penetrate the market. television or theme parks, technology is really our The second thing we use friend, not our foe. It’s a great enabler in terms of technology for is to distribute

Disney accessing more people and people accessing much more effectively and on a more Disney. much broader basis. So whether it’s wireless devices like mobile phones or

CC: We’re in an exciting time in terms of new PDAs or anything with miniature technology. What role do you see Disney playing with screens, we love the fact that people the new technologies such as Blu-ray-format high def- will be able to watch ESPN inition [HD]; portable devices that play games, music when they get on a commuter

Education: Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York

Professional highlights: Started at ABC in 1974 as a studio supervisor in New York; moved to ABC Sports; held a variety of executive positions until becoming president and chief operating officer of ABC in 1994; became part of Disney’s management team in 1996, when The Walt Disney Company acquired Capital Cities/ABC; named president and chief operating officer at Disney in 2000; named