Bob Iger says content library will set Disney Plus apart from other streaming services
Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger told "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday that consumers wouldn't need to choose one streaming service over all others, saying people will likely subscribe to two or three. But as Disney Plus joins the ranks of services like Netflix and Hulu, Iger is confident his service will be a cut above the rest.
Iger said Disney Plus, which launches November 12, would be bolstered by Disney's expansive library of content. Since Iger became CEO in 2005, Disney has acquired Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox.
"We enter the market in a very, very unique position," Igor said. "Those brands, those stories, both the library and the original product that we're creating under those brand umbrellas. So, while we believe we're competing with others, in reality there's only one Disney with those assets."
Iger also discussed his new book, "The Ride of a Lifetime." In it, Iger outlines 10 principles he says are necessary for true leadership and gets personal about the experiences he had — particularly with his father — that made him who he is today.
"My father had manic depression and because of that he had a very hard time holding jobs," Iger said. "And I was well aware of that as a child growing up. But what I was most aware of was how disappointed he was in himself."
Iger said his father was well educated and had big dreams for himself coming out of World War II where he served in the Navy, but those dreams never came to fruition.
"I watched him lead a life of disappointment, self-disappointment," Iger said. "And I didn't want to have the same experience."
Iger said he had aspirations to be an anchor like Walter Cronkite, but a lack of confidence led him to stop pursuing that career path. In the years since, Iger said he's built up a lot of confidence.
"I've believed in myself in this 45-year path many times and wasn't filled with much self-doubt," Iger said. "I'm lucky that way."