By Joe Flint

Walt Disney Co. said it is reorganizing its operations to prioritize streaming video, creating new units that will produce content for digital and traditional platforms, in a shift that echoes similar moves by other entertainment giants.

Under the new structure, Disney is creating content groups for its major film franchises, general entertainment and sports, as well as a distribution arm that will determine the best platform for a movie or television show.

"Our creative teams will concentrate on what they do best -- making world-class, franchise-based content -- while our newly centralized global distribution team will focus on delivering and monetizing that content in the most optimal way across all platforms, Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek said in a statement.

The new alignment pushes Disney's streaming platforms, including Disney+ and Hulu, even closer to the center of the company. The various programming arms, including movie and television studios, will be focusing their efforts on feeding those streaming services, not just movie theaters and TV networks.

Disney is the latest entertainment giant to attempt to reorient its businesses to separate decisions about what content is being made from which platform is best suited to run them. Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal has restructured much of its content business with this goal in mind and AT&T's WarnerMedia is also centralizing its creative operations. Both those companies are also giving priority to their new streaming services, Peacock and HBO Max, respectively.

The current heads of Disney's studio division, Alan Horn and Alan Bergman, will oversee the movie content arm. Peter Rice, who oversees TV production for Disney, will become chairman of general entertainment content, while ESPN head Jimmy Pitaro will head the sports unit.

The distribution and business side of Disney's operations -- covering areas such as sales, advertising and technology -- will be overseen by Kareen Daniel, who most recently was president of consumer products, games and publishing. The heads of the content units and Mr. Daniel will all report to Mr. Chapek.

A Disney veteran, Mr. Daniel has also had stints in Disney's strategy and business development unit and its motion picture distribution business.

Mr. Chapek said Mr. Daniels is "an exceptionally talented, innovative and forward-looking leader, with a strong track record for developing and implementing successful global content distribution and commercialization strategies."

Rebecca Campbell, who was brought in to oversee Disney+ last May, will continue in that role but now reports to Mr. Daniel. She will also head international operations and report to Mr. Chapek on that front.

Disney Chairman and former Chief Executive Robert Iger will continue to have an active role in content creation, the company said.

The changes at Disney come as the entertainment industry continues to be slammed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Disney, in particular, has been hit hard as its Disneyland theme park in Southern California is still closed and attendance at parks that have reopened hasn't returned to normal. In addition, many movie theaters around the nation remain closed or at limited capacity.

Streaming services have been among the bright spots for Disney and other media companies during the coronavirus crisis, as consumers who are working from home and skipping vacations watch more content. Disney+, which said in August it had over 60 million subscribers world-wide, has been a big beneficiary of the pandemic's streaming surge.

Like other movie producers, Disney has moved some big releases to its own platforms. It shifted its big summer release "Mulan" to Disney+ at aan extra charge of $30. Last week, the company said it was shifting the Pixar release "Soul" to Disney+ as well.

Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-12-20 1722ET