Channing Dungey, Senior Black Entertainment Executive in Large Network, Leaves ABC

Leslie Moonves, the former CBS executive director who played an important role in the network's programming decisions, was expelled in September following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. NBC president of entertainment, Robert Greenblatt, resigned the same month after a successful race. And in October, Fox announced that the CMA executive, Charlie Collier, would become the new head of entertainment within the broadcast network.

The change was already in the ranks of leaders at ABC and Disney because of the pending agreement with Fox. Peter Rice, a veteran of Fox for three decades, will become the president of Walt Disney Television. Dana Walden, the current co-CEO of Fox Television Group, will become president of Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment.

Had Ms. Dungey been stuck, she would have reported to Ms. Walden. (Ben Sherwood, the current boss of Ms. Dungey and president of the Disney-ABC television group, will leave the company once the sale is concluded.) Now, Ms. Burke will assume that role.

Ms. Burke joined Freeform in 2014 and worked for years as a producer. In the mid-1990s until 2003, she was executive at NBC.

Ms. Dungey was rarely left out of talking points at media gatherings, but Ms. Burke was freer at her public appearances. When she was interviewed last year at a television conference in Austin, Texas, about what she thought of ways to spend Netflix money, Ms. Burke replied, "With disdain."

She will have a lot of work to do at ABC. Although ratings continue to slide in all TV channels, ABC has recorded the biggest drop of the season among broadcast networks, an uncomfortable position for an already secure network. There will be an urgent problem to settle from the start: many of ABC's hit comedies – "Black-ish", "Fresh Off the Boat", "American Housewife" and "Speechless" – have recorded an alarming downfall ratings. in the first two months of the season, according to Nielsen.

In a statement, Ms. Burke said, "ABC is a beloved brand and I am honored to continue the legacy left by Channing, who offers an excellent narrative that touches the hearts of so many people."