Disney soars on parks and movies but ESPN lags

New York

THE Walt Disney Co reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Tuesday, with theme park profits climbing 20 per cent and movie income soaring 21 per cent. But Robert Iger, Disney's chief executive, once again found himself peppered with questions about the health of ESPN - long the company's profit engine - on a post-earnings call with analysts.

"We're not sitting on our hands," Mr Iger said when asked about the shift by viewers from traditional shows like ESPN's SportsCentre towards the delivery of scores and game clips on smartphones. "There is nothing we can really do to slow that down. It's important for us to participate in it, and that's what we're doing." Mr Iger, who used the word "bullish" several times to describe his feelings about ESPN's future, touted mobile offerings and a coming ESPN-branded subscription streaming service. He noted that Hulu, YouTube, Sling TV and PlayStation have included ESPN in new television packages.