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Channing Dungey to Succeed Peter Roth as Chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group in 2021

Elaine Low
·3-min read

Channing Dungey, who less than two weeks ago left her post as vice president of originals at Netflix, has been tapped to succeed Peter Roth as chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group when he steps down in early 2021.

“This is a homecoming of sorts for Channing, who was a production executive at Warner Bros. early in her career, and we’re excited to have her rejoin the Studio,” said WarnerMedia studios and networks group chair and CEO Ann Sarnoff. “Channing is one of the most talented, visionary, creative and respected executives working in television today. She has impeccable taste, a breadth of experience covering all platforms and genres, incredible relationships across the creative community and a keen sense of what’s next and how best to get it to audiences. She’s a great choice to lead the Television Group as it continues to grow its production operations for HBO Max, while also maintaining its standing as the industry’s leading independent supplier of programming to all outlets.”

The news comes on the heels of Roth announcing his departure on Friday after 22 years at the helm of Hollywood’s biggest TV studio.

Dungey will take the top spot at WBTV Group in the wake of a broad restructuring at WBTV parent WarnerMedia, initiated by newly installed WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar. The last few months have been marked by the company’s sharpened focus on direct-to-consumer services — HBO Max entered the streaming melee in May — and hundreds of layoffs across Warner Bros., HBO, DC Entertainment and other media brands.

“The Warner Bros. Television Group is the recognized industry leader in content creation and a true destination for talent based on its ability to produce across all genres and for all outlets,” said Dungey. “I’m thrilled to be joining the company at such a pivotal time in its history and look forward to working with my new colleagues at Warner Bros. and across the Studios and Networks Group to build on the incredible work of my predecessor, Peter Roth. This is such an electric time in our industry, and we have so much opportunity available to us between Warner Bros.’ core businesses and HBO Max, I cannot wait to dive in.”

While at Netflix, Dungey brought “Game of Thrones”‘ David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to the streamer, and inked overall producing deals with Regina King, Mara Brock Akil, Bill Prady, Michael Green, and Gina Rodriguez. Among the series she shepherded during her time at Netflix were the Octavia Spencer starrer “Self Made: Inspired By The Life of Madam CJ Walker,” Hilary Swank vehicle “Away,” and Shonda Rhimes’ “Bridgerton,” plus a yet-to-be-titled series about conwoman Anna Delvey. Dungey also had a hand in the acquisition of Darren Star’s “Emily in Paris.”

Before that, Dungey led ABC Entertainment, overseeing development, programming, marketing and scheduling operations for primetime and late-night programming on the network, and nurtured”The Good Doctor” and the return of “American Idol,” among other projects. Her many years in the ABC sphere include the development and launch of “Scandal,” “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” and “Once Upon a Time”; she also oversaw drama development and acquisition at ABC Studios.

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