Industry Leader Channing Dungey Named Chairman, Warner Bros. Television Group
(Burbank, CA) – Highly esteemed TV industry leader Channing Dungey has been named Chairman, Warner Bros. Television Group starting her tenure at the Studio early next year. The news was announced today by Ann Sarnoff, Chair and CEO, WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Group, to whom she will report. Dungey will succeed Peter Roth who will be stepping down from his Studio responsibilities running the TV Group and its operating divisions 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 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 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."
Warner Bros. Television Group is part of WarnerMedia’s new Studios and Networks Group which aligns the Company’s content-focused teams, bringing together the WB Pictures Group, HBO and HBO Max, WBTV, DC, kids/young adults/classics (Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, TCM, Cartoon Network Studios, WB Animation), TBS, TNT, TruTV, Wizarding World, consumer products, experiences, and gaming, and offers the unique opportunity for these divisions to work together across titles, brands and franchises. The Studios and Networks Group represents an unmatched collection of world-class brands and content creators.
Dungey most recently served as Vice President of Original Series at Netflix. During that time, she played a part in bringing David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to Netflix, as well as championing a number of new overall producing deals with talent, including Regina King, Mara Brock Akil, Bill Prady, Michael Green, and Gina Rodriguez. She shepherded such high-profile series as “Self Made: Inspired By The Life of Madam CJ Walker,” starring Octavia Spencer, the Hilary Swank starrer Away, and two eagerly anticipated series from prolific Shonda Rhimes: the romantic period drama “Bridgerton,” and a yet-to-be-titled series inspired by the life of real-life conwoman Anna Delvey. She was also involved in the acquisition of Darren Starr’s series “Emily In Paris,” which recently debuted on the service.
Prior to that, she served as president of ABC Entertainment, overseeing all development, programming, marketing and scheduling operations for ABC primetime and late-night. During her tenure, she shepherded a wide variety of successful programming, including the hit drama “The Good Doctor,” and the successful return of “American Idol.” ABC was the most social network on air under her leadership, raising platforms for series such as “black-ish,” “How to Get Away with Murder” and “The Goldbergs,” and helping reinvigorate long-running series such as “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Warner Bros. Television Group is part of WarnerMedia’s new Studios and Networks Group which aligns the Company’s content-focused teams, bringing together the WB Pictures Group, HBO and HBO Max, WBTV, DC, kids/young adults/classics (Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, TCM, Cartoon Network Studios, WB Animation), TBS, TNT, TruTV, Wizarding World, consumer products, experiences, and gaming, and offers the unique opportunity for these divisions to work together across titles, brands and franchises. The Studios and Networks Group represents an unmatched collection of world-class brands and content creators.
Dungey most recently served as Vice President of Original Series at Netflix. During that time, she played a part in bringing David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to Netflix, as well as championing a number of new overall producing deals with talent, including Regina King, Mara Brock Akil, Bill Prady, Michael Green, and Gina Rodriguez. She shepherded such high-profile series as “Self Made: Inspired By The Life of Madam CJ Walker,” starring Octavia Spencer, the Hilary Swank starrer Away, and two eagerly anticipated series from prolific Shonda Rhimes: the romantic period drama “Bridgerton,” and a yet-to-be-titled series inspired by the life of real-life conwoman Anna Delvey. She was also involved in the acquisition of Darren Starr’s series “Emily In Paris,” which recently debuted on the service.
Prior to that, she served as president of ABC Entertainment, overseeing all development, programming, marketing and scheduling operations for ABC primetime and late-night. During her tenure, she shepherded a wide variety of successful programming, including the hit drama “The Good Doctor,” and the successful return of “American Idol.” ABC was the most social network on air under her leadership, raising platforms for series such as “black-ish,” “How to Get Away with Murder” and “The Goldbergs,” and helping reinvigorate long-running series such as “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Dungey joined the network’s drama development department in June 2009, during which time she developed and launched such hit series as “Scandal,” “Quantico,” “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “American Crime” and “Once Upon a Time.” Prior to that, she oversaw development and acquisition of drama programming for ABC Studios, where her slate included Shondaland’s “Private Practice,” and CBS’s long-running drama “Criminal Minds,” among many others.
Dungey’s experience in entertainment spans both television and film. She partnered with Pamela Post, and formed Dexterity Pictures, a production partnership focused on making both studio and independent films, as well as developing television series. She also served as president of Material, a film production company with a first-look deal at Warner Bros. Prior to that, she served for five years as a Warner Bros. production executive, helping to develop and supervise a diverse range of commercially successful, critically acclaimed films.
Dungey, who graduated magna cum laude from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television, has been a visiting professor at the school and serves on the school’s Executive Board. She is also a founding and current board member of Step Up, and a board member of Children’s Institute. Dungey is a Los Angeles member of BAFTA and serves on the Motion Picture Television Foundation Board of Governors.
# # #