Disney-ABC TV Group Restructure

BURBANK: ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios will be managed together under the ABC Entertainment Group, to be led by Stephen McPherson, as part of a restructure at Disney-ABC Television Group.

The ABC Entertainment Group is tasked with primarily developing and producing content for ABC, but will look at outside opportunities "when appropriate."

The move is an attempt to "streamline the creative process," a press release from the company said today. At ABC Studios, McPherson takes over from Mark Pedowitz, who has been named a senior advisor to the Office of the Co-Chairman, working alongside Anne Sweeney, the co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney-ABC Television Group. His mandate will include labor relations and emerging media issues, among others.

"The landscape of our business and an opportunity to coalesce the creative process dictated this change in structure," Sweeney said. "By operating these units in a coordinated fashion, we’ll be able to present the industry with a unified, cohesive creative vision for ABC programming, which will serve us well as we move forward."