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Intersegment Eliminations - Disney

Disney oftentimes sells stuff to itself, and these revenues are eventually eliminated via the concept of intersegment elimination.

So, to the best of my understanding, this means that if Disney's studio segment licenses a Marvel movie to ABC for $1 million, that $1 million is eventually taken away from the top-line tally, justified by the idea that a company cannot sell something to itself and book it as a successful capture of sales.

Okay, $1 million in the consolidated top line is gone...but...

Does ABC likewise see a disappearance of $1 million in cost? And is that $1 million in cost subtracted from the gross cost line (I assume it would not come from the SGA line, correct?)?

What I am getting at is this: for purposes of vertical integration, is the transaction essentially friction-less...in other words, does Disney essentially license that Marvel movie to ABC for free?

Now, there would be one cost that comes into play though: the fair-market value must be recorded and used to derive payments to profit participants, as well as generate payment statements for guild residuals. So, that isn't free, and that is going to emerge somewhere, in consolidated form, on an earnings report (where exactly is probably found in the 10Q). This is the sweetheart-deal issue.

Let's say the sweetheart-deal payment is $100,000...would the real cost of the movie to Disney in that transaction therefore be $900,000? And is that ends up actually being eliminated on an intersegment basis, just the $900,000, or is it the full $1 million?

Thanks in advance...

Posted Jul 29, 2026, 1:08 PM UTC

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