The results for the quarter resulted in a 2.5% gain in the company’s shares.  The results reassured investors, some of whom had been nervous about economic pressures depressing consumer spending, a revenue miss in the company’s May results, and reports of higher costs at ESPN, among other issues.  Disney has reported steady gains quarter after quarter under Chief Executive Bob Iger.

Disney made a recent deal with the National Football League to keep “Monday Night Football” on ESPN through 2021 at a cost of about $1.9 billion a year.  The deal is viewed as expensive but Disney defended the agreement on the terms that it provided viewers and advertisers with the long-term certainty of quality content and expanded digital rights.

Disney plans to replace NBA games with college basketball and other live sports programming in response to the NBA labor dispute and expects that any decrease in ad dollars will be offset by not having to pay rights fees for NBA games.  Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo said, “We remain hopeful that there will be a quick resolution to the NBA situation.  However, our broad portfolio of rights will enable us to effectively program ESPN without the NBA.”

Quarterly results were solid across the company.  The parks and resorts group reported an 11% revenue increase, to $3.1 billion.  The media networks unit posted a 9% gain in revenue, to $4.8 billion.  The studio and entertainment division saw revenue slide 8% to just under $1.46 billion.  Revenue for the company jumped 7% to $10.43 billion and net income for the quarter rose 30% to $1.1 billion.

The original video series will be produced by Disney and distributed on a co-branded channel on Disney.com and YouTube.  Amateur video culled from the torrent uploaded to YouTube will also be included on the channel.

James A. Pitaro, co-president of Disney Interactive, said, “It’s imperative to go where our audience is.”  He also state that the goal is to “bring Disney’s legacy of storytelling to a new generation of families and Disney enthusiasts on the platforms they prefer.”

Mr. Pitaro, part of a new leadership team at the division, is under pressure to create Web videos that can be monetized quickly.  Disney Interactive has lost over $300 million in the last four quarters and Disney.com’s traffic has been dropping at an alarming rate.  Unique visitors to the website totaled 12.7 million in September, down from 17.9 million in June.

YouTube is hoping to compete with cable television for ad dollars by adding more professional videos to the website.  Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s global head for content partnerships, commented, “It’s an acknowledgment that we want to work with the best brands and, yes, we expect this partnership to attract new advertisers.”

YouTube walks a careful line when it comes to attracting children to become viewers on the website.  There is no age requirement to access the website but individuals are supposed to be at least 13 years old to register an account.  The content created with Disney is seen as good way to get kid-friendly content on the website as the company is currently locked in a legal battle with Viacom, which owns Nickelodeon and keeps its videos off YouTube.

This partnership follows an announcement made by YouTube in October that the company planned to create dozens of channels featuring comedians, sports stars, musicians, and other entertainers.  Cash advances are being offered to prospective producers, according to people knowledgeable of the plan but not authorized to speak publicly.  The investments signify Google’s belief that the Internet is the third phase of the television business, after network TV and cable TV, and its dedication to being a leader in the industry.

Disney agreed to pay about $300 million for their stake in the channel.  UTH Russia, a fast-growing media company, will remain majority owner of the station.  Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, said, “We had a toehold, but this gives us an important foothold.  We can now grow more robustly.”

The Disney Channel is crucial to the Walt Disney Company’s strategy for foreign expansion.  Disney typically focuses on introducing the channel first when pursuing new markets, in order to deliver its brand directly to people’s homes. Then it uses the channel to sell theme park vacations and merchandise.

The Russian market is difficult to enter for many companies because of bureaucratic hurdles and restrictions placed on foreign media.  Disney previously attempted to secure distribution for a broadcast Disney Channel in 2008 with a tentative partnership with Russian media company Media-One Holdings Limited, but the government blocked that deal.

According to ratings agency TNS Russia, Disney will be the second foreign channel to be broadcast nationwide in Russia.  The other station is MTV.  The channel will be introduced by Disney and UTH sometime next year.  Sources say that the channel will include advertising and feature signature Disney shows such as “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” along with programming created in Russia.

In 2007, 34% of Russians living in cities with more than 100,000 people subscribed to cable packages that included at least one “thematic” channel like the one Disney is offering. By April 2011, that number had increased to 60%.  The growth of ticket sales there for Disney movies is also a good omen for the deal. “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” earned $64 million in Russia over the summer; in 2007 “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” earned $30 million.