AMC merges Studios and Networks as Madden exits
August 15, 2019
AMC Networks is integrating its AMC Studios operation into its Entertainment Networks Group in a strategic realignment that it says will bring the studio under centralised leadership, closer to the networks for which it produces nearly a dozen current series.
Simultaneous to the realignment, David Madden, president of programming for the Entertainment Networks Group and AMC Studios, has decided to step down from that role later this month.
The Entertainment Networks Group encompasses the company’s four scripted networks, AMC, BBC AMERICA, SundanceTV and IFC, and AMC Premiere, the premium, ad-free expression of AMC, and is run by Sarah Barnett, president of the Entertainment Networks Group for AMC Networks.
“We are already seeing the benefits of our entertainment networks working more closely together – the next logical strategic step is to integrate AMC Studios into this same group, so that the people making our celebrated series are more closely coordinated with the marketing, scheduling and publicity teams who connect our shows to passionate fans,” Barnett said. “We believe this new structure best positions our nimble organization for success in an increasingly competitive environment. I thank David for being a wonderful and consummate executive and for the creative leadership he brought to the team. He is enormously respected and admired both by his colleagues across the company and the talented people who make our shows. He will be missed.”
“I’m proud of the work the programming team and I have done growing and nurturing our existing shows like The Walking Dead, Better Call Saul, Killing Eve Lodge 49 and others, while also finding fresh new voices and shows like NOS4A2, a new season of The Terror, the forthcoming Dispatches From Elsewhere a third series in The Walking Dead universe and a slate of strong new series in development,” Madden said. “I’m ready to move on and focus on new opportunities in the rapidly expanding content space, leaving the current programming and studio operations in good hands and positioned well for the future.”