Disney: 'Jury still out' on ESPN Mobile

During Walt Disney's second-quarter conference call, CEO Bob Iger said that the initial results were a little bit lower than expected for the launch of its ESPN Mobile MVNO, "but we have changed our pricing approach; we have strengthened and redirected our marketing; we are expanding our presence of retail." Iger added that "it is clear that the jury is still out" on the future of the MVNO. Disney CFO and SVP Tom Staggs reaffirmed that the company would spend $130 million in total expenses to start up the ESPN Mobile MVNO--that figure includes the roughly $25 million in losses the ESPN unit disclosed in the second-quarter call. Staggs said, "It is very early going, so I would hesitate to sort of qualify what we have seen so far, other than to say that we are still at it."

For more on Disney's strategy for the ESPN Mobile MVNO:
- see this conference call transcript from SeekingAlpha