Guild to Honor ABC President McPherson with TV Showmanship Awards
Stephen McPerson, President of ABC Entertainment will be named 2006 Television Showman of the Year in recognition of his outstanding stewardship of the network during 2005. “Since assuming his current post in 2004, ABC has experienced the largest increase (17%) in the number of adults 18-49 watching primetime from one season to the next of any major network in at least 25 years,” said Henri Bollinger, Awards Committee chairman. “That’s an amazing feat that deserves to be recognized.” Under his leadership, ABC ended the 2004-05 season with the Top 3 new shows in Total Viewers and among the Adults 18-49 demographic —“Desperate Housewives,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and ”Lost” — all of which were developed by McPherson in his previous position as president of Touchstone Television. Furthermore, ABC claimed 4 of the Top 6 new shows of the season in Adults 18-49, with “Boston Legal” joining the list at No. 6. Past honorees include Les Moonves, Ted Harbert, Jerry Bruckheimer, Chris Carter, Rich Frank, Fred Silverman, Grant Tinker, Norman Lear, David Kelley, Steven Bochco, Marcy Carsey-Tom Werner-Caryn Mandabach, Aaron Spelling, Bob Hope and Garry Marshall, among others. The executive producers and co-creators of CBS-TV’s CSI franchise shared the award last year. More than 1,000 industry leaders are expected to attend the awards luncheon. Other awards to be presented include the Motion Picture Showmanship Award; the Lifetime Achievement Award; the Press and International Media Awards, voted upon by the entire Guild membership; the Les Mason Award, the highest honor from the Guild to a publicist for career achievements reflecting the highest standards of professionalism; the Bob Yeager Award which goes to a publicist in recognition of outstanding community service; and the Maxwell Weinberg Showmanship Awards for outstanding publicity campaigns of 2005 in films and television. 12-09 |
The ICG 43rd Annual Publicists Awards Luncheon, which began in 1964
when fewer than 200 publicists gathered to focus attention on the contributions
they make to the ultimate success of the movies and TV shows they represent,
will take place Wednesday, March 1st, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. This
year’s event is expected to attract more than 1,000 publicists, celebrities,
top industry executives and media from around the world.