In a Q&A with The Hollywood Reporter, Ben Sherwood discusses his upcoming role as the head of the Disney/ABC TV group. He even mentioned how Walt Disney World came into play:
Give us the backstory. How long did you know this was happening? When did you get the call from Iger?
It happened very quickly. A couple weeks ago we all got together, Anne Sweeney called us together for her announcement, which caught us all by surprise. Let’s just say most of us got all our news on what was going on by reading The Hollywood Reporter. Bob talked to a number of internal candidates. I spoke to him a couple weeks ago. My family, we went on vacation last week. Turns out we happened to be in Orlando at Walt Disney World for the week. This all came together very quickly between Space Mountain and Dumbo the Flying Elephant. That’s how it came together.
Ben Sherwood, who currently leads ABC News will immediately start working with Anne Sweeney as Co-President of the Disney/ABC TV Group. He will become sole President and Co-Chairman of Disney Media Networks upon Sweeney’s departure in February 2015.