Senior VP at ABC Entertainment Unit Quits

In the latest shake-up at ABC, Michael Rosenfeld resigned late Monday as senior vice president of the entertainment group after less than a year on the job, according to sources close to the firm.

ABC would not comment and Rosenfeld did not return calls. But sources say Rosenfeld resigned from the third-ranking position in the group because of friction with his new boss, Jamie Tarses, who became president of ABC Entertainment in June after holding a top programming position at NBC Entertainment.

Since ABC was purchased by Walt Disney Co. earlier this year, the network has suffered from falling ratings and management turmoil.

Rosenfeld, 34, joined ABC last fall after building a career as a top television agent at Creative Artists Agency. He was one of the first hires after Disney announced plans to purchase the network last summer.

Sources say he was lured in part by discussions with Disney President Michael Ovitz, who had been Rosenfeld’s boss at CAA. Ovitz founded the agency with Rosenfeld’s father and three others.

Sources say Rosenfeld believed he was promised he would become second in command at the network. Instead, the network brought in Tarses, 32, who had worked closely with Rosenfeld when he was an agent.

Rosenfeld’s role was called into question when Tarses had conversations with at least one development executive about a high-level position that would have outranked Rosenfeld, sources said. Though that didn’t happen, Tarses recently appointed teams responsible for developing new shows and overseeing ongoing production, with the teams reporting directly to her.

Neither Tarses nor Ovitz returned phone calls.