Shannon Ryan Joins Disney TV, ABC as Marketing Chief
Former Fox Television chief marketing officer Shannon Ryan has been tapped as the new president of marketing for ABC Entertainment and Disney Television Studios.
The announcement was made by Karey Burke, president of ABC Entertainment, and Craig Hunegs, president of Disney Television Studios, to whom she will report.
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Rumours had been circling for a while that Ryan would be one of the execs making the transition to Disney after its colossal $71.3 billion acquisition of much of 21st Century Fox’s film and television holdings. On the TV side, Peter Rice, Dana Walden, John Landgraf, and Gary E. Knell have all already packed their bags for the Magic Kingdom.
In her new role, Ryan will oversee all marketing, publicity and communications strategies for ABC, including media, creative, social, digital, publicity and talent relations. She will also oversee the communications and marketing teams of Disney Television Studios, which include ABC Studios, Fox 21 TV Studios and 20th Fox TV, managing the marketing, publicity, corporate communications, events, talent relations and awards strategies of the three companies.
“I can’t wait for Shannon to get here,” said Burke in a statement. “I’ve admired her innovative campaigns and fierce competitive spirit from afar for years, and I know ABC will be better in every way with her guiding our talented marketing and publicity teams. We are lucky indeed.”
During her tenure as Fox TV CMO, which began in 2015, Ryan and her team launched the surprise hit music competition series “The Masked Singer,” as well as dramas such as “9-1-1,” “The Resident,” “The Passage” and “The Orville.”
“Joining Disney, a company I’ve always admired and one of the most powerful brands in the world, is the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Ryan. “I’m beyond excited to begin this next chapter and look forward to collaborating with Craig and Karey and their incredibly talented teams to shine a light on the fantastic work being done at these creative companies.”
On the studio side, Ryan helped mastermind PR campaigns for several award-winning shows, namely “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” “This Is Us,” and “The Americans.”
“Shannon’s one of the best strategists in the business, and we’ve already reaped the benefits of her marketing and publicity expertise at 20th and Fox 21. We’re excited that she’ll add ABC Studios to her portfolio as we build the Disney Television Studios brand into a world-class content creation engine,” added Hunegs.
Prior to her chief marketing officer appointment, Ryan was executive vice president of marketing & communications for FTG. From 2011 to 2015, she was executive vice president of marketing & communications for Fox. Throughout her career at the network, Ryan oversaw campaigns many successful series including “Empire,” “Glee,” “The Simpsons,” “Family Guy,” “Bob’s Burgers,” “The X-Files,” “The Last Man on Earth,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “New Girl,” “American Idol,” “House,” “Arrested Development,” “Masterchef” and “24.”
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