Network to Relocate Some Employees to Burbank
It’s official: ABC is relocating 240 employees, many of them television executives, from New York to Burbank.
ABC headquarters will remain in Manhattan but parent company Walt Disney is building offices across the street from the studio lot to absorb ABC creative managers and their staff. An ABC spokeswoman confirmed the move Monday, word of which had leaked out nearly a month ago.
“We feel that there is something to be gained by allowing our creative people greater access to each other,†said ABC spokeswoman Julie Hoover. “We want the companies to work as efficiently together as possible.â€
Already many ABC executives, including chairman Robert Iger, travel to Burbank for weekly meetings with top Disney executives.
Under the plan, several senior executives, including ABC Television Network President Patricia Fili-Krushel and ABC Daytime President Angela Shapiro, will be based in Burbank. Some executives will have offices on both coasts.
“This move recognizes the bi-coastal nature of the business,†Hoover said.
ABC will bring the bulk of its public relations staff to Burbank. The network also plans to move employees from its Culver City office to the new office building, which is under construction and is expected to open by September 2000.
ABC is offering incentives to New York employees who decide to relocate, Hoover said. She declined to elaborate.
Their deadline to decide is Aug. 31.
The move will not affect ABC News, ABC Sports and advertising-related divisions like sales and research, which will all remain in New York.
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