Ben Sherwood

The mission of the Disney|ABC Television Group is to tell engaging stories, whether in live-action or animated TV series, movies or news programs, that people around the world can enjoy on whatever screen they want. As part of The Walt Disney Company, Disney|ABC shares its parent’s commitment to marrying storytelling and innovation.

Ben Sherwood has been involved in the creation of news, nonfiction and fiction stories his entire career, which he started as a journalist. He joined ABC News in 1989 and then spent several years at NBC News before returning to ABC. He was appointed president of ABC News in 2010. In 2014, it was announced that he would be succeeding Anne Sweeney as co-chair of Disney Media Networks (the other co-chair is John Skipper, the president of ESPN) and president of Disney|ABC Television Group.

As such, Sherwood is responsible for ABC Studios, the ABC Owned Television Stations Group, the ABC Television Network, Disney Channels Worldwide, the U.S. cable network Freeform (formerly ABC Family), Disney|ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution and Disney Media Distribution (DMD), as well as Disney’s equity interests in A+E Networks and Hulu.

Sherwood has already made his mark on ABC Entertainment by appointing Channing Dungey as its president and Patrick Moran as president of ABC Studios. The studio produces primarily for the ABC network with shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, Quantico and Black-ish, but also for other networks, with Criminal Minds, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders and Code Black for CBS; and through a partnership with Marvel, Daredevil and Jessica Jones for Netflix. DMD sells many of these shows and scores of others, including programming from ABC News, children’s fare and specials like the annual Academy Awards show.

Disney Channels Worldwide, which includes the Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, Disney Cinemagic, Hungama and Radio Disney brands, has been thrilling children around the globe with shows like Austin & Ally, Jessie, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Girl Meets World, movie franchises like Descendants, and series starring the Disney Princesses, the most recent of which is Elena of Avalor. Disney Channels Worldwide has also been a leader in experimenting with innovative ways of scheduling shows, often offering episodes online or on apps before their premiere on linear channels. And Disney|ABC, a pioneer in providing TV episodes for sale on iTunes more than ten years ago, and then streaming full episodes on its websites, has since launched a series of successful WATCH apps.

Sherwood has firsthand experience in the craft of storytelling as a published author of essays, a nonfiction book and two novels, one of which was adapted into the feature film Charlie St. Cloud. He oversees teams around the world that are constantly looking for talent and ideas that can travel. He talks to World Screen about the importance of international markets and of making entertainment and news content available on all platforms.

WS: What considerations went into putting together the fall schedule, and what is your vision for prime-time entertainment on ABC?
SHERWOOD: Our vision, shared by Channing Dungey [the president of ABC Entertainment], is to make popular, high-quality entertainment that reaches both women and men and can travel around the world. You will see an even sharper focus on big bets, big stars, and big writers and producers, as well as a renewed focus on what the ABC brand means for audiences in the U.S.

WS: What is your strategy for ABC Studios?
SHERWOOD: ABC Studios, with Patrick Moran at the helm, is one of our secret weapons for winning the future of television. The studio has a terrific track record of developing and building hits that are popular not just in the U.S. but across the globe. Our aim is to produce even more high-quality emotional entertainment, primarily for ABC and also for other outlets that make sense, like streaming services or other networks.

WS: How does Disney Media Distribution (DMD) work with the studio and the network during the greenlighting process of shows?
SHERWOOD: We are very aware of the critical role of the international audience in the global success of our shows. We think carefully about how a show will travel around the world. DMD works very closely with the network and with our ABC Studios and Freeform executives and all producers in the Disney television family throughout the development process, and offers input from all corners of the world about market intelligence along with relevant feedback from our biggest buyers. Our goal is to share active, broad, ongoing feedback on the competitive international TV and media landscape as we develop future programs. One of our priorities has been to think about the entire life cycle of a show, from its inception here in the U.S. all the way to its airing from Laos to Liechtenstein and every place in between.

It’s been my privilege, over the last two years in my new role, to travel to Europe and Asia, and early next year I’ll be going to Latin America. I feel very fortunate to work with leaders like Diego Lerner who leads Europe [plus Middle East and Africa], Paul Candland in Asia, Claudio Chiaromonte in Latin America, Marina Jigalova-Ozkan in Russia and Stanley Cheung in China. We have great teams driving our businesses around the world. My travel partner in many of these adventures, from the Tokyo fish market to the cobblestone streets of London to the beer halls of Germany, has been Ben Pyne [the president of global distribution at Disney Media Networks]. He is unsurpassed in his mastery of international distribution and spearheads the Disney|ABC Television Group’s international efforts. I’m new to this role, but I am lucky to work with the best in the business as we try to sell our content around the world.

WS: How important is international program development becoming?
SHERWOOD: International is critically important to our long-term success. And we all see that while many people talk about building walls and drawing borders, we think it’s more important than ever for our shows to travel freely everywhere and find audiences everywhere. So we are extremely engaged in working with our colleagues around the world to find compelling stories developed locally, in local languages, with local talent. Our Latin American team has been at the forefront of producing very successful local versions of our U.S. series for more than a decade. In recent years, they have branched out and are developing original series like Hasta que te Conocí, based on the life of Mexican singer Juan Gabriel, may he rest in peace, which aired on September 11 on Telemundo in the U.S. and has also aired on TV Azteca in Mexico. We’ve also got the upcoming original biopic El César, based on the life of professional boxer Julio César Chávez, which started production in September. We’re seeing growth in local adaptations of our series and formats in a number of territories, especially in Asia, with local versions in development of Criminal Minds in Korea and Revenge in China. On the unscripted side, The Amazing Race is going strong with over a dozen local versions around the world. One more thing to note—in her new role as managing director of international content and talent, Keli Lee is working closely with local DMD teams to identify local talent on and off screen and nurture new partner opportunities to develop local content and feed into the U.S. pipeline. Keli was vital in finding and bringing us the amazing Priyanka Chopra, the star of Quantico. Keli is based in London and is traveling the world looking for great talent, great formats and great producers.

WS: How is Disney|ABC offering programming on multiple platforms?
SHERWOOD: We want to be everywhere on every platform. Across our five networks, our streaming apps have been downloaded more than 50 million times over 40 different devices. And on average, our viewers are watching approximately 30 million hours of content a month. That’s a critical part of our core business, and we want to take these initiatives to the next level. We’re always reviewing our programming strategies across all platforms.

WS: What are you learning about what viewers are watching on linear networks, online, or on apps?
SHERWOOD: Most of our viewers are truly multiplatform. While they still prefer to watch traditional live television on a TV set, they want to have the ability to enjoy our content on their own schedules, on their DVR or on demand, as well as on our live linear schedule. We know that they want television in their homes, at work, at the beach and in their pocket. They want our content all the time, everywhere. so we’re making it available to them. Not surprisingly, the audience for our digital platforms skews a bit younger than linear, but in terms of what people are watching, digital viewership mirrors linear—what’s popular on the air tends to be most popular as well on digital. As for viewing trends, unlike the U.S., where pay TV is so widely adopted, international penetration varies greatly and, as a result, we see quite a bit of variation in content viewership across regions and countries. As VOD growth is happening all over the world, the adoption rate of these services varies based on content offerings and technology enablement. In some territories, we see tremendous opportunity in mobile video given the focus on personal entertainment. At the end of the day, we know that across the world time shifting and play shifting, in terms of video consumption, are definitely growing, but we also believe that the traditional broadcast business in most territories remains strong. As a result of all the new ways consumers are able to view content, we are encouraged to see that overall consumption of video on all platforms is on the rise.

WS: What is Disney|ABC’s relationship with Netflix and other OTT providers? What considerations go into determining how to package programming and channels for OTT services?
SHERWOOD: We have a long, productive and profitable relationship with Netflix and with other OTT providers. We always seek to maximize the value of our content when we take it out to the market. We have a diverse set of partners in this licensing area, from traditional cable and satellite to SVOD platforms to a variety of over-the-top offerings, all the way to Apple’s iTunes and Google Play. These partners have great interest in content from across the Disney|ABC Television Group, and we are constantly evaluating how to sell this content, window to window, in order to maximize the overall value of the entire television ecosystem. We also are very mindful of making deals that give us the ability to be flexible, to change with consumer behavior and with shifts in the overall television ecosystem. We don’t make long-term deals. We like to keep our options open because we know that change is happening at a faster and faster rate. We also know that the world is not a monolithic television market. We recognize that every platform is different territory by territory; what works in the U.K. may be very different from what works in Brazil. In each case, we look closely at market dynamics, as well as the uniqueness of each country and each audience, to determine the best plan for our content and the related windowing strategy.

WS: When viewers have so many options for how to enjoy programming, what is the role of a broadcast network?
SHERWOOD: We love broadcast television. It’s a great business in the U.S. and in many countries and territories around the world. In the U.S., ABC is traditionally the first window for our programming, and it often drives great success, buzz and enthusiasm. Broadcast is still by far the best and most efficient way to reach the biggest audiences simultaneously. For instance, the Oscars this year on ABC reached more than 69 million people during the telecast, and let’s not forget it’s often the programming that premieres on broadcast that drives a lot of usage on all of the other platforms.

WS: Tell us about the rebrand of ABC Family as Freeform. What type of programming is Freeform offering, and how is it meeting the challenge of reaching millennials?
SHERWOOD: We’re very encouraged by the changes that have been made at Freeform. We changed the name to signal more clearly to our existing audience, and to new potential viewers, what the service stands for. We believe that the best audience for Freeform is young adults between their first kiss and their first kid, as Tom Ascheim, the president of Freeform, likes to say. Those consumers are typically neither children nor parents, and thus our old brand name ABC Family didn’t speak clearly to their lives or their interests. We believe that Freeform works better as a name and a brand and a message, speaking to the central journey of this audience, the ever-lengthening transition between childhood and adulthood. The early results [of the rebrand] are quite encouraging. Our most recent research suggests that the audience is giving a much more favorable response in terms of attributes of the brand, like “fresh,” “bold,” “innovative,” “modern,” “cool” and “made for me.” Shadowhunters was the first show to launch after the rebrand, and it was our second-highest-rated premiere ever and one of the top-rated shows. We are very encouraged by this, but we know we also have a lot of work to do to capture this growing and important audience.

We also know that these young audiences are consuming content in all kinds of different ways, so Freeform is making a big commitment to showcasing content in all the ways that young viewers want to consume it. All our new shows will be available not only on TV but also stacked and binge-watchable in the Freeform app. I think you’re going to see that Freeform will lead the way for us in truly serving the multiplatform young viewer.

WS: Disney has doubled its investment in VICE Media to some $400 million. Do you foresee Disney| ABC outlets working with VICE on programming?
SHERWOOD: I could absolutely see Disney|ABC working with VICE on the right project. VICE is a big part of our A+E Networks portfolio with the new cable channel VICELAND, which is just getting started. ESPN recently announced that VICE is going to be producing new, original sports series that will air exclusively on ESPN’s TV, digital and mobile outlets, while select documentaries from ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 will also air on VICELAND. We are open to great ideas, and we’ve got good relationships with VICE. We’re excited about what they are doing and what we could do together. We don’t have anything in the works yet, but it’s definitely in the realm of the possible.

WS: Are you also looking at some of the talent from Maker Studios that can cross over into long-form storytelling for any of the Disney|ABC outlets?
SHERWOOD: Absolutely, we are always on the hunt for great talent, and Maker is most definitely on our radar. Disney XD recently partnered with Maker to identify and develop YouTube creators who could contribute original short-form programming to Disney XD’s digital platforms.

WS: Because viewers are watching programming in so many different ways, are the various Disney|ABC assets experimenting with new ways of premiering or offering new episodes of series?
SHERWOOD: We are always looking for the most creative ways to premiere new episodes, to bring in viewers and to engage and excite our fans. Disney Channels regularly make their biggest programming events available on all digital platforms before they air on the linear channel; they consistently drive ratings with this strategy. This past July, we previewed the highly anticipated new series Elena of Avalor on our Disney Channel and Disney Junior apps. Going back as far as 2013, Disney Channel put nine episodes of Sheriff Callie’s Wild West on the network app. It generated 23 million views, and the show was still number one in the ratings with its linear premiere. More recently, we aired Disney Channel’s Adventures in Babysitting [on the Disney Channel app] a week before its linear premiere, which then went on to become the number one cable TV telecast among kids and tweens and cable’s number one movie in total viewers in 2016. We’ve done the same thing at Freeform, where we premiered their summer series online this year to generate buzz for the linear airing.

WS: You mentioned Elena of Avalor; tell us more about its international rollout.
SHERWOOD: We are incredibly excited and proud of Princess Elena, Disney’s first Latina princess. We have a very strong belief in Elena’s potential, and she will launch broadly and in the same timeframe in 163 countries in 34 languages around the world. The program has been very well received in the U.S., becoming America’s number one program among all kid-targeted TV networks in total viewers, kids 2 to 11 and also adults 18 to 49. In all the telecasts to date, Elena of Avalor has reached more than 37 million total viewers and has also driven a lot of engagement—more than 13 million viewers on our Disney Channel and Disney Junior apps. The majority of the other Disney Channels around the world are going to launch Elena in October and November, the key rating period in many countries. We believe most will follow our strategy of presenting it in two consecutive episodes to introduce the character and engage viewers in her story.

WS: What growth opportunities do you see for Disney’s international channel business?
SHERWOOD: Now that Disney Channel has more than 116 channels available in over 503 million homes around the world, we believe it is very well positioned for growth on new platforms and in new content formats. We’ve seen encouraging momentum as we create new offerings on mobile platforms, especially in Asia. As these new platforms emerge, we also want to find formats and short-form content that will fit even better with mobile-first offerings. We’re also focusing on the strategic development of local content like Violetta and Soy Luna that originated in Latin America but have been broadcast around the world. We’re also looking at more local productions like Evermoor and The Lodge from Europe. We continue to believe that the right mix of local and global content makes our Disney Channel business successful around the world. We see Southeast Asia and Africa as very interesting opportunities for our Disney Channels Worldwide business, as we hope to build on the relationships we already have with Astro [in Malaysia], MNC TV [in Indonesia] and MultiChoice [in Africa].