Dana Walden is in the running to be Bob Iger’s successor as Disney CEO, according to people familiar with the matter. If she is chosen, Walden would be the first female CEO of Disney in its 100-year history.
File this under the worst-kept secret in Hollywood. To the surprise of absolutely no one, uberproducer Ryan Murphy is racing back to his old stomping grounds, and in the process of re-joining longtime collaborator Dana Walden under a new overall deal at Disney. The decision to reunite with Walden — now the co-chairman of Disney Entertainment — comes five years after Murphy left 20th Century Fox TV for a rich deal at Netflix that was reportedly valued at the time at $250 million-$300 million.
The executive is tasked with keeping the company a creative powerhouse while avoiding the leadership clashes that felled her former boss, Peter Rice.
Dana Walden is ready for this moment. On the heels of a shocking Hollywood management shake-up at Disney, the newly promoted chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content now oversees a massive portfolio that includes the programming arms of Hulu, FX, ABC, Freeform, Nat Geo, 20th Century Television, ABC Signature and more. Walden’s ascent at Disney is not a surprise, but the sudden departure of her predecessor and longtime boss, Peter Rice, surely was when the news surfaced on June 9 that Disney CEO Bob Chapek had fired him.
In an industry where many executives are quick to tout their own accomplishments, Peter Rice was known for turning down opportunities to take a public victory lap. The soft-spoken British executive, who was ousted on Wednesday from the top TV job at Disney, has a reputation for quietly cultivating relationships with producers and directors. On Thursday, he was formally replaced by his top lieutenant, Walt Disney Television entertainment chairman Dana Walden. By all accounts, Rice didn’t see it coming — at all. He was blindsided as he learned of his fate in what was described by a source as a conversation with Disney CEO Bob Chapek that lasted less than 10 minutes.
In a shocking turn of events, Peter Rice has been ousted as head of TV content for Disney, to be replaced by his top lieutenant, Dana Walden. The move enhances Walden’s stature as one of the most powerful and prominent executives in the content industry. Within Disney, it elevates Walden over her longtime peer John Landgraf, leader of FX Networks. Walden’s purview includes ABC Entertainment, ABC News, Disney Branded Television, Disney Television Studios, Freeform, FX, Hulu Originals, National Geographic Content and Onyx Collective. She will now report directly to Chapek.
Exclusives
The high-ranking Walt Disney Television chairman received a lifetime achievement award at the tail end of a 45-minute Fireside Chat that featured a wide-ranging discussion.
Top 21st Century Fox television executives Peter Rice, Dana Walden, John Landgraf and Gary E. Knell are officially headed to the Magic Kingdom. The Walt Disney Co. announced that Rice and Walden will come aboard to lead the conglomerate’s non-sports television operations. Rice has been named chairman, Walt Disney Television and co-chair, Disney Media Networks. Walden has been named chairman, Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment Landgraf will serve as Chairman of FX Networks and FX Productions. Knell will serve as chairman of National Geographic Partners.
Fox TV Group chairmen and CEOs Dana Walden and Gary Newman on Thursday outlined more of the vision for “New Fox”, the Fox Broadcast Co. after its sister studio 20th Century Fox TV, along with other key 21st Century Fox assets, move to Disney in the pending acquisition. “We want to be [studios] first choice among the four networks,” Walden said. “We will be the only network to be operating completely independently. It will have the ability to pick up the best shows without any studio agenda.”
Fox Television Group Chairman Dana Walden has bowed out of Amazon’s search process for a leader for its Amazon Studios entertainment arm. Walden had been high on the list of candidates pursued by Amazon after former Amazon Studios chief Roy Price made a hasty exit in November on the heels of sexual harassment allegations.
‘Business As Usual’ At Fox Network, For Now
The Fox network will continue to carry scripted entertainment programming after the anticipated split of the 20th Century Fox studio from its Fox Broadcasting Co. sibling. That was the word from Fox Television Group CEOs Gary Newman and Dana Walden as they gamely fielded questions from reporters about the impact of Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets on the operations of the TV studio and network.
Broadcast “is still a healthy and vibrant business,” said Dana Walden, chair and CEO of Fox TV Group. “It’s still the only place where you can get 5, 10, 15 or 16 million people sharing the same experience.” Walden defended the embattled network business in a wide-ranging discussion at the INTV media conference in Jerusalem today. While acknowledging increasing competition “for talent and viewers” with the streaming giants, she argued that broadcast TV still has a lot of life left in it.
Falco Among NATPE Tartikoff Award Winners
Six honorees will receive their awards at a reception scheduled for Jan. 18 at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach.
Walden Rebuilds Fox Slate, One Hit At A Time
As co-chairman and co-CEO of Fox Television Group, Dana Walden, alongside partner Gary Newman, now oversees both Fox Broadcasting Co. and 20th Century Fox Television, which Walden (who started there in 1992) has run with Newman since 1999. But when she and Newman took over the network last summer, they received a baptism by fire. Aside from Gotham, audiences rejected all of Fox’s new fall shows. Then, hip-hop drama Empire, from Walden’s studio, wiped the slate clean in January, becoming the biggest new series in decades. Walden talks about surviving Fox’s fall to forget and how she’ll capitalize on Empire‘s success.
Why Wall Street Will Watch New Fox Execs
Now that longtime production-studio vets Dana Walden and Gary Newman have been placed over the operations of TV’s iconoclastic Fox network, Wall Street will also be sure to raise an eyebrow. What Newman and Walden will have to demonstrate is an unerring ability to find a home at Fox for concepts developed at the 20th Century Fox production studio, generate the biggest amount of publicity for them on one of the biggest media platforms in the United States and then monetize them more readily at a time when streaming-video players are crying out for content.
Walden, Newman Take Over Fox Broadcasting
Gary Newman and Dana Walden, the long-serving CEOs of production powerhouse 20th Century Fox TV, will take on oversight of Fox Broadcasting in a restructuring that elevates the duo to the post of chairman-CEOs of Fox Television Group. Walden and Newman, who have jointly run the TV studio since late 1999, will continue to steer the 20th Century Fox TV group, which production subsidiaries including Fox TV Studios and Fox 21, in addition to now overseeing all aspects of the Fox broadcast network.
