20th Century Fox TV chiefs Walden, Newman to helm Fox network

Fox Broadcasting is getting new leadership.

The network, which is coming off a disappointing season, will be overseen by Gary Newman and Dana Walden, the co-chairmen of 20th Century Fox Television, the television production unit of 21st Century Fox, people familiar with the matter said. An announcement of the restructuring, which had been anticipated, could happen as early as this week.

A Fox spokeswoman declined to comment.

Newman and Walden would essentially be filling the void left by the surprise departure of Kevin Reilly as chairman of entertainment for Fox at the end of May. The duo, who have overseen 20th Century Fox Television for about 15 years, will continue in that role as well.

Reilly’s departure came just weeks after Fox had unveiled its fall schedule to advertisers and the timing raised questions as to how confident Reilly’s bosses were about the lineup of new shows he had assembled. Those concerns, combined with the significant drop in ratings last season, led senior management at 21st Century Fox to reassess the network’s role in the larger company.

Walden and Newman are viewed as two of 21st Century Fox’s top executive talents. Among the shows that 20th Century Fox Television makes are the ABC hit “Modern Family” and Fox’s long-running cartoon hit “The Simpsons.” The studio also produced “How I Met Your Mother” for CBS, which ended its run last season.

However, the studio has not had much luck getting shows on its sister Fox network as of late. That has been a source of tension in the relationship between the network and the studio and something that will likely change now that the network will officially be under the studio’s control.

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