James Goldston, the president of ABC News, will leave the Walt Disney-backed unit at the end of March, the latest in a recent series of changes among top national news executives.
“It’s a really tough decision,” Goldston said in a memo to staffers. “I’ve loved every day of my 17 years at ABC News, but in recent times I’ve always assumed that after this extraordinary election cycle, which we’ve covered at a full sprint for four years, it would be time for a change. After a great deal of reflection over the last few months, I’m ready for a new adventure.”
ABC News isn’t the industry’s largest division — AT&T’s CNN and Comcast’s NBC News Group are much larger — but under Goldston’s aegis, the Disney division has punched well above its weight. David Muir has risen to become the nation’s most-watched evening-news anchor at “World News Tonight,” and “Good Morning America” has become the nation’s most-watched morning-news program. Goldston has also presided over an expansion of the news division, which now oversees “The View” as well as a new afternoon hour anchored by Amy Robach. ABC News has also begun to extend into streaming-video and Hulu.
Walt Disney is expected to conduct a wide search for his successor, according to a person familiar with the matter.
ABC News isn’t the only national newsroom in transition. At MSNBC, Rashida Jones is taking over as president at the end of the month as longtime executive Phil Griffin steps down. The Washington Post will need to fill the shows of Marty Barron, the celebrated editor who has announced his intention to retire. The Los Angeles Times and Reuters are also seeking new top editorial executives. And the industry is waiting to hear whether Jeff Zucker, the president of CNN Worldwide, will decide to stay at the company or leave to try new options.
Goldston’s decision allows him to step away at a moment when ABC News is enjoying some wind in its sails, but there has been speculation for some time that Peter Rice, the Disney executive who oversees the company’s original entertainment assets, has begun to assert himself more at the news division. As more consumers migrate to streaming-video hubs for scripted comedy and drama, news and sports are viewed as critical components in the effort to keep the live audiences that advertisers and distributors demand. That is drawing corporate eyeballs to news units. NBCUniversal last year replaced former news chairman Andy Lack with Cesar Conde as Jeff Shell, newly arrived as NBCU CEO, put a new structure into place.
ABC News came under a harsh spotlight in July after allegations surfaced around Barbara Fedida, a senior ABC News executive who managed talent and recruitment, and the way she treated employees. She was accused of making racially insensitive comments, and an investigation by Disney “substantiated that Ms. Fedida managed in a rough manner and, on occasion, used crass and inappropriate language,” according to a statement made last year by Rice.
More to come…