Dana Walden Named Chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content

The Walt Disney Company has named Dana Walden as chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content, succeeding Peter Rice, who is leaving the company.

Walden will lead the company’s general entertainment content engine that creates original entertainment and news programming for Disney’s streaming platforms and its cable and broadcast networks. She will have oversight of ABC Entertainment, ABC News, Disney Branded Television, Disney Television Studios, Freeform, FX, Hulu Originals, National Geographic Content and Onyx Collective.

Walden previously served as chairman of entertainment for Walt Disney Television. She joined Disney in 2019 with the company’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox.

“Dana is a dynamic, collaborative leader and cultural force who in just three years has transformed our television business into a content powerhouse that consistently delivers the entertainment audiences crave,” said Bob Chapek, CEO of The Walt Disney Company. “Her well-earned reputation for championing creative talent and developing programming that truly captures the cultural zeitgeist has resulted in hit after hit, from ABC’s Abbott Elementary and Onyx Collective’s Academy Award-winning Summer of Soul to Hulu originals like Only Murders in the Building, Dopesick, The Dropout and The Kardashians. She and Peter have worked closely together for years to create the best programming in the industry, and I can think of no one better than Dana to lead Disney General Entertainment to even greater heights.”

Her appointment is effective immediately, and she will report directly to Chapek.

“It is an incredible honor to be asked to lead this amazingly talented team—they are truly the absolute best in every respect—and I am grateful to Bob for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Walden said. “Disney General Entertainment’s culture of creative excellence and originality has made us home to many of the most talented creators in the business. I am humbled to lead this team, and I am confident that, together, we will continue to build on the foundation of culture-defining entertainment we have achieved so far.”