Susan Lyne: Adjusting the Picture at ABC

January 21, 2002 at 5:00 AM UTC

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Susan Lyne, who landed the top programming job at the ABC network on Jan. 7, got her start at the Walt Disney unit overseeing made-for-TV movies like The Three Stooges, Annie, and The Beach Boys. Now, as president of ABC's Entertainment Television Group, she'll face her own drama. The 51-year-old Lyne will be charged with turning around a network that this season has lost 21% of its audience and ranks fourth among the 18- to 49-year-olds that advertisers covet.

A former reporter for The Village Voice, Lyne founded Premiere magazine after working for Jane Fonda's production company in Hollywood. At ABC, she'll be responsible for finding new hits to offset the decline of onetime ratings champ Who Wants to be a Millionaire and faded mainstays Dharma & Greg and The Drew Carey Show. She replaces Stu Bloomberg, who suffered from recent flops such as Bob Patterson and Thieves.