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During a year when scripted content became stunted by the Hollywood strikes, Channing Dungey, ADWEEK’s 2024 TV Executive of the Year, just kept making it work.
In 2020, Dungey became chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Group, making her one of the premier Black executives leading the charge in the television industry. However, the exec had plenty of cachet to her name heading into the role, previously serving as president of ABC’s Entertainment Group and vice president of original content at Netflix.
And for the last year, Dungey has called upon all that experience to consistently deliver strong results for WBTV.
In 2023, the exec revitalized the long-running Bachelor franchise with the hit The Golden Bachelor. Excluding sports, that series became the No. 2 entertainment series, scripted or unscripted, on network television in the key demos.
Despite the strikes, which postponed projects throughout the industry, Dungey’s studio launched four new scripted series in 2023, including Found and Night Court for NBC; Shrinking, starring Jason Segel and Harrison Ford, on Apple TV+; and Bookie on Max. All four of those series were renewed for second seasons, and Shrinking was the No. 2 show on Apple TV+, only behind the final season of hit comedy Ted Lasso—another WBTV offering.
“Channing is back in business quite aggressively—the Warner Brothers Television business,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, praising the exec. “We have over 100 series, some of the best series on television: Shrinking, Abbott Elementary, Ted Lasso. We have some of the greatest talent on the TV side working with us.”
Going with the stream
In an ever-shifting TV landscape, Dungey has confidence in WBTV’s plans for success.
The executive first joined Warner Bros. prior to the Discovery acquisition, and at the time the strategy was nearly entirely focused on what was then HBO Max. That has shifted toward content on a variety of platforms, including success on broadcast networks like ABC and NBC, as well as a variety of streamers.
That success across outlets is Dungey’s confirmation that WBTV is nailing down the right strategy.
“Maintaining an independent mindset that attracts the top creators in the business and allows them to craft great shows in their unique voices then gives us the flexibility to place that extraordinary programming on the ideal platforms where they’ll have the best chance to truly reach their potential,” Dungey said.
Among the highlights, WBTV is producing nearly 90 series across scripted, unscripted and animated programming for almost 20 platforms, including the Emmy-winning hit Abbott Elementary, The Jennifer Hudson Show and a multitude of other projects, with straight-to-series orders for Emperor of Ocean Park for MGM+, Just Cause for Amazon Prime Video and Rescue: HI-Surf for Fox.
Dungey knows WBTV’s creative talent and producers are at the heart of what makes its shows special.
“Their success is our success, and I sincerely cherish the relationships we’ve built at the studio and the unparalleled work we create together,” Dungey said. “And part of that success is our continuing focus on diverse talent and inclusive storytelling, which plays a huge role in our ability to identify the best new voices in the business and deliver breakthrough shows that offer unique, fresh points of view.”
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