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As part of Disney’s recent reorganization, the company will merge ABC and Hulu’s scripted drama and comedy teams. According to experts, several factors were likely behind the decision, including content costs, industry streaming TV trends, and more.
What’s happening
As part of Disney’s reorganization, Simran Sethi, who was most recently the executive vice president of programming and content strategy for ABC Entertainment and Freeform, was promoted to president of scripted programming and will lead the newly combined ABC and Hulu scripted content teams.
The changes resulted in the shuttering of Disney’s ABC Signature production unit, which will be folded into 20th Television under president Karey Burke. Tracy Underwood, who was upped to head of ABC Signature in December, will exit the position and move to an overall producing deal at 20th TV.
Meanwhile, Jordan Helman will serve as executive vice president of drama for Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment, while ABC’s senior vice president of comedy programming, Erin Wehrenberg, will exit. Helman will report to Sethi and oversee the comedy team in the meantime.
TheWrap reported that 30 Disney Entertainment Television employees will be impacted by the recent reorganization, which comes just after a round of layoffs that impacted 300 corporate Disney employees, 140 Disney Entertainment Television employees in July, and 175 people who were laid off from Pixar in May.
Why it’s happening
For Ross Benes, a senior analyst with eMarketer, the changes make sense given Disney’s assets.
Benes explained that since Disney agreed to buy out Comcast’s share of Hulu, it’s been easier for the company to incrementally fold Hulu into its business.
“It deployed its ad server to Hulu, made Hulu available within the Disney+ app, and now is combining a Hulu work unit with another division,” Benes told ADWEEK. “Because Hulu never expanded internationally, it would not be too difficult to eventually subsume it with the Disney brand.”
Regarding the most recent reorganization, Benes said it allows Disney to trim some costs “through the unfortunate practice of layoffs.”