Disney will combine ABC and Hulu’s scripted drama and comedy teams as part of a reorganization at the entertainment giant.
Simran Sethi, who most recently served as executive vice president of programming and content strategy for ABC Entertainment and Freeform, has been promoted to president of scripted programming, where she will oversee the combined Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment teams. She will continue to report to Disney Television Group president Craig Erwich.
ABC Signature will also cease to operate as a standalone studio and will fold into 20th Television under president Karey Burke’s supervision. ABC Signature head Tracy Underwood will exit as part of the reorganization, but will transition to an overall producing deal at 20th TV.
Additionally, Jordan Helmen will serve as executive vice president of drama for Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment, adding broadcast drama to his purview, while ABC’s senior vice president of comedy programming Erin Wehrenberg will be leaving the company. Helmen will report to Sethi and she will also oversee the comedy team for the time being until next steps are determined.
The reorganization of ABC Entertainment and Hulu marks Disney’s latest moves to cut costs as it looks to navigate the secular decline of the linear TV business while growing streaming profitability.
The changes are expected to impact roughly 30 Disney Entertainment Television employees, an individual familiar with the matter told TheWrap. It comes on the heels of 300 corporate Disney employees being laid off last month, 140 DET staffers being laid off in July and 175 people who were let go from Pixar in May.
Disney isn’t the only media giant laying people off, shutting down studios and slashing costs. Paramount has been cutting 15% of its U.S. workforce as part of an effort to generate $500 million in annual run rate cost savings. Impacted areas thus far have included Paramount+’s communication and content strategy teams, Paramount Advertising, the shuttering of Paramount Television Studios and marketing, finance, legal, technology and other support functions across the company.
