As president of ABC Entertainment Group, Stephen McPherson oversees ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios. Mr. McPherson took the reigns of the coordinated business unit, which develops and produces programming for broadcast on ABC and other outlets, in January, 2009. The ABC Entertainment Group has delivered some of the most successful, talked-about and evolutionary series on television today, including "Desperate Housewives," "Lost," "Grey's Anatomy," "Ugly Betty" and "Brothers & Sisters."
Mr. McPherson was most recently the driving force behind the network's primetime comeback with a strategy that focused on quality content and a willingness to redirect key units, including drama development and marketing to support and deliver that content.
For the 2004-05 season, his first at ABC Entertainment, Mr. McPherson leveraged his studio success to anchor ABC's primetime lineup with two shows he developed at Touchstone, "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives."
Mr. McPherson continued the momentum into the 2005-06 season, when another of his Touchstone projects, "Grey's Anatomy," became the nation's No. 1 show and the new alternative series, "Dancing with the Stars," became a cultural phenomenon. Under his leadership, ABC delivered improved ratings across the primetime schedule for the second season in a row.
Without the benefit of "Monday Night Football" for the 2006-07 season, ABC won the November Sweep with the key demo of Adults 18-49, and continued the momentum in May garnering ABC's most-watched May Sweep in six years and the only network to show year-to-year increases in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. Under Mr. McPherson's guidance, ABC became a primetime force on Thursday nights and launched the critically acclaimed and Emmy Award-winning "Ugly Betty."
For the '07-'08 season, ABC claimed five of the top ten new series, more than any other network, including the top new comedy "Samantha Who?." This success is a result of Mr. McPherson's winning strategy of implementing strong and innovative marketing campaigns and using the promotional platform of returning hit shows to provide a strong launch for freshman series.
Mr. McPherson reports to Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president, Disney-ABC Television Group, and is responsible for all development, current programming, late-night, marketing and scheduling efforts related to the ABC Entertainment Group.
Prior to joining ABC, he was president of Touchstone Television, where he guided Touchstone to the three best development seasons in the company's history. In that role he led the development and production of the division's network primetime series, specials and films, and was responsible for all day-to-day operations of the studio. He originally joined Touchstone as an executive vice president of the studio.
During his tenure at Touchstone, Mr. McPherson developed several other successful series for the network, including "Alias," "8 Simple Rules," "According to Jim," My Wife and Kids," "Hope & Faith," "Less than Perfect," "Once and Again" and "The Job."
He and his team also developed the successful "CSI" drama franchise and the award-winning alternative series "Amazing Race" for CBS, as well as NBC's critically acclaimed comedy "Scrubs," and "Monk," which became a hit for the USA network.
Prior to joining Touchstone Television, Mr. McPherson was vice president, Primetime Series at NBC, where he oversaw the development and production of such shows as "NewsRadio" and "Just Shoot Me." Before joining NBC, he was senior vice president, Creative Affairs of ABC
Productions, where he supervised both comedy and drama series, including "My So Called Life" and "The Commish." He also served as director, Current Programming for FOX, where he helped launch "Martin" and "The Ben Stiller Show." He began his industry career as director of Development for Witt-Thomas-Harris Productions.
Mr. McPherson has been recognized for his achievements and honored with several awards, including the Directors Guild of America's Diversity Award, honoring his outstanding commitment to and leadership in the hiring of women and minorities in DGA categories. This is only the fourth time that the Award has been bestowed. He also received the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Committee on Diversity's first Televisionary Award in recognition of his commitment to diversity both on-screen and behind the scenes in the 2004-05 television season. Mr. McPherson received the Executive of the Year Award for 2005 from the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers & Directors for his contribution to the industry. He was also named the 2006 Television Showman of the Year at the International Cinematographers Guild 43rd Annual Publicists Awards in March, in recognition of his outstanding stewardship of the network in 2005.
Mr. McPherson's efforts extend beyond the television industry. In addition to being honored by the Los Angeles Free Clinic at its Annual Dinner Gala in 2005, he is also an active member of its board.
Mr. McPherson is a graduate of Cornell University, with a BA in Political Science.
President, ABC Entertainment Group