Reality chief Lisa Berger is exiting ABC after only 13 months on the job. No replacement has been announced.
Berger joined ABC as executive VP for alternative series, specials and late-night in September, 2013, following the departure of predecessor John Saade. She had previously served as entertainment president of cable network E!
Under Berger, ABC launched three new unscripted series this summer — music competition Rising Star, fantasy adventure-reality competition hybrid The Quest and Bachelor spinoff Bachelor in Paradise. The latter averaged a solid 1.4 rating among adults 18-49. However The Quest was one of the summer’s worst performing original shows on broadcast, averaging a 0.5. Rising Star, an ambitious effort at presenting a reality singing competition featuring live voting across multiple time zones, failed to capture a significant audience for its scale, averaging a 1.1.
This September, ABC announced that it is developing a new primetime game show, 500 Questions to be produced by Warner Bros.’ Mike Darnell and The Apprentice creator Mark Burnett.
Speaking to B&C in October, Berger said of developing reality programming, “You can have your big swings, but also have these wonderful shows that do some heavy lifting year after year, and those are just as valuable as the big swings in the long run.”
