Disney To Combine Consumer Products, Interactive Divisions

(RTTNews) - Walt Disney Co. (DIS) on Monday announced a realignment of two of its divisions, Disney Consumer Products and Disney Interactive.

The new combined segment, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media, or DCPI, will be run jointly by Leslie Ferraro, Co-Chair, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media and President, Disney Consumer Products; and Jimmy Pitaro, Co-Chair, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media and President, Disney Interactive.

A new team called DCPI Labs will focus on using cutting edge technologies to create new immersive products. DCPI Labs will report directly to Ms. Ferraro and Pitaro.

Disney Publishing Worldwide, a publisher of children's books that has increasingly blended technology with storytelling to create interactive story-based digital experiences, will also report jointly to Ferraro and Pitaro.

Functional areas—including Finance, Strategy and Business Development, Technology, Human Resources and Communications—will be combined into joint teams reporting to both Pitaro and Ferraro.

The traditional consumer products portfolio—product development, licensing, retail relationship management, and more—will continue under Ferraro's leadership. Pitaro will continue to manage social and mobile games, Asia games, online media and sales, and Disney Infinity.

Disney said it plans to report the combined businesses as one segment for financial reporting purposes as of the beginning of fiscal 2016.