Disney was considering Twitter purchase before taking majority stake in BAMTech, Iger says
Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that the company considered acquiring Twitter before instead purchasing a majority stake in sports streaming site BAMTech.
The company was looking at different way to open up its distribution business and go directly to customers, Iger said at the Vanity Fair’s New Establishment Summit in Los Angeles on Tuesday. One of those ways was Twitter.
“We thought Twitter had global reach, a pretty interesting user interface, and a compelling way that we might be able to present and sell the content our company makes to the consumer,” Iger said. “But we decided, ultimately, not to go in that direction. And we ended up — took us months to do it — buying a platform called BAMTech.”
Bloomberg reported in September, citing people familiar with the matter, that Disney was looking into purchasing Twitter. However the company, which already owned one-third of BAMTech, said in August that it would increase its ownership to 75 percent.
BAMTech, a spinout of MLB Advanced Media, will power Disney’s direct-to-consumer streaming services.
Regarding Twitter, Iger said:
“The social media component is interesting, but it’s not about social media. It was about distribution.”