ABC Entertainment Chief Talks Up Limited Series, Innovative Scheduling

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NEW YORK: Speaking with reporters ahead of its Upfront presentation today, Paul Lee, ABC Entertainment Group’s president, discussed the importance of limited-run series and innovative scheduling for its upcoming season, which reflects "a combination of stability and out-and-out ambition."

Lee noted that "signature series" like Castle, Grey’s Anatomy, Modern Family, Scandal and Once Upon a Time, among others, have been kept in the same slots to anchor key nights through the week. With Dancing in the Stars now becoming just two hours a week on Monday nights, Tuesday is opened up for a "pretty aggressive play," Lee said, with "power-packed four-quadrant crowd pleasers" in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the comedies The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife, and then the new Steven Spielberg series Lucky 7 at 10 p.m. Comedies will continue to anchor Wednesdays, Lee said, noting, "broadcast comedies are the best in the world and we’re at the top of the game with The Middle and Modern Family." Thursday will be a "powerful night of empowered women" as the new series Once Upon a Time in Wonderland leads into the returning Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. Fridays remain dedicated to co-viewing, Lee noted, while Sundays are all about "sophisticated, sexy, emotional storytelling," with Once Upon a Time and Revenge, plus a new limited series, Betrayal.

"We’re bringing a lot of innovation to scheduling this year," Lee said, with a strategy to run its original dramas in batches of 12, "taking a gap, and then spring premieres when we bring them back. And we’re going to be putting limited-run series that are built for that gap in between. We’re going to do quality launches throughout the season, away from the clutter of the fall."

Concluding the phone conference, Lee said, "ABC is the number one television brand in America. That’s not something somebody in my job would have cared about or talked about five to ten years ago. But in a fragmented world it is a critical competitive advantage to be the number one 18-to-49 brand and the number one women’s 18-to-49 brand."