Jamie Tarses Isn’t Leaving, ABC Says

Jamie Tarses’ topsy-turvy three-year run as president of ABC Entertainment took another bizarre twist on Monday when the company was sent into turmoil by what it characterized as an erroneous report indicating that the 35-year-old executive would be asked to resign.

The report, posted on Newsweek’s Web site, said it was “likely” that Tarses would be let go this week. After a lengthy meeting with Tarses on Monday evening, however, ABC Group Chairman Robert Iger issued a statement saying, “It is simply untrue.”

The tumult comes as parent Walt Disney Co. begins the process of consolidating Buena Vista Television, the studio’s production arm, with ABC--a plan announced six weeks ago--designed both to cut costs and facilitate placing more Disney-produced shows on the network. Personnel changes and layoffs are underway as part of that decision, including the firing Friday of Steve Tao, ABC’s vice president in charge of drama series development.

Disney’s announcement of the reorganization has already led to much confusion about the new management structure, adding to the layer above Tarses by installing Lloyd Braun--former head of Buena Vista Television--as co-chairman of the ABC Television Entertainment Group, along with Stu Bloomberg.

The timing of all this uncertainty is awkward, since ABC is about a month away from the start of the new prime-time TV season. ABC ranks third among adults age 18 to 49--the group most avidly sought by advertisers--and in total audience.

Industry sources say the latest round of speculation is demonstrative of the ongoing churn that has characterized both Disney and ABC in recent years.

“At some point, it takes a toll,” said one rival network executive of the rumors. “It’s destructive.”

ABC’s ratings have declined during Tarses’ tenure, which has been marked by an unusual amount of discord, beginning with the near-warfare that erupted with NBC over her recruitment by Disney from that network in 1996.

Reports speculating about Tarses’ ouster first surfaced only a year into her tenure, when Bloomberg was installed above her in 1997.