"The explosion of home television sets had devastated the motion picture business, with a study showing a 64% drop in movie theater attendance between 1946 and 1954."
"Hollywood executives tried to rally the broader entertainment industry against television as a shared threat, but overall leisure spending had not actually declined."
"Walt Disney's response was to do something the rest of Hollywood considered reckless: he embraced the enemy by selling a weekly television series called Disneyland."
Disney's current CEO, Josh D'Amaro, confronts an existential crisis due to artificial intelligence, reminiscent of Walt Disney's challenges with television in the 1950s. The rise of home television drastically reduced movie theater attendance, prompting Hollywood to view it as a threat. However, leisure spending remained stable, with families opting for participatory activities. Walt Disney's innovative approach involved embracing television, launching the Disneyland series in 1954, which helped him navigate the crisis and adapt to changing entertainment landscapes.
Read at Fortune
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