NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hearst and The Walt Disney Company today announced that A+E Networks President and Chief Executive Officer Nancy Dubuc has decided to step down from her role, effective April 16, 2018. Abbe Raven, chairman emeritus and former CEO of A+E Networks, who retired from the company in 2015 after 33 years, will return as acting chair to oversee the transition until a replacement is named.
In a joint statement, Steven R. Swartz, president and CEO of Hearst, and Ben Sherwood, co-chair, Disney Media Networks and president, Disney|ABC Television, said: “In her roughly 20 years at A+E Networks, Nancy played a major role in building the success of A&E, HISTORY and Lifetime, and we thank her for her leadership. We are also very grateful to Abbe, a former CEO of the company and one of A+E’s first employees, for agreeing to return on a temporary basis as acting chair.”
Nancy Dubuc Statement:
“For nearly 20 years, I have called A+E Networks home and the team has been an extended part of my family. Together, we have had the privilege to build some of the most iconic brands in media. Every step of my career, I have had the opportunity to learn and grow from some of the most inspiring and innovative minds at A+E and in both the creative and business community. I could not be prouder of what we achieved together.
“Anyone who knows me well, knows I am an entrepreneur, creator, rebel and disruptor at heart. I have a famous neon sign in my office that blares ‘Who dares wins.’ After 20 years at A+E the hardest thing will be to leave the people and company I love. But, as a creative executive and leader, and to stay true to my personal mantra, I need my next dare and my next challenge.
“I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to our owners at Hearst and The Walt Disney Company for their unwavering support and belief in me over my long career here. I’d especially like to thank Steve and Ben for supporting my decision to write my next chapter.
“I have supreme confidence in the brave storytellers and management team at A+E and I will always be rooting for and watching proudly from the sidelines—even as I head off to my next adventure.”
Abbe Raven Statement:
“Nancy and I have worked together for almost 20 years, and I have seen the tremendous accomplishments and innovation she has brought to A+E—from its creative content, to attracting award-winning talent and the digital and studio businesses she has nurtured. A+E is a special place with extraordinary and talented people. I look forward to helping the Board and leading the talented A+E teams during this transition.”
About A+E Networks
A+E Networks® is an award-winning, global media content company offering consumers a diverse communications environment ranging from linear channels to websites, gaming, watch apps and educational software. A+E Networks is comprised of A&E®, Lifetime®, HISTORY®, H2®, Lifetime Movies, FYI™, VICELAND® and Blaze™ as well as its own long-form production division A+E Studios™; film division, A&E IndieFilms®; A+E Networks Digital®; digital storytelling hub, 45th & Dean™; strategic investment division, A+E Ventures™; and A+E Networks Consumer Products™. A+E Networks’ channels and branded programming reach more than 335 million households in over 200 territories in 42 languages. A+E Networks is a joint venture of Disney|ABC Television and Hearst.
About Hearst
Hearst is one of the nation's largest diversified media, information and services companies with more than 360 businesses. Its major interests include ownership in cable television networks such as A&E, HISTORY, Lifetime and ESPN; majority ownership of global ratings agency Fitch Group; Hearst Health, a group of medical information and services businesses; 30 television stations such as WCVB-TV in Boston and KCRA-TV in Sacramento, Calif., which reach a combined 19 percent of U.S. viewers; newspapers such as the Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle and Albany Times Union, nearly 300 magazines around the world including Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Harper's BAZAAR and Car and Driver; digital services businesses such as iCrossing and KUBRA; and investments in emerging digital and video companies such as BuzzFeed, Vice, Complex Networks and AwesomenessTV. Follow us on Twitter @HearstLive and @Hearst.
About Disney|ABC Television
Disney|ABC Television is comprised of The Walt Disney Company's global entertainment and news television properties, owned television stations group, and radio business. This includes ABC Studios, a global leader in the development, production and distribution of entertainment content across broadcast, cable and on-demand platforms; the ABC Owned Television Stations Group; and The ABC Television Network, which provides entertainment and news programming to viewers via more than 200 affiliated stations across the U.S. It also includes Disney Channels Worldwide, a portfolio of 120 kid-driven, family-inclusive entertainment channels, including Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, Disney Cinemagic, Hungama, and Radio Disney brands, as well as cable network Freeform, which targets millennials. Disney|ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution and Disney Media Distribution round out the portfolio. Disney|ABC Television also has equity interests in A+E Networks and Hulu.
