The transcript of the week-old interview all this speculation is mostly based on is available at:
CNBC Exclusive: CNBC Transcript: Disney CEO Bob Iger Speaks with CNBC’s David Faber on “Squawk Box” Today.
In it Iger floats the possibility of partially (or possibly completely) divesting from Disney's 80% stake in ESPN, selling the cable channels that came with the Fox purchase (FX, Nat Geo, whatever name "the Family channel" goes by these days), and the ABC network and the affiliate stations Disney owns (which for folks unfamiliar with US Broadcasting, ABC is one of the big three American broadcast networks, and while not a very
profitable business for Disney, is quite a major collection of assets to sell with a substantial historical legacy and potentially far reaching implications for the American television industry).
He has evidently backpedaled a bit since the interview, in regard to the possibility of selling ABC. That said the backpedaling has been in the form of assuring ABC employees that he values the content they create and want to see it transition into streaming, particularly the news department, which is probably some assurance to certain people concerned about their continued employment, but by my reading actually suggests the more dramatic news that Disney does not plan to sell ABC, they plan to strip it for parts and sell what's left.
Subsequent coverage has added some speculation that Disney might divest from or restructure their streaming service
in India. Claims that they are considering selling off their streaming services in general seem to arise from some game of telephone played on that bit of news. Seeing as how the stated reason for possibly selling the cable and broadcast assets is that Iger thinks the future is streaming and wants to focus on that part of the business, the possibility of selling that part of the business as well does not seem like speculation borne out by evidence.
In any case the "third of its business" claim presumably has to do with the size of ABC and Disney owned affiliate stations, assuming complete divestment from ESPN when it looks like Disney just wants to lower their stake in it, and some wild speculation about streaming.
I would deem this about 50% real (week old) news and about 50% fake news based on wild speculation and poor critical reading skills. But I might be completely wrong and may have missed something. Don't get your news from randos on the internet.
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