ABC’s entertainment president, Paul Lee, who found hits like “How to Get Away With Murder” and led an industry push toward more diverse casting, resigned on Wednesday after losing a struggle over the network’s direction with a higher-ranking executive.
Mr. Lee’s departure was orchestrated by Ben Sherwood, chairman of the Disney-ABC Television Group, who became Mr. Lee’s boss early last year. Mr. Sherwood, who disagreed with Mr. Lee over programming choices and future strategy, has used ABC’s soft standing in the overall ratings race to make a case inside Disney for a management shake-up at the network.
ABC announced that Mr. Lee would be succeeded by Channing Dungey, who becomes the first black president of a major broadcast network. Ms. Dungey has been the network’s executive vice president for drama development, movies and mini-series, where she was closely involved with shows like “Scandal” and “American Crime.”
Mr. Lee and Mr. Sherwood have repeatedly clashed over control of ABC’s creative pipeline. Mr. Sherwood, whose background is in television news, wanted to be more involved in ABC’s affairs than Mr. Lee allowed. Mr. Sherwood also wanted ABC to focus more on CBS-style procedural crime series like “N.C.I.S.,” while Mr. Lee continued to back serialized dramas like “Scandal” and “American Crime.”
