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4TH UPDATE 6:30 PM: We’ve just confirmed that ABC Family President Paul Lee will take over as president of ABC Entertainment Group. Just like Steve McPherson, Lee will manage both ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios. “Paul Lee has had incredible success for the last 6 years and has built the ABC Family brand from scratch,” a Disney insider praised. Interesting how this all went down before the Television Critics Association’s upcoming executive sessions this week. 
Lee’s promotion has been imminent because of his success with original programming on the cable channel that “had a fuddy-duddy image” and was saddled with that preacher” — since Pat Robertson still controls several hours of programming time on the channel, the insider noted. “Paul made it a destination place for young and hip people.”
Like McPherson, Lee started his job as president of ABC Family in 2004 when both were appointed as part of a big restructuring across Disney’s TV divisions. Since then, the cable channel has posted six years of consecutive growth and has launched its first runaway hit, The Secret Life of American Teenager. ABC Family’s roster of shows developed under Lee’s watch also includes the channel’s first buzzworthy drama Kyle XY, established series Greek and Make It or Break It, recent additions Pretty Little Liars and Huge and the upcoming Melissa Joan Hart-Joey Lawrence comedy Melissa & Joey. Before joining ABC Family, Lee was CEO and founder of BBC America. Prior to that, Brit Lee spent several years at the BBC, including serving as channel editor for BBC Prime, the company’s 24-hour entertainment channel.
3RD UPDATE 6:20 PM: We just received this statement from Steve McPherson about his future plans:
“I’ll be announcing my future plans shortly which will include a new entrepreneurial venture in the spirits business. While I will continue with my ongoing wine business, I’ll also reveal plans for my involvement in a new media company.”
2ND UPDATE 6:00 PM: Sources are telling the media that ABC Family’s Paul Lee is in as ABC Entertainment topper. He’s certainly well thought-of and his promotion in some capacity has been imminent. But there is no official confirmation of this yet. Meanwhile, here is Disney/ABC’s statement:
Steve McPherson today submitted his resignation as President, ABC Entertainment Group, and the Company accepted. Mr. McPherson said, “I want to thank the wonderful team of individuals who have worked with me throughout my time here and wish them nothing but the best.” A replacement for Mr. McPherson will be announced shortly.
EXCLUSIVE UPDATE 5:10 PM: Steve McPherson has resigned. The ABC Entertainment Group president of both ABC network and ABC Studios has been in the job since January 2009 after overseeing ABC Entertainment since 2004. Our understanding is that there is no immediate replacement. McPherson came back from vacation Monday but did not resume his ABC duties. He is now referrng calls to his newly hired publicist.
He had a little over a year left on his contract which expires in September 2011. His last negotiation was rife with rumors that he would resign if he were not given Touchstone (aka ABC Studios) which was then run by Mark Pedowitz, who found himself ultimately moved aside because of McPherson’s manuevering.
To put it mildly, McPherson has been one of the most controversial network entertainment executives to fill the job. That’s mostly because of his lack of interpersonal skills. It’s no exaggeration to say he has spent a good deal of his tenure pissing off a lot of people, both internally like his boss Anne Sweeney (the president of Disney/ABC Television Group) and externally (like showrunners, agents, managers, etc.) But what kept him in the job was that he was considered creatively talented. However, under his watch, ABC has failed to launch a tentpole drama to succeed the departing Lost or the aging Desperate Housewives. After years of trying, he did find success on the comedy side this past season with Modern Family; however it’s a show produced by 20th Century Fox Television and not by ABC Studios.
EXCLUSIVE 4:45 PM: Deadline has just heard “something’s going on” involving ABC Entertainment Group President Steve McPherson who has been the subject of rumors for many months now. McPherson had been on vacation for several weeks and hasn’t yet returned. More when we get it.
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Is it resigning as in “not gonna work there anymore” or resigning as in “signing another deal”?
Yay. What a douche.
The writing had been on the wall for quite some time. While everyone focused on NBC’s foibles (as well they should), McPherson had only proven to be a tad less inept.
Greenlighting Happy Town, Cavemen and Hank, pretty much showed he has no idea what he’s doing.
Oh and it goes without saying:
“Why can’t you be more like Lloyd Braun?” (c) Frank Costanza
i’m sick of people talking about “…but what about ABC?!”
the only reason ABC is even close to NBC in the finale averages was that NBC has sunday night football and ABC has no huge weekly sporting event — if ABC had an equivalent to sunday night football, it would be a clear cut #3 and possibly challenging for #2
i know ABC has a heck of a lot of work to do to turn the tide but in my opinion, that’s a little unfair
yeah if only abc had a relationship with someone like espn…
Serenity now!!
Well, with the hiring of Jeff Gaspin, NBC seems to be producing some pretty good pilots. The Event got a huge applause at Comic Con. Now, hopefully someone else can help save ABC. FlashForward was awful and V only got good after they brought in Scott Rosenbaum from Chuck.
ABC’s strength clearly relied on ageing shows – Lost, Desp.Housewives, Dancing.Stars, Grey’s, Ext.Makeover. Most of the new shows have come and gone. There has been a glimmer of promise with the new Wednesday comedy block. But dramas? Happy T, V, Flash.For, not so much.
It’s about f&^%ing time, too. He’s been past his pull date for a while now. He is the definition of mercurial and temperamental and has his head buried way far up his own ass.
Example: he told his then ad agency that he wanted a fall promo campaign similar to the one he had from the previous fall. What he didn’t bother to tell them was that he wanted the exact. same. locations. When he didn’t get those, he fired the agency.
See ya, Dude. Have a nice life.
What part of similar did they not understand? Sounds like they screwed the pooch. What’s he supposed to do? Hold their hands?
At least he had a smidgen of pride. Meanwhile, at NBC the incompetent anit-Christ has yet to step down despite universal condemnation by the industry and much of America.
I AM SHOCKED at this news. Hopefully the incoming president will take a second look at picking up the adventures of old christine, I can now see his character with that whole process — after wooing that show for two years and then when it is finally available, he is not interested. oh well one can dream
Too bad. Steve was mercurial but he was straight forward in the dealings I’ve had with him. I hope the new guy doesn’t try to reinvent the network.
Good luck with the next thing, Steve.
Yeah, I kind of felt the same way. My dealings with him were always fine. If you knew what you wanted and could express that he was fine and respectful. He bullied some people, but only if they were scared of him.
On the other hand, he did surround himself with women and weak men who he felt he could bully.
dude should have picked up Ghost Whisperer
I don’t know what “Spirits Business” McPherson is going into, but he sure just raised the spirits of everyone who works at ABC…
I think Steve’s part owner of a winery.
McPherson partnered with Frank Family winery to put out a wine under the Promise label. It’s really fantastic wine that goes for $250 a bottle, but it’s low output at around 900 cases if I remember correctly, so he might have something else in the works that I am aware of.
FWIW, McPerson did something really smart by partnering with Frank Family, one of the most highly regarded wineries in the Napa Valley, and that is he used grapes from their Howell Mountain vineyard, I think it’s 4 acres of grapes on that vineyard, and relied on the expertise of Frank Family to produce the end product. I have a few bottles and it’s simply outstanding.
ding dong the dick is dead
LOL my sentiments exactly. what a complete asshole. SO happy he’s gone. If I were to detail here the idiocy of his notes regarding a show we had on the air, I would be targeted by his nasty temper. And I happen to like my job.
What this really means is the new fall lineup is crap. Steve stopped taking chances and that’s never a good thing.
I agree on this year’s development. The new shows are going to blow up in ABC’s face.
Steve was one of the few talented executives out there but here was his big flaw:
He terrified his underlings to the point they were afraid to ask him questions. They frequently guessed what Steve wanted without ever talking to him. Then these underlings would pass these guesses onto ABC showrunners, telling them, “Steve wants this.” A messed-up way for a network to operate.
I believe the on lot reference to how he treated his VPs was “abused step-children.”
That type of leadership will always run the wells dry. See Yah!
Spot on.
Is it possible that in the same week we lost the corporate leaders who brought both the Gulf oil spill and “According to Jim”?
Everyone says Steve’s first comedy hit is Modern Family but that’s not true. Steve had a breakout hit with Samantha Who? and he totally blew it. He was never a fan — it was too much of a women’s show for him — so he just neglected it. He’d leave it off the schedule for months at time then bring it back with no promotion and wonder why people stopped watching it. Ultimately he canceled it to make room for Hank. Great call.
Oh for chrissakes… Steve is a great guy with a strong personality and very adequate interpersonal skills if he thinks you’re talented. No time for mediocrity in his world. He gave ABC some energy and balls and profile when the company was tanking. He took some chances, burned some bridges, made some duds and some great shows (most of which inevitably failed, as they always do), and he’s f-ing tired. He will be a great indie producer, and if he goes into the Tequila biz, I’ll drink it.
Oh, yeah, and he’s intimidated by talented women unless they’re working for him and kissing his ass.
He’s an arrogant asshole who treated smart and talented people like doormats. His development sucked in every way possible. This year was new low. He had great pilots that he passed on in favor of shows from friends. He should have been out years ago. Everyone maing excuses are just co-dependent, abused children that worked for him.
Brian Morowitiz is the only one with any brains over there at the network. Channing and Suzanne have their fans At the studio level they should all go. Barry, Cheryl Stanley, Nicole Norwood are clowns.
And yes he was a total misogynist with his shows. But so is Les Moonves.
Barry Jossen is the best thing that studio has
I worked under Steve McPherson’s direction for several years. 1) he never scared me and 2) I actually liked him. Most smart people did like him.
He’s a fair, objective and perhaps intimidating (to those who are intimidated) creative soul. If you were to interview those who reported to him I assure you most of them would honestly say that they liked Steve. In a town of not so many “real” people – he’s about as real as they come in LaLaLand.
He was loyal and boy if he liked you – he liked you.
I have only great things to say about the guy. He hired me on two sitcom pilots and he is Irish. Good luck buddy!
i too am a fan. He was very respectful, kind and considerate. When I was out of work, Steve was a big help in getting me back on track. good luck Steve.
I think McPherson was a very talented executive. While he was @ Touchstone/ABC Studios let’s not forget, some of ABC’s most successful shows came about. I mean ABC was DEAD in the water guys, don’t forget that. I remember cringing when I heard he got the Entertainment Pres. job because he seemed better suited to run a studio, as some people are. Yes, sometimes a tough personality as many have noted, but a creative mind. I have this weird feeling that he wasn’t completely 100% forced out of this job. LOL – and yes he did piss a lot of people off, too – the difference is he was respected.
Interesting how all of the comments are about Steve and none are about the guy taking the job? When are people going to wake up and discover that programming a broadcast network and a cable network are night and day.On cable you have to launch one or two scripted shows a year. You then get to promote them all day and all night for months. Then you get to premiere them in the summer against re-runs on broadcast and then get to pump the numbers which if they were on the Big 4 would be failures. On top of that critics are so much more forgiving of Cable programs. All I’m saying is HUGE, Petty Little Liars and Class don’t make it past the second week on ABC. I love MAD MEN but LESS than 3 MILLION homes watched sunday night. 3,000,000 Homes. Different world for sure. That said, I never heard anybody say anything very nice about SM. Why do so many Executives have to be such assholes to be around or work for?
RIGHT ON.
No matter what you think of McPherson…..
Lee will very soon see the tidal wave headed his way.
Anne will very soon know that she will no longer have McPherson to hide behind and scapegoat.
I don’t think you get it. Disney wants ABC to be MORE like their cable channels. They are by far the biggest profit center for the company — way more so than the movies, ABC, theme parks, even consumer products.
Their cable channels like ABC Family, Disney Channel, etc. make shows for WAY less money, pay people a fraction of what ABC does, and sell internationally like crazy.
That’s why Rich Ross got his new job and Paul Lee is getting this one.
Without a doubt the DUMBEST post on this thread. Cable and Broadcast are two ENTIRELY DIFFERENT business models. sub fees and ad revenues vs. straight ad support.
A poor manager, out of touch with his instincts, the tastes of his viewers, the economic realities of our times, and the entire process itself, Steve McPherson is everything that’s wrong with network television. Oh, and also the Tennenbaums and Mitch Hurwitz.
Wait, I have a great idea for a show. Steve McPherson on a deserted island. That’s it. That’s the whole show. No rescue, no smoke monster, no finale “in heaven.” Just a failed network president. Alone. On island. With all his thoughts. It’s five minute show.
He backed a lot of bad shows and didn’t pick up a lot of good ones. But when he gave you a note he gave it to you straightforward, unlike a lot of the people who worked under him.
But in the end, he was out of touch – with the talent, with writers, and he never really understood comedy. Emily’s Reasons Why Not, Cavemen, Jake In Progress, and – I don’t care what anyone at the network says, – The Middle is dreadful.
The guy just had no instincts. Somebody should return ABC to its four-camera sitcom heritage, that got thrown away starting with Jamie Tarses.
But I’ll say this, the man knows his wine.
Let’s go thru this.
This guy was a solid studio head, putting MY WIFE AND KIDS on the air, and helping develop CSI and GREYS and DESPERATE. He fought like hell with Lloyd Braun to shut down LOST, and lost that battle.
Lloyd got fired, in part due to his complaints, and LOST got on the air against his wishes. LOST and DESPERATE opened giant. GREYS, accidentally, opened as well.
He had Andrea Wong bringing in reality hits like EXTREME MAKEOVER and DANCIN WITH THE STARS — he made the final calls, no doubt, but she developed these hits. She also nurtured the bachelor along with John and Vicki.
Comedy was a disaster throughout. Literally, one hit in 6 years: MODERN FAMILY. From an outside studio. Bombs galore aside from that.
Drama was the import of the ABC Studios department. Suzanne is a solid exec, and Josh was her lieutenant. In time, he dispatched/fired Josh (you know, his loyal employee of 10 years). He also brought Suzanne’s pal Channing to the network. Solid exec. Though, both suffer from the opposite-of-Steve effect — too many notes.
The wars with Pedowitz were epic. For a guy who struggled so hard to get control of the studio, once he did, he refused to do the job. No courting of talent, no nurturing of writers, no salesmanship … frankly, no presence.
He killed Mark. Which sucks, as he was one of the cut-thru-it guys at ABC. Jana is great, as is Howard, but Mark evolved into a well rounded exec with skills handling the big names on the lot.
Those big names … hmmm … STeve is good with Marc Cherry. But ask Shonda, Berlanti, Damon, Horto, etc about their deep bond with Steve … uh, non-existent. Also, ask Shawn Ryan, John Wells, David Kelley, Stephen Bochco, Bruce Helford, or any of the other ‘hacks’ he alienated during his tenure.
All in all, this is a slightly different version of the Ben Silverman/jeff Zucker experience. Yes, that’s the biggest insult you give Steve. Ben may have been stoned, and Jeff may have hated Angelenos, but Steve was downright angry. At everyone. Sad.
This will end up being a good thing for him: get a break from this crap. You did a solid job. Be proud of your Emmys.
and for us, it will give us a break from your anger. No one came to LA to be surrounded by your negativity. This is television. It simply isnt that serious. And you, sir, were a complete downer.
bye
Am saving this general description as it applies to 98% of exec tenures in this town. If you can’t figure out how to get product past the personal idiosyncrasies of the temporary butts in the gate keeping jobs, then you’re not producing. Steve was better than a fair share of the clowns in the seat, and at least he had balls and an opinion.
I worked for abc for many many loyal years. I loved that company and I worked my butt off, successfully I may add, and my job suddenly was eliminated for some trumped up excuse and I became a scapegoat for talentless, overpaid, arrogant execs who were saving their own butt and it was allowed to happen under the McPh reign. I was told at the time that there was going to be a “new way of doing business,” and guess what? Nothing changed except stock being given away for free to these same grossly overpaid people, new titles with even more compensation while people like me were being let go. No one was watching or caring about what was being done and the network was withering all the while. What they did to me was a disgrace; I hope Mr. Lee keeps his eyes open and I wish him all the best.