In a new role created by Mr. Chapek, Kareem Daniel, a 14-year veteran of the company who most recently ran the company’s consumer products division, will become the chairman of media and entertainment distribution. That division will oversee all distribution of content globally, while also housing the company’s streaming services, which will be led by Rebecca Campbell.
Alan F. Horn and Alan Bergman will continue to oversee the company’s studios, including Disney, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Lucas Films, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures. Peter Rice will serve as chairman, general entertainment content, and will head up content creation for the cable and broadcast networks, including ABC, Touchstone, Disney Channels and FX. James Pitaro will become chairman, ESPN and sports content, and will focus on live sports programming in addition to sports news. Mr. Iger will continue to direct Disney’s creative endeavors in his role as executive chairman.
The move follows WarnerMedia’s reorganization in August that aligned all of its business units under HBO Max, its streaming service that launched at the end of May.
Mr. Daniel is well regarded inside the company and is the first Black person to be a division chief reporting directly to the chief executive at Disney.
“As we now look to rapidly grow our direct-to-consumer business, a key focus will be delivering and monetizing our great content in the most optimal way possible, and I can think of no one better suited to lead this effort than Kareem,” Mr. Chapek said. “His wealth of experience will enable him to effectively bring together the company’s distribution, advertising, marketing and sales functions, thereby creating a distribution powerhouse that will serve all of Disney’s media and entertainment businesses.”
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/12/business/media/disney-streaming-reorganization.html
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