Disney’s decision to shut down its ABC Signature TV studio marks the second such move by a media conglomerate in the past two months. It’s another sign of the contraction-minded times — but also an echo of a move Disney made four years ago in the wake of its purchase of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets for $71.3 billion.
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ABC Signature (formerly ABC Studios) was shuttered Oct. 1. The reorganization, which also includes a merging of scripted development teams at ABC and Hulu, resulted in about 30 layoffs and renders 20th Television as Disney Television Studios’ primary provider for both its own outlets and outside buyers. “These are exceedingly difficult decisions made with the utmost thought,” Disney TV studios and business operations president Eric Schrier wrote in a memo.
It follows a similar move by Paramount Global in August in which the company closed Paramount Television Studios and folded its existing shows and development into CBS Studios.
Current ABC Signature series — including ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy , Jimmy Kimmel Live! and freshman show High Potential , along with such co-productions as Paramount+’s Criminal Minds: Evolution (with CBS Studios) — will move under the 20th banner. Karey Burke will continue to lead the bulked-up 20th TV while ABC Signature president Tracy Underwood segues to an overall producing deal with Disney TV Studios.
The larger Disney empire has other studio assets as well: FX Productions, as its name suggests, supplies FX with programming for its linear channels and Hulu. Onyx Collective has made several series for Hulu and Disney+ with a focus on creators, cast and crew from underrepresented groups (including How to Die Alone on Hulu, co-produced with … ABC Signature).
Those two units, however, produce almost exclusively in-house programming for Disney, whereas 20th sells to all comers; it has series at CBS ( Tracker ), Netflix ( Nobody Wants This ) and Showtime ( The Chi ) in addition to Fox animated stalwarts The Simpsons , Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers , which all predate the Disney-Fox merger. That’s on top of more than 15 series spread across Disney+, Hulu, ABC and FX.
Based on volume alone, it’s no surprise that 20th TV would be the last title card standing. Disney, like Paramount two months ago and other legacy media companies in the current business climate, is seeking to streamline operations with an eye to toward consistent profits in streaming. Combining the Hulu and ABC development teams under Simran Sethi in a decision announced in conjunction with the closing of ABC Signature is another step toward that corporate goal (though in both cases, it means fewer places for writers and producers to pitch ideas).
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Disney also has been here before, and not that long ago: After the merger with Fox, the newly combined company had not three, but four studios: ABC Studios and its subsidiary, ABC Signature Studios, along with 20th TV and Fox 21, which produced Homeland , The Americans and Sons of Anarchy (the latter with FX Productions). ABC Studios and ABC Signature Studios united under the name ABC Signature, and Fox 21 became a new iteration of Touchstone TV in August 2020.
That arrangement lasted less than four months. In December of that year, Fox 21/Touchstone was absorbed into 20th TV, with Burke moving from ABC to head the studio (and Craig Erwich, then head of originals at Hulu, taking the network under his purview). From the folding of a smaller studio into the larger one to a combination of Hulu and ABC operations, along with the departure of a studio head (Bert Salke, in that case; he returned to his roots as a producer with a deal at Disney), the details looked very much as they do now.
Even the executive memos announcing the changes read as similar: “Today, we are announcing some important organizational changes that will bring our linear and streaming creative teams together and establish a one-stop shop for our creative partners. This is designed to maximize one of our distinct advantages, which is the ability to launch content on both linear and streaming.” And, “The changes we are announcing today are in service of three goals: rightsizing our organization, streamlining functions across our studios and original content teams and strengthening our partnerships with the extraordinary creators who call Disney Television Studios their home.”
The first quote came from Erwich, now president of Disney Television Group, in announcing the closing of ABC Signature. The second was from Disney Entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden — in 2020, announcing the earlier studio realignment. The business units changed, but the playbook didn’t.
This story appeared in the Oct. 9 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe .
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