Lee replaces
McPherson as ABC chief
ABC Family president named entertainment president
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Jul 28, 2010
There had been rumbles for some months that ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson was on his way out.
The reasons were obvious.
The network just barely tied NBC for third place among adults 18-49 during the recently ended season, and McPherson had clashed with boss Anne Sweeney over just about everything during his six-year tenure.
Still, the timing of McPherson's exit was a surprise. Just days before the former Touchstone president was slated to hype ABC's fall shows on the summer Television Critics Association tour, McPherson tendered his resignation.
"I will be announcing my future plans shortly, which will include a new entrepreneurial venture in the spirits business," said a statement released by McPherson yesterday. "While I will continue with my ongoing wine business, I'll also reveal plans for my involvement in a new media company."
That puts ABC in the awkward position of introducing McPherson's successor, current ABC Family president Paul Lee, at TCA and asking him to promote a slew of programs he knows little about and had nothing to do with bringing to the air.
It's similar to the situation at NBC last summer when Ben Silverman exited shortly before the press tour.
Though the timing of the move was apparently McPherson's call, his exit appears not to be entirely voluntary.
Under his leadership, ABC has been the most mercurial of networks over the past six years.
Its highs have been colossally high – from the hugely successful launches of "Desperate Housewives," "Lost" and "Grey's Anatomy" during McPherson's first year overseeing the network to the runaway success of "Dancing with the Stars," which became the first regularly scheduled program to beat "American Idol" in more than five years last spring.
But the lows have been equally dizzying.
The mismanagement of first-year shows like "Commander in Chief" and "FlashForward," which went from hits to misses in a matter of months; the failure, until the launch of "Modern Family" last fall, to program a hit comedy; the staggering number of just plain bad shows (remember "Cavemen?") greenlighted by a network that was also home to so many good-but-canceled shows (remember "Pushing Daises?").
McPherson was known as a highly talented executive who did a great job marketing and launching new shows, but his temper was legendary and he even engaged in a war of words with NBC's Silverman, who was hired after McPherson's close friend Kevin Reilly was pushed aside by that network.
With Lee, ABC should get a more stable, calming influence. The Oxford-educated Lee launched BBC America, and he's been at ABC Family over the past six years, presiding over a series of hit films and saucy dramas.
At ABC, his challenge will be to find a middle point between the network's many highs and lows under McPherson. He's already facing the daunting task of replacing the ratings points lost with "Lost," which finished its run in May.
"Housewives" and "Grey's" remain two of ABC's top shows, but their ratings have fallen off as they aged. "Family" was a bright spot last fall, but ABC's other returning first-year shows, such as "V" and "Cougar Town," don't have numbers anywhere near as strong.
And critics have largely dismissed this fall's crop of new shows on ABC, with the possible exception of "No Ordinary Family," about a family that is suddenly imbued with superpowers.
McPherson had the good fortune to be left with "Housewives," "Lost" and "Grey's" in development when he inherited the network from Lloyd Braun and Susan Lyne six years ago.
Lee apparently won't be so fortunate. He'll have to start from scratch, as he did at ABC Family.
|
|
|
