Disney to Drop Buena Vista Brand Name, People Say (Update1)

April 25 (Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney Co., the second-largest U.S. media company, will change the name of its Buena Vista entertainment divisions to Disney within weeks, people involved in the plans said.

Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger is seeking to simplify the company's marketing and reduce costs by narrowing most brand names to Disney, ABC and ESPN. In February, Iger changed Touchstone Television production company to ABC Television Studio and Buena Vista Games became Disney Interactive Studios.

``They are trying to leverage the Disney brand as much as possible and not having all these disparate names,'' said Tuna Amobi, a New York-based analyst with Standard & Poor's. He rates Disney a ``strong buy.''

Buena Vista was the third-largest domestic film distributor in 2006 with $1.52 billion in box-office sales from Disney movies such as ``Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'' and ``Cars.'' The name dates from 1953 when Walt Disney and his brother Roy O. Disney founded an in-house operation to sell the company's live-action and animated films to cinema owners.

Before Buena Vista, Disney's pictures were distributed by Columbia Pictures, United Artists and RKO Radio Pictures.

Named for the Burbank, California, street where the studios and corporate headquarters are located, Buena Vista became Disney's name for divisions such as its music group and software publisher.

The change affects Buena Vista Distribution and Buena Vista Home Entertainment, said the people, who declined to be named because the change hasn't been announced.

Pixar, Miramax Remain

``We are taking a look at our organizational branding so it aligns to the company's new focus on our major brands,'' Disney Studios spokeswoman Heidi Trotta said in a statement.

The company will continue to use the Touchstone, Miramax and Pixar film studio names.

Shares of Disney climbed 41 cents to $35.32 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have risen 3.1 percent this year.

Iger outlined his strategy at an analyst meeting in February at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Disney plans to rename a number of its businesses to ``focus more on brands and build brand strength,'' according to a transcript of Iger's speech posted on Disney's Web site.

``With Disney we think we have a durable brand that gives us a competitive advantage,'' Iger said at the meeting. ``We're going to aim to make that brand more durable, more competitive and more value-generating on a global basis.''

Hyperion books may also be given the Disney name, said Jim Hill, author of a Web log that follows Disney.

Les Moonves, the CEO of New York-based CBS Corp., is taking a similar approach. Since CBS and Viacom Inc. split in January 2006, Moonves has renamed the company's television production studio, outdoor advertising unit and radio stations, which had three different names, to CBS.

Even though Disney has used the Buena Vista moniker for a half-century, few people associate the name with the company, Amobi said.

``I guarantee millions of people don't know that it's owned by Disney,'' said Amobi. ``Outside of the industry, it's not widely known.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Andy Fixmer in Los Angeles at afixmer@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Emma Moody at emoody@bloomberg.net.