Debra OConnell is president of networks for Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, where her duties include P&L oversight of all Disney linear channels, as well as business planning, network/channel commercial marketing and audience strategy for the ABC network, its owned stations and cable networks that include Disney Channel, ESPN Networks, FX Networks and National Geographic. 

ABC Owned Television Stations is a peerless group, seizing the lion’s share of ratings points and viewer loyalty in its eight markets, and earning the division B+C’s Station Group of the Year honors in 2022. 

OConnell took on the expansive role in late 2020, following her stint as WABC New York president and general manager. She’s also chair of the International Radio & Television Society (IRTS) and is on the board of directors for the TVB and The Broadway Association. 

She spoke with B+C about her 2022 highlights, how broadcast stays relevant in an increasingly mobile world and what she’s looking out for in 2023. An edited transcript follows.

B+C: What drew you to the president of networks position a couple of years ago?

Debra OConnell: It was the perfect elevation and transition, all at the right time. What drew me to this role was the opportunity to take my, at that time, 23 years of experience across Disney and almost 30 years across the industry. You think about how your skill set has prepared you for an opportunity like the one that was in front of me, meaning I had both the business and creative and content sides. I had an opportunity to continue to keep the No. 1 station in the country [WABC New York], and this incredible team, as part of my purview, as well as having the opportunity to work across our networks again. 

Thinking about the businesses that had so many similarities and adjacent opportunities, it was a very attractive opportunity for me to consider. 

B+C: How did running WABC prepare you for this position?

DO: When you’re leading a television station, especially one with the size and the market scope of WABC in New York, and also have the opportunity to lead a national syndicated show, Live with Kelly and Ryan, you think about the fact that you’re sitting in multiple spaces — everything from news, from original content development, long form and short form. We had just launched our CTV apps while I was at WABC. Touching every platform, as well as working extremely closely with our distribution team because of our content sales and distribution with Live with Kelly and Ryan, and also the national efforts there … The fact that New York is such an important market in terms of driving our network business, whether it’s ABC Entertainment or ABC News — working closely with those groups and also having the opportunity to be part of The Walt Disney Company, we would tap into telling the stories around the stories that were being told. It was great access to content, and having that wide breadth and depth of experiences and touchpoints, as well as running the P&L for the station and the entire business operations — it prepares you to do that more broadly, either taking those best practices and working across various groups, or being able to collaborate in a really deep way with partners across the organization and the industry.

B+C: How do you ensure that the networks have the same presence for users on the go as they do for linear viewers?

DO: We have very robust TV everywhere platforms. Our ABC app actually gives you access to a variety of content opportunities. As an authenticated user, you can watch us live, and we were the first broadcaster to be live inside of a mobile on-the-go platform. At the same time, we have offerings for those that are not authenticated. News is something that we want our communities to have access to at any given time. 

We are constantly improving and looking at our user experience inside of ABC News and ABC Owned Television Stations. Earlier this year, we launched a few efforts to make sure that we are connected with our audiences wherever they may be or how they choose to be served. One was our 24/7 ABC Owned Television Stations streaming channels across our eight markets. We developed a really great partnership in terms of programming and scheduling and content windowing between ABC News Live and ABC Owned Stations. Inside of Hulu, if you are in any of our eight markets, you have an ABC News Live channel that gives you the best of both national and local news. 

We’re constantly looking at ways that our consumers want to connect with us in any space, and certainly the opportunity to connect with them on the go through a variety of different access points. We want to make sure that they have the opportunity to engage with us, to get information from us, for us to entertain them. 

B+C: What are you most proud of in terms of your portfolio this year?

DO: First, the team. The entire team, across not only the networks group, but the entire company, because it is a team sport. 

Second, and almost tied with first, our strength, our No. 1 positioning against our competitive set, in each of the areas of focus that we have across our networks, across ABC Owned Television Stations. We know that we’re serving our communities and our audiences the way they want to receive us, because they’re engaging with us. 

The fact that we continue to have growth in live entertainment — everything from year-to-year increases in the Oscars, the CMA Awards, New Year’s Rockin’ Eve — we have a really great opportunity to continue to showcase our strengths. When you think about sports, we are experiencing our high-water mark over the last three years across ESPN and ESPN2, and our ABC Sports portfolio as well. 

We have the largest-growing cable network, FXX. We serve our audience with a very specific programming strategy that we developed around adult animation, and that’s given [FXX] incredible growth this year. 

B+C: When you look ahead to 2023, what’s the biggest challenge for broadcast networks?

DO: Environment. The last several years have been somewhat challenging, from a news-coverage perspective, because there are many shifts and turns. At times it feels like a scripted narrative, as if we were actually creating a series like what we’re living through. Health care is part of it. You’re covering really challenging moments for communities,
which affect everybody who works for you and affects the long-term ability to continue to serve. But these teams are resilient across the entire industry. 

And then competition. I don’t see it as something that takes over the strong
position that we have as broadcasters and our networks group. It’s share of attention. We want to continue to make sure that we’re providing the highest quality and continue to be the best in the business, because consumers have choice. We need to make sure that we are fulfilling their value proposition. That’s more of a continued challenge in a positive way. 

B+C: Tell me about your efforts to mentor young executives.

DO: One of my favorite quotes is, life begins at the end of your comfort zone. As opportunities come, some executives or some who are aspiring to be executives are often concerned with, do they have the right qualifications? I encourage those to consider not only elevations, but job expansions where possible, meaning, is there an opportunity for a budding executive to take sometimes a lateral move to grow their expertise? I’ve done that several times. 

We’re very fortunate to work for The Walt Disney Company. Our access to opportunities is limitless. There’s no better place to become a student of the business and there’s no better place to open up opportunities to expand not only your knowledge, but to raise your hand for stretch assignments so that you can lean into different opportunities. It gives you a chance to realize what you love, and maybe what you don’t love. 

There’s nothing that is more rewarding to me than to see young potential executives continuing to grow and being a part of that. Maybe they’ve taken a bit of your advice
and it’s helped them throughout the course of their career. 

I also try to remind people that they should always throw kindness like confetti. ■

NAME: Debra O’Connell
TITLE: Executive VP, Ad Sales and Marketing
COMPANY: Disney-ABC Television Group

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Creative deals made since the Disney-ABC sales reorganization; Disney VoluntEARS efforts

QUOTABLE: “In 2018, I am looking forward to continuing to test and learn in new environments, whether through ad formats or creative executions, and layering on technology to all that we are doing.”

When Rita Ferro, president of Disney-ABC Ad Sales, learned that the company was going to be reorganizing from three different sales organizations to one, there was one person she knew for sure she wanted to have by her side. That was Debra O’Connell, now executive vice president, sales and marketing, Disney-ABC Television Group.

“I specifically hand-picked her based on her skill set and drive, her success in building and managing teams and her understanding of how best to work with business partners,” said Ferro. “We are very aligned strategically in what we define as success and what we both know is important.”

That sales reorganization happened last February, when Disney-ABC Television Group ad sales was shifted from three teams that served ABC, Freeform and the Disney cable networks — Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior — to one team serving all of those properties, including linear and digital networks and Radio Disney.

The intention is to allow clients to run tailored campaigns across Disney-ABC networks that reach consumers from childhood to adulthood. For example, Walmart might want to advertise baby food to new moms, toys to younger kids, books and movies to older kids and economical prices to parents.

Results Through Creativity
“We are looking to drive results through creativity,” O’Connell said. “Doing that is breaking through the day-to-day clutter that advertisers can feel because there are so many [sellers] hitting them up for potential sponsorships. Our [intellectual property] is important to driving results because of the engagement we get. We offer the opportunity to reach consumers at all life stages.”

For example, ABC partnered with Dick Clark Productions to lock down a record number of sponsors for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2018. Sponsors included Allstate, Pepsi, Planet Fitness and Uber. The broadcast showcased two new ad formats, branding the on-screen countdown clock and splitting the screen during commercial breaks. Disney-ABC also worked with those sponsors to create custom content. Pepsi and Uber took their turns on the countdown clock, with Uber reminding viewers from 11: 30 p.m. to 1 a.m., “If you drink, don’t drive.”

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In another example, ABC partnered with Mitsubishi Motors North America to market its Eclipse Cross during ABC News’s coverage of the total solar eclipse on Aug. 21. The car made its first appearance that morning on ABC’s Good Morning America and the automaker was the exclusive sponsor of the network’s two-hour special, The Great American Eclipse, which aired from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. that day.

Finally, Jimmy Kimmel Live! returned to Brooklyn for a week in October, each night featuring a major integration with a different brand, including Bank of America and Google Home Mini. The Google Home Mini spot featured a flashback of Kimmel’s actual family eating dinner together and arguing; it then returned to the present day to show Kimmel resolving the argument by asking Google for help.

“Advertisers are understanding what we are trying to do by taking that initial step with us,” O’Connell said. “Since last spring, when we first started bringing our groups together, we’ve seen a very large increase in the types of creative executions that we are bringing to marketing.”

O’Connell has prepped for these changes over her 20 years at the company, with posts that include president of ABC National Television Sales (where she led national ad sales at ABC’s eight owned stations in New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Philadelphia; San Francisco; Houston; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; and Fresno, Calif.), along with several posts within the multimedia sales and marketing divisions at ABC Television. She began her career as an account executive for two of Liberty Broadcasting’s radio stations, and as marketing director for DiCarlo Distributors.

While O’Connell’s job requires expertise across all facets of television advertising sales and marketing, it’s her people skills that allow her to really shine, Ferro said.

Good at Getting to ‘Yes’
“Debra knows how to build relationships. She understands that it’s how we’re going to get to ‘yes.’ She understands that it has to be a mutual win for both us as a company and for the client,” Ferro said.

O’Connell also applies this philosophy to the way she hires the people around her. “No matter the size of your business, you have to have a great team,” she said. “I’m a big believer in hiring the best people — smart and hard-working, of course, but that they are good people at heart is the most important aspect of that equation.”

While overseeing a large team, O’Connell manages to put her family first and make time to volunteer, both through the Disney VoluntEARS, which has connected her to groups such as the Boys and Girls Club, and at her daughter’s school.

“I feel like anyone who has success in their life can find time to give back,” O’Connell said. “Paying it forward is always the best medicine for anyone.”

Said George Bodenheimer, who recently returned to ESPN as interim CEO and was an early mentor: “Debra always knew the issues and the facts and she was able to articulate a vision. You could tell that she had that ‘it’ factor to become a serious leader. She’s committed to the company, but her family comes first. She’s dedicated to her family and dedicated to the company, and that’s a winning combination.”