May the Force be with Disney

los angeles/bengaluru — The force of Star Wars lifted Walt Disney shares as the promise of a new film trilogy overshadowed disappointing quarterly results and struggles at the media company’s television business.

The storied movie studio and theme park operator is scrambling to keep viewers who are abandoning its current top money maker, cable networks. The power of its characters and brands are the reason many investors stick with the company despite its challenges.

Disney shares rose more than one per cent after CEO Bob Iger said Disney had struck a deal with Rian Johnson, director of upcoming film Star Wars: The Last Jedi, to create a new trilogy in the blockbuster science fiction series.

A live-action Star Wars TV series also is being developed for a streaming service that Disney is launching to capture online audiences, Iger said.

Disney shares rose about one per cent from their Thursday closing price to $103.57 after the Star

The power of Disney’s characters and brands are the reason many investors stick with the company despite its challenges. —

Wars announcements, reversing an initial falloff after Disney’s results raised concerns about cable subscriptions. Subscribers and advertising revenue both fell at ESPN, the sports powerhouse that is seen as a proxy for Disney’s ability to fight the rapid migration of audiences to online viewing. Affiliate revenue rose and overall results at ESPN were comparable to the prior year for the quarter that ended in September, Disney said. Total revenue from Disney’s cable business, the largest unit which includes ESPN and the Disney Channel, fell marginally to $3.95 billion in the fourth quarter, missing the $4.06 billion consensus of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. —