Disney Struggles To Right ABC, Put Fun Back In Its Bottom Line Profit has been on a slide for four years amid ills at network, parks' slump.(A)(COMPANY IN THE NEWS)

Byline: STEVE WATKINS

Michael Eisner was once held up as one of the nation's best and brightest CEOs. But in recent years, Walt Disney's results were more like something out of a scary movie than a fairy tale.

He took the helm at Disney in 1984 and charged ahead for 14 years, scoring double-digit earnings growth in eight of the 11 years up to 1998.

But 1997 was the high-water mark. Net income has fallen for four straight years, while sales have gone flat. Disney's shares peaked at 43.87 in May 2000 and have traded recently near 23.

"Their basic franchises are under attack," said Lynn Yturri of the One Group Equity Income Fund, which owns Disney shares.

Disney used to rule the animation world. Now DreamWorks SKG has made inroads. That hurts in that one of DreamWorks' principals, Jeffrey Katzenberg, left Disney in an ugly split in 1994.

Likewise, theme parks face more competition than ever -- and flagging tourism. And ABC is struggling in the always-tough TV business. Even ESPN has come under attack from Fox Sports.