MUMBAI: Disney has unveiled the next leg of its company-wide restructuring, as general entertainment content chairman Peter Rice outlined key changes to the division under his charge.
The move comes a month after Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek announced a strategic reorganization of its media and entertainment businesses.
Rice is ditching the company's long-time legacy structure in order to create centralized groups that will be purely focused on content. It means that departments including marketing, publicity, scheduling and media planning are being consolidated into three distinct groups overseen by Shannon Ryan (Hulu and linear networks), former Twitter head of global creative Jayanta Jenkins (Disney+) and Stephanie Gibbons (FX/FX on Hulu).
Rice has also vastly expanded Disney Channel president Gary Marsh's responsibilities. He will now serve as Disney Branded Television president and chief creative officer. Marsh will now look after all non-theatrical Disney-branded TV content made for tweens, teens and families, live-action, animation and even specials. He will also oversee the Disney+ unscripted content and production teams. Marsh will continue to report to Rice.
National Geographic Content president Courteney Monroe has similarly been given an expanded role. She will add oversight of NatGeo content on Disney+ as well as linear networks. (NatGeo is a one of the centralized channels on Disney+.) Monroe will join Rice's senior leadership team and continue to report to NatGeo partners chairman Gary Knell (who also reports to Rice).
Dana Walden has also been given a new role, she will serve as Walt Disney TV entertainment chairman. Her responsibilities remain largely the same, after the TV stations unit moved over to the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution Group overseen by the recently promoted Kareem Daniel. It is believed that Walden is expected to announce her own restructuring in the coming weeks. Walden looks after Hulu, ABC, Freeform and Disney Television Studios. The latter division includes 20th Television, ABC Signature and Touchstone Television (formerly Fox 21).
"This is a big change to our legacy television structure which was built around linear networks," Rice said in a memo to staff on Tuesday. "But as we look to the future and how consumers choose to watch their programming, this reorganization is an opportunity for us to fully focus on what we do best, making great programming for viewers wherever they choose to watch their favourite shows,” he added.
The restructuring also includes the consolidation of marketing, publicity and media planning. One agency, led by Hulu and general entertainment content marketing president Shannon Ryan will market DGE content distributed to Hulu and the linear networks, which covers content produced by Disney Television Studios, Hulu Originals, ABC Entertainment, Freeform and ABC News.
Jayanta Jenkins, who last worked with Samsung, is joining as Disney+ and general entertainment content marketing head and will oversee a second internal agency that covers marketing, publicity and media planning for DGE-created content for Disney+ and linear networks including Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD and National Geographic.
Ryan will answer to Walden, while Jenkins will report to Marsh and Monroe.
FX’s marketing and publicity team, led by Stephanie Gibbons, will continue to market all FX programming for Hulu and linear.
