Mike Shaw,
the longtime president of sales and marketing at ABC, will be stepping down from his current role at
the end of the year, the company has confirmed. B&C first reported the news
earlier Monday evening (Nov. 30).
According to
ABC, Shaw will give up day-to-day responsibilities at the end of the year,
becoming an advisor for sales and marketing strategy, reporting to Anne
Sweeney.
Shaw is said
to have decided that he's had enough of the tough fight that is network sales
these days.
It is not
clear if Shaw has another position to go, though agencies were already buzzing
with the news Monday evening. Rival sales executives are already
predicting who might take Shaw's place. Though no successor has been named as
yet, ABC says it will name one "in the near future."
One name in
the ring is Ed Erhardt, president of ESPN ad sales, though he is said to be
happy in his current role.
One
executive familiar with the situation said the role may evolve and Disney might
be open to creating a new position that would encompass ad sales across all
Disney properties.
"Mike is a visionary Ad Sales executive whose
efforts have helped reshape our industry, most recently through his championing
the live-plus-seven and live-plus-C3 metrics that are now the currency of our
business," said Sweeney in a statement. "While we're sorry that he's
decided to step back from the day-to-day, we're thrilled that he's left us with
such an amazing team and that he'll remain involved as a strategic advisor."
"I have decided to step down at this time in
order to pursue a number of personal goals," said Shaw. "I have had a great 20
years at the Walt Disney Co., with the last 10 years as ABC's President of
Sales being the highlight of my career. I have been extremely fortunate to work
with so many great people, who I'm confident will now take the Sales group to
the next level. I'll continue in this role for the next few months to ensure a
smooth transition, and then look forward to working on a number of projects for
the company over the next year."
