Strong growth in Disney’s interactive business helped the...

solid demand for the videogame Disney Infinity, with more than 1 million starter packs sold globally, he said. The “successful launch” of Infinity in Q4 allowed the interactive division, he said, to have an operating profit of $16 million, after a $76 million operating loss in Q4 the prior year. Interactive revenue grew to $396 million from $191 million. “All indications suggest the strong demand” for Infinity “will continue,” said Iger. The “next test” for Infinity “will come this holiday season, where we feel good about its prospects,” said Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo. Total Disney Q4 revenue grew 7 percent year-over-year to $11.6 billion. Profit grew to $1.4 billion from $1.2 billion. Studio entertainment revenue grew 7 percent to $1.5 billion, while media networks revenue inched up 1 percent to $4.9 billion. Operating profit grew 6 percent to $2.5 billion. The improved operating results were fueled by increased sales of console games and Disney’s Japan mobile businesses, it said. The growth was “partially offset” by a decline in Disney’s social games business due to a favorable acquisition accounting adjustment recognized in Q4 last year, it said. The company’s Marvel division opted to sign a deal with Netflix, rather than selecting ABC or another Disney-owned network, that will bring exclusive content to that streaming service because there’s “just so many Marvel shows we thought we could actually fit” on Disney’s own networks, said Iger. ABC already has the show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and is developing another unspecified “concept,” while Marvel also has shows on Disney XD, he said. “So we looked at other opportunities. There was a lot of interest from a variety of different distributors, new and traditional platforms, and ultimately Netflix won out,” he said. This “seemed like a good opportunity” for Disney to provide Netflix with “some branded product that they haven’t had access to except for” the programming the service gets after it’s already aired, he said. It’s a “good opportunity, we thought,” for Netflix and a “great opportunity for us,” he said. Marvel TV will bring original series featuring four of Marvel’s comic characters exclusively to Netflix starting in 2015, the companies said. The content will be led by a series focused on Daredevil, followed by Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage, the companies said. The content will be produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Television Studios, they said.