Disney Says ABC Entertainment Chief McPherson Resigns as TV Ratings Slip

Walt Disney Co. said Steve McPherson, president of its ABC Entertainment unit, has resigned two months before the network’s new television season begins.

A replacement for McPherson will be named shortly, Burbank, California-based Disney said today in an e-mailed statement.

ABC is adding six dramas to its schedule starting in September after “Lost,” the network’s fifth-highest-rated scripted show, concluded a six-year run in May. The network was the only major U.S. broadcaster whose total audience declined last season, and it’s also down among viewers aged 18 to 49, a group sought by advertisers, according to Nielsen Co.

Disney, the world’s biggest media company, fell 12 cents to $34.28 at 4 p.m. today in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have climbed 6.3 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andy Fixmer in Los Angeles at afixmer@bloomberg.net

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