The Walt Disney Co. has kept things in the family by recruiting an insider,
ABC Daytime president Angela Shapiro, as the new president of ABC Family.
Shapiro's appointment was announced Wednesday by ABC Television Group
president Steve Bornstein, just one day after former ABC Family president
Maureen Smith tendered her resignation.
Shapiro, who also holds the title of president of Buena Vista Productions,
will report to Bornstein.
In a prepared statement, Bornstein lauded Shapiro for her ratings
achievements in daytime, including the growing success of Live with Regis and
Kelly and The View.
Shapiro said she plans for ABC Family's program lineup to be a mix of
original programming, as well as repurposed shows from ABC.
'It's my goal to bring in as many new programs as possible,' Shapiro said
during a press-conference call. She noted that at Buena Vista, 'We were able to
come up with new formats, new ways of producing . It's my goal to do the same
thing for the Family channel.'
As for ABC Family's programming, she added,
'Steve and I have been talking about this for some time.'
Shapiro, who joined ABC Daytime in 1995 as senior vice president of
programming, was promoted to president of daytime in August 1998. Earlier in her
career, she was a cofounder and publisher of Soap Opera Digest.
She will continue in her current role at ABC Daytime until a successor is
named.
In her role at Buena Vista, Shapiro currently has a syndicated version of
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in development, as well as providing
creative oversight for shows such as Live with Regis and
Millionaire.
