This is a very interesting article about the new president of Disney’s ABC Family channel, Michael G. Riley, and the new shows he has been bringing to the channel and what he has in store for the coming months. From the promos that have started airing, I have to say that “The Nine Lives of Chloe King” looks like it could be a pretty good show. They also have a new project in the works staring Raven (from “That’s So Raven”).
BURBANK, Calif. — If Michael G. Riley, the new president of ABC Family, comes across as a bit nervous these days, cut him some slack. Only seven months ago he was working in radio. Now he’s about to lead a major expansion of one of television’s hottest brands.
ABC Family, the Walt Disney Company’s cable channel aimed at older teenagers and young adults, plans to announce on Monday that it will add a third night of original programming each week. The channel will also start introducing original series year-round; until now it has almost exclusively introduced new programs in June.
To help stock its expanding schedule, ABC Family has ordered three new scripted dramas, including “The Nine Lives of Chloe King,†about a girl who discovers she has special powers and is being hunted by an assassin. (Dan Berendsen, the force behind “Hannah Montana: The Movie†and several hit Disney Channel movies, is an executive producer.) A fourth new show will be a half-hour comedy starring Raven-Symoné of “That’s So Raven†fame.
“We now have some beachfront television property in shows like ‘Pretty Little Liars,’ but there is so much more opportunity,†Mr. Riley said. “I’m focused on one thing, which is how are we keeping our foot on the accelerator.â€
The recent success of ABC Family has been nothing short of stunning. When Disney bought the channel in 2001 for a hefty $5.3 billion from the News Corporation and the media investor Haim Saban, it planned to show reruns from its broadcast network, ABC. But ratings plummeted without fresh programming.
The cable channel, founded as the Family Channel by the evangelist Pat Robertson, also had a contractual obligation to retain the world “family†in its name and run Mr. Robertson’s “700 Club†talk show in perpetuity — not exactly conducive to creating a hip teenage TV brand.
Undeterred, Disney in 2004 hired Paul Lee, a former British Broadcasting Corporation executive, to run ABC Family, giving him marching orders to focus on the so-called millennial generation. Mr. Lee delivered a string of hits, including “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,†a drama that stirred controversy by concentrating on a pregnant 15 year old.
With the arrival in 2010 of “Pretty Little Liars,†a mystery centered on four best friends that became an immediate ratings success, ABC Family became a bona fide smash itself. It is now one of cable’s top 10 networks among adults 18 to 49.
ABC Family attracted an average of 580,000 viewers ages 12 to 34, its target demographic, in prime time 2010, a 49 percent increase from 2005. The channel’s primary competitor, the CW, has struggled to find new hits during this time — it passed on “The Secret Life of the American Teenager†— and is seeking a new president.
“ABC Family has been riding a train of increasing success,†said Kris Magel, a senior vice president at Initiative, a media-buying agency. “Advertisers value this channel. It delivers all the buzz and great ratings, with limited controversy.â€
Mr. Riley, 41, took over ABC Family in September after Mr. Lee was promoted to run the entertainment division of ABC. Overflowing with boyish charm — that is, when not in the presence of two Disney public relations executives, as he was during a recent interview here — Mr. Riley had been running Radio Disney, a string of 37 stations, for two years.
His hiring puzzled Hollywood — radio? — but Mr. Riley had previous television experience, albeit not on the creative side. From 1997 to 2008 he worked for Turner Broadcasting System in Europe, with responsibilities like drafting brand strategy for channels like Cartoon Network and TNT. Mr. Riley has an M.B.A. from the London Business School.
Mr. Riley, who is Canadian, quickly impressed Disney executives by throwing himself into learning and running the radio operation even though he wasn’t overly excited by the medium. (When Rich Ross, now chairman of Walt Disney Studios, recruited him for the radio job, Mr. Riley made it clear he wanted a future in television.) His accomplishments at Radio Disney included expanding online efforts, integrating its programming more heavily with that of Disney Channel and greatly improving morale.
“Michael has a great understanding of brands and their importance in an ever-fragmenting media landscape,†said Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney/ABC Television Group.
Because of the long gestation period for television shows, Mr. Riley has only begun to make his presence felt at ABC Family; all of the new series, for instance, were already in development at the channel when he arrived. He also has a strong lieutenant in Kate Juergens, executive vice president for original series programming and development.
But Mr. Riley was deeply involved with the casting and scheduling of the new shows and will start wooing advertisers this week in New York. In addition to “The Nine Lives of Chloe King,†the new dramas Mr. Riley will be promoting this week include “Switched at Birth,†the story of two teenage girls who were mixed up as newborns. “The Lying Game,†meantime, is a mystery about twin sisters.
The goal for “The Great State of Georgia,†in which Raven-Symoné stars as an aspiring actress with a larger-than-life personality, is to create a comedy block on Wednesday nights. It will be paired with “Melissa & Joey,†a successful returning series starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence.
“We love the authenticity of all of these shows, all of which have our hallmarks of heart, humor and optimism,†Mr. Riley said.
