ABC Chief Touts the Value of Broadcast in a Streaming TV Era

(Bloomberg) -- ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke made an impassioned pitch for broadcast television, arguing her company has the muscle to compete with streaming services like Netflix Inc. that have stolen so many viewers from conventional networks.

Burke, speaking Monday at the Television Critics Association summer conclave in Beverly Hills, California, said ABC parent Walt Disney Co. now operates the largest TV production studio in the business following its takeover of Fox entertainment assets in March.

“The broadcast network they’re most focused on now is ABC,” she said.

All but six of the industry’s 50 most-watched shows last season were on broadcast television, and programs such as “Grey’s Anatomy,” heading into its 16th season, have longer lives than those on streaming services, which often cancel series before their fourth season, she said.

“Most shows on competing platforms these days, sometimes they get a billboard on Sunset, and sometimes they disappear into the sunset,” Burke said, referring to Sunset Boulevard, the Los Angeles thoroughfare often traveled by entertainment industry executives.

She also said streaming services want to advertise on ABC -- but the network won’t let them.

Broadcast TV finished one of its worst seasons ever in terms of ratings, with the Big Four networks seeing their audiences shrink 12% in the 18-to-49-year-old age group most coveted by advertisers, according to Nielsen data. ABC finished in fourth place, averaging about 1.6 million prime-time viewers in that demographic.

The network is leading the ratings this summer, buoyed in part by game shows, she said.

Burke touted a lineup that relies heavily on reality shows, such as “The Bachelor” and “American Idol,” miniseries and live entertainment. She announced two new miniseries, one focused on women and the civil rights movement, and another on events after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

There will be other new shows, such as “Emergence,” a sci-fi thriller, and a live performance of the Disney animated hit “The Little Mermaid,” starring Queen Latifah as the villainous sea witch Ursula. That airs Nov. 5.

The network has faced a significant loss of talent to Netflix in the past two years, including writers Shonda Rhimes, the creator of “Grey’s Anatomy,” and Kenya Barris, who came up with “Black-ish.”

Burke got promoted to ABC’s top programming job in November, with the departure of her predecessor, Channing Dungey. Dungey joined Netflix a month later.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Palmeri in Los Angeles at cpalmeri1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum

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