Disney’s TV content engines had been revving high under Peter Rice and Dana Walden’s leadership, which makes Rice’s abrupt dismissal all the more head-spinning for industry insiders
The soft-spoken British executive, who was ousted on Wednesday from the top TV job at Disney, has a reputation for quietly cultivating relationships with producers and directors such as Baz Luhrmann and Danny Boyle. In the 2000s, he leveraged those ties to boost the performance of Fox Searchlight Pictures with hits such as “Moulin Rouge!” and “Slumdog Millionaire.” More often than not, Rice let the directors, producers and actors take the bows.
In Walden, Chapek saw an executive who was easily adapting to the Disney system, working the levers of its production, marketing and distribution machine to effectively turn out glossy and prestigious shows for Hulu, ABC, Freeform and the new Onyx Collective banner. Disney insiders said Chapek, who took the CEO reins from Bob Iger in February 2020, felt Rice was unhappy with the massive reorganization of TV operations that Chapek implemented in October 2020.
ABC News under Godwin has in recent weeks made important strides: “Good Morning America” has in the past five weeksa big deal in the scorched-earth battle of morning TV. And “This Week,” the George Stephanopoulos Sunday public affairs show has been performing strongly in the ratings. ABC News has yet to unveil new concepts in streaming under Godwin, though she recently hired a new executive, Reena Mehta, from HBO Max ,to oversee a digital push.
Rice’s sudden departure will undoubtedly shakeup the status quote within Disney TV. Walden’s elevation puts her above two executives with whom she’s long been peers: FX Networks president John Landgraf and National Geographic Worldwide chief Courteney Monroe. Landgraf is one of the most highly regarded and erudite executives in the entertainment industry. Monroe has earned much praise for her turnaround of Nat Geo’s TV content strategy since she took the helm of the group in 2015.
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