16386: Byron Allen Bids—And Bets On—Big Bucks…?

 

MediaPost reported Media Mogul Byron Allen made a $10-billion bid to acquire Walt Disney properties including the ABC TV network, the FX and National Geographic channels, and local TV stations. Hmmm, is Allen banking on acquiring an extra $10 billion soon?

 

Byron Allen Bids $10B For ABC, Other Disney Nets

 

By Karlene Lukovitz

 

Media entrepreneur Byron Allen has made a $10-billion bid to acquire the ABC TV network, the FX and National Geographic channels and local TV stations from Walt Disney, a spokesperson for Allen confirmed.

 

Allen’s Entertainment Studios owns 10 HD television networks, including The Weather Channel, Comedy.TV and several other verticals, and also produces and distributes shows, and sells advertising for 43 broadcast and cable TV programs.

 

Allen’s bid for the Disney assets is reportedly based on an eight-times multiple of estimated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the Disney linear businesses.

 

Disney has also held exploratory discussions with regional TV power Nexstar Media Group, according to multiple reports.

 

Nexstar has not commented on those reports. However, on Wednesday, during a Bank of America Securities conference, Tom Carter, a former Nexstar president who now advises its CEO and board, confirmed that Nexstar is interested in acquisitions, and mentioned Disney as a potential seller. But he added that Nexstar doesn’t know “what Disney wants to do.”

 

Disney, which has reportedly also considered selling a stake in ESPN, did not comment on the reports about Allen or Nexstar specifically, stating instead that while it is “open to considering strategic options for its linear business,” it has not yet made a decision about selling any of those assets.

 

Disney CEO Bob Iger raised the possibility of Disney selling off some networks in a CNBC interview in July.

 

“There clearly is content that they create that is core to Disney, but the distribution model, the business model that forms the underpinning of that business — and that is delivering great profits over the years — is definitely broken, and we have to call it like it is,” he said.

 

“Given the low valuations attached to standalone linear networks, it isn’t clear that there is an accretive move to be made here,” senior research analyst and MoffettNathanson co-founder Michael Nathanson wrote in a note at the time. “Simply exiting bad businesses at any cost might be the price you pay to limit management and investor distractions in the long run.”

 

The stock prices of Nexstar, Tegna and E.W. Scripps, which had all declined since Iger’s remarks, rose on Thursday after the reports of sale discussions.

 

Disney acquired Capital Cities/ABC for $19 billion in 1995, when Michael Eisner was CEO.

 

In addition to its national network, ABC has eight owned and operated regional TV stations and 240 affiliate stations.

 

Nexstar owns 200 stations in 116 markets and the 24-hour cable news channel NewsNation, and would likely have to divest at least some properties in order to stay within federal TV ownership limits if it struck a deal to buy the Disney linear networks. Such a deal might also face opposition from Disney rivals that have affiliate station deals with Nexstar, including Comcast and Paramount.

14422: Channing Dungey Streams To Netflix.

Adweek reported former ABC President Channing Dungey is heading to Netflix, where Shonda Rhimes and Kenya Barris also reside. Hopefully, Roseanne Barr wasn’t pitching any Netflix projects.

Former ABC President Channing Dungey Follows Shonda Rhimes and Kenya Barris to Netflix

She’s the latest to ditch broadcast TV for streaming

By Jason Lynch

Not too long ago, the most coveted TV jobs were in broadcasting. Now they increasingly seem to be at streaming services—specifically, at Netflix.

Former ABC president Channing Dungey is the latest to ditch broadcast for streaming. A month after announcing her exit from ABC, she found her new gig at Netflix, where she will be vp of original content.

Dungey, who is expected to start in February, will report to Cindy Holland, who also has the vp of original content title. She’ll help set the strategic direction for original programming at Netflix, which the company spent $8 billion on in 2018, and will oversee the company’s robust deals with creators like Shonda Rhimes, Kenya Barris, Marti Noxon and Jenji Kohan.

Dungey already has years of experience working with Rhimes and Barris, who she collaborated with at ABC before they each departed for Netflix during the past year. Rhimes’ ABC output included Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy and How to Get Away With Murder while Barris created Black-ish.

“Channing is a creative force whose taste and talent have earned her the admiration of her peers across the industry. She’s a risk taker and ground-breaker, and talent loves working with her. I couldn’t be happier to welcome her to Netflix,” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer, in a statement.

Holland added, “We’re delighted to be adding Channing’s expertise, leadership and deep experience to Netflix, and I look forward to partnering with her as we continue to grow and evolve our global network.”

In her own statement, Dungey said, “I’m drawn to the forward-thinking, risk-taking and creative culture at Netflix and the deeply talented people there, especially Ted and Cindy, with whom I’m excited to partner on setting the strategy for original content. Given that ABC, the place I’ve called home for nearly 15 years, represents the gold standard of traditional broadcast, it feels like the perfect next step for me to join Netflix, the unparalleled leader in streaming. I’m invigorated by the challenges ahead and the opportunity to forge new relationships and excited for the very welcome reunion with incredible talent.”

Last month, Dungey decided to leave ABC, where she had been president of entertainment for the past three years, ahead of the Disney-Fox merger, which is expected to close early in 2019. She was replaced by Karey Burke, who had been head of Freeform original programming development.

In addition to talent like Rhimes, Barris and Ryan Murphy departing broadcast for streaming, broadcast execs are started to migrate there as well. Jennifer Salke, who had been NBC Entertainment president, left in February to run Amazon Studios.

14384: ABC Changing Channels And Channing Dungey.

From Advertising Age…

Channing Dungey out at ABC

By Jeanine Poggi

Channing Dungey is stepping down as president of entertainment at ABC just two years after she assumed the role.

Dungey, who has spent 14 years at the company, will be replaced by Karey Burke, who currently leads original programming at ABC sibling channel Freeform.

This comes as ABC parent Walt Disney nears its acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets, including the cable channels FX Networks and National Geographic. Dungey will remain at ABC until the transaction closes.

Dungey’s departure is the latest executive shuffle inside the Mouse House amid the acquisition. Ben Sherwood, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney/ABC TV Group, will also depart the company once the deal is closed.

When Dungey was appointed in 2016, she became the first African-American to lead a major broadcast TV network. But her tenure has been filled with several controversial decisions, including the cancellation of the Tim Allen comedy “Last Man Standing,” which now airs on Fox; the decision not to air an episode of “Black-ish” that included athletes kneeling and white supremacist violence; and of course, the cancellation of “Roseanne” following a racist tweet by Roseanne Barr. Dungey also oversaw the much-hyped revival of “American Idol,” which averaged just a 1.6 rating last season.

The past two years have also seen the departure of showrunner Shonda Rhimes, whose shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “How to Get Away With Murder” own the Thursday night block, and “Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris, to Netflix.

ABC is in last place among the Big Four broadcasters in the commercial ratings in the three days after a show airs, an industry standard known as C3. The network is averaging a 1.0 rating in the key 18-49 demographic, trailing Fox, which is averaging a 2.0, NBC with a 1.9 and CBS with a 1.2. ABC is down 18 percent year-over-year and has lost one-third of its gross ratings points in the last two seasons.

Contributing: Anthony Crupi

13361: Changing Channels With Channing.

From Adweek…

ABC’s New President Is Making History, and She’s Focused on Making Waves This Fall

Channing Dungey on her first 7 months

By Jason Lynch

The year 2016 has been a whirlwind for Channing Dungey, who was promoted to ABC Entertainment president in February, succeeding Paul Lee. Thrust into the job as pilot season was in full swing, Dungey responded by fielding a new lineup for the 2016-17 season that includes two of the most acclaimed new fall shows, Designated Survivor and Speechless, which she hopes will jolt ABC out of fourth place in the 18-49 demo. As she put the finishing touches on the new season, Dungey sat down with Adweek to talk about her first seven months on the job, making history as the first African-American woman to run a broadcast network, and what’s next.

Adweek: You started this job in the midst of pilot season, in February. Have you had a chance to take a breath yet?

Channing Dungey: I feel like you have go through the whole cycle one time in a new role to really feel like you understand all of it. The television business has ebbs and flows, so I did get away for a week with my family and my parents and my sister, to have a little beach vacation. But for the most part, I’ve been really boots on the ground, wanting to take everything in as I go through this first cycle.

What have these seven months on the job been like for you?

They’ve been good. I have a fantastic team of people with whom I work. I’m very excited about that. We had some nice momentum coming off the May sweep. Summer has been very good to us and I am truly happy with the quality of our offerings for the new season. I feel very, very good about our fall slate.

You had been responsible for ABC’s drama development, but not on the comedy side. How have you been able to make the new schedule and shows your own, given the work that had already been done before you came on board?

I was certainly intimately involved in the development of all of the dramas and was part of the advocacy process in getting those picked up. So on that side of the fence, all good. With the comedies, I did not order the pilots, but because we were early enough in the pilot season process, so much goes into making these pilots, and so you really do find yourself very quickly up to your elbows in it. So I can say with great confidence that by the time we were making selections in May, I did feel ownership of the pilots that we’d made, and then I was able to feel really good about those choices.

Designated Survivor was the highlight of your upfront presentation in May. As you go into your first season as head of the network, what does it mean to have a show like this, with a star like Kiefer Sutherland, in your arsenal?

It makes me feel excited and hopeful. Each script is stronger than the last, so I feel positive and optimistic about the future of the show, and that makes me happy.

You had worked under Paul Lee for so long. What was something you learned from him about the job that you’re going to take with you going forward?

I think that Paul set a tone that we were all very much a part of, which was diversity and inclusion, and reflecting America in all of its diversity. In the six years that we worked together, I feel like we transformed the schedule in drama and comedy, all of us together. So that’s a legacy that I am extremely proud of and one that I look forward to carrying forward.

And what’s something that was important for you to bring to the job yourself that maybe wasn’t there before?

I like to try new things and I’m not afraid to try new things, and I want to take those risks when it feels appropriate, so that’s something that I hope I bring to the role.

Advertisers are all about the 18-49 demo. ABC slipped to fourth last season. How do you regain some momentum?

Look, there are a lot of metrics. There are places where we’re a little bit ahead and a little bit behind, which is not to say that we don’t have work to do. I think at the end of the day it’s about the quality of the programming. That’s why I’m feeling so optimistic about where we’re headed, because I feel like we do have the goods. Now the question is getting people to know that they’re there, and show up and see them.

You’re the first woman of color to head up a broadcast network, and currently the only solo female head of a broadcast network. A lot of other people have talked about the importance of that and how groundbreaking it is, but what does it mean to you personally to have this role?

It’s interesting, because of course you don’t go about your life thinking, I’m making history, and things like that. It’s very flattering, and what I think most about it is that if me being in this job opens up a window of opportunity for women—for any woman, or women of color—to come behind me, then that for me is the greatest thing. Because we are all where we are because we stood on someone’s shoulders to get here. So I’m happy that if I’m now paving the way for somebody who, like my almost 4-year-old, that she can look up and say, “Someday I could be a network president,” then that makes me feel good.

You were thrown into this midstream, but once you are able to focus more on long-term strategy, what are your plans for the network?

The interesting conversation for all of us right now is, we live in a universe in a broadcast world where you do still have to pay close attention to what’s happening on your linear platform, but it’s also a multiplatform universe. So in terms of balancing various different needs and thinking about what the best way is to do that and still serve the consumers in the best way, that’s the biggest ongoing conversation.

13162: ABC’s Of Diversity.

Adweek reported ABC President Ben Sherwood declared his network created “all-inclusive” programming to reflect its diverse audience; plus, ABC has worked to bring diversity to its leadership. Does the network’s commitment to inclusiveness extend to its advertising agencies?

ABC’s Ben Sherwood Says Network’s ‘All-Inclusive’ Programming Reflects Its Diverse Audience

Calls Shonda Rhimes ‘Our Elvis’ at Vegas conference

By Chris Ariens

Ben Sherwood says ABC’s programming reflects diversity not simply because it’s good business to do so but “because it’s right.”

Sherwood, the president of the Disney-ABC TV group, was the keynote speaker today at the opening of the 2016 NAB Show in Las Vegas and then took part in a Q&A with Gordon Smith, the president of NAB and a former Oregon Senator. ABC’s new entertainment president, Channing Dungey, was in the front row, seated next to Rebecca Campbell, the head of the ABC owned TV stations group.

“My predecessor, Anne Sweeney, and [former ABC entertainment president] Paul Lee set in motion choices that were based upon decisions that reflect our audience,” said Sherwood, who himself is considered a potential successor to Bob Iger as CEO of Disney. “And now with Channing Dungey, you’ll see that commitment is even greater.”

ABC dominates Thursday nights with dramas produced by Shonda Rhimes (whom Sherwood called “our Elvis” in a nod to Vegas) and has a string of family comedies featuring African-Americans, Asian-Americans and even one starring a gay teenager.

“We are all-inclusive,” Sherwood said. “In a divided nation, we speak to everyone, and our content needs to reflect that.”

Smith asked Sherwood if he bought the notion that this is still a golden age of television.

“Every era wants to have its golden age, and I think we’re in a golden moment for TV,” Sherwood said. “What is unusual about this moment is not about the talent that is making it but the technology that is used to tell a story and distribute it widely. As a democrat with a small d, I’m a big fan of that.”

When Smith asked Sherwood if he had any advice for the ABC affiliates in the room, Sherwood said, “That feels like a trick question. As a recovering journalist [Sherwood is the former president of ABC News], I would never be so presumptuous to wear the hat of our affiliate leaders.”

“The one thing I worry about the most is we should never take for granted that the viewer or consumer or customer of today is the viewer or consumer or customer of tomorrow,” Sherwood said, “and I would exhort our affiliate friends to do that as well. We’re very much aligned here.”

Sherwood is meeting behind closed doors with ABC affiliates this afternoon in Las Vegas.

13080: Leading In The Black.

Adweek reported on two Black History Month moments:

1. Channing Dungey was named President of ABC, becoming the first Black woman to lead a broadcast network, according to Adweek. Although doesn’t BET Chairman and CEO Debra L. Lee qualify as a Black woman leading a broadcast network?

2. Michael Houston was named Global President of Grey, promoted from his role as CEO of Grey North America. No word if the agency will change its name from Grey to Black.

12887: AWXII Banner Bullshit.

One more note on Advertising Week XII. The banner above stated ABC takes targeting seriously. The advertising industry, not so much.

12451: Tweet By An Asshat.

Based on this scenario, ABC needs to review the ABCs of engaging on Twitter.