Harbert Named ABC’s Chief TV Programmer : Networks: His goal will be to redesign the prime-time lineup while maintaining profitability.
Ted Harbert, the ABC executive credited with putting the hit television series “America’s Funniest Home Videos†on the air, has been named the network’s chief programmer.
Harbert succeeds Robert Iger, who last month was promoted to president of the ABC Television Network Group, overseeing the entertainment, news and sports divisions.
The appointment elevates Harbert, 37, to the senior ranks of TV executives in Hollywood. He will be responsible for designing ABC’s prime-time schedule, and becomes the network’s chief ambassador to the creative community.
“One of the major issues in naming Ted was stability,†Iger said. “We have put together a talented staff, which is now paying off in the performance of the network.â€
ABC is the only network this year to improve its prime-time ratings. It has six of the top 10 network shows, including such hit series as “Roseanne†and “Home Improvement.â€
A 15-year veteran of ABC’s programming department, Harbert was one of Iger’s two chief lieutenants, responsible for prime-time series, specials, scheduling, developing so-called “reality†shows and buying movies for the network.
Iger’s other deputy, Stuart Bloomberg, is widely considered to be the best network program development executive in Hollywood. Bloomberg was approached about the chief programmer’s job earlier in his career, but the 42-year-old executive eschewed its heavy administrative chores, preferring instead to develop and produce TV shows.
Harbert inherits the only network programming department that has remained consistently profitable during a nearly four-year recession plaguing the TV industry.
“It’s not business as usual anymore,†Harbert said. “We have got to find ways to recreate this business so it will survive into the next decade.â€
Although ABC is ranked No. 1 among the 18- to 49-year-old viewers advertisers most covet, Harbert must maintain the network’s ratings momentum while keeping a lid on tough-to-manage program costs.
Over the last several years ABC has made several costly programming deals with such heavy hitter-producers as James Brooks and Steven Bochco. Earlier this month it renewed “Home Improvement†for an unprecedented three years, allowing the producers a jump on selling its lucrative reruns in syndication.
Among Harbert’s mandates will be to continue finding new ways to finance production of costly prime-time series, where network license fees in recent years have averaged $400,000 for a half-hour and double that for a one-hour show.
Moreover, it will fall to Harbert to implement one of Iger’s pet projects--a radical reformatting of the unprofitable Saturday night schedule.
ABC has been working with the cable TV channel HBO to develop an innovative two-hour block of programming that reportedly includes comedy and drama segments of varying lengths held together by studio hosts. Harbert has headed the project.
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