Not waiting around to get permission or see the way the winds would blow, Disney (DIS) aggressively pursued the changing media focus toward the Internet and has been rewarded strongly.
After partnering up with Apple iTunes (AAPL), the number of Disney films that have been downloaded the three months offered has rised to 1.3 million, according to ft.com.
One reason that other Hollywood studios haven't joined the Mouse has been because of fears that their large retail distributors like Target (TGT) and Wal-Mart (WMT) may respond in anger to them if they migrate that way in a huge way. But Disney's success will put pressure on them to do something much more aggressive 
then sitting on the sidelines for the most part.
Disney CEO Bog Iger has been a leader in the understanding that there is no choice. He said, “If we don’t put our content on these platforms, which the consumer has obviously embraced, other entities will create content and fill that void.”
This is what happened in the music industry, and will happen again in the film industry, if consumers demands aren't met. There is a vacuum waiting to be filled by those willing to offer video distribution via the Internet.
Concerning the fear of the response of their retail partners, Iger added that “The message that we deliver to our traditional [retail] partners is that the pie is getting bigger.”
Some of the preliminary results confirm this concerning overall television viewing as well. The Internet has been enhancing viewership and encouraging people to consumer even more media. At this point of the game, the fears have been so far unfounded. But even so, this isn't going away and it must be embraced.
With the TV programming that Disney has offer through iTunes, they have sold over 20 million downloads over the last year. DVD sales is set to decline by all indicators, and to simply sit by and watch it happen while consumers say they want options in their media consumption no longer makes any sense.
With Iger saying that through their experience, they've discovered media consumption is increasing, it will be business suicide to not pursue this aggressively. Yet many of the big media companies have only went after this half-heartedly and in a much too cautious and tentative way. It's past time where they need to put everything they can into this. Those that do will be big winners, those that don't will be lurking around the perimeters looking for ways to sue someone while their business declines without interruption.
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