Shannon Ryan

Shannon Ryan is president of Marketing for Disney Entertainment Television. She leads all marketing, publicity and communications strategies for ABC Entertainment, ABC News, Disney Branded Television, Hulu, Freeform, National Geographic, Onyx Collective and Disney Television Studios, which include 20th Television, 20th Television Animation and ABC Signature.

Recently named a 2023 Adweek Brand Genius and Digiday’s Leader of the Year, Ryan has also been honored as one of Adweek’s Top 30 Standout CMOs and Forbes’ Most Entrepreneurial CMOs. In 2022, she was celebrated by Variety as a “campaign czar” in its Digital Marketing Impact Report and was recognized for her leadership in Variety’s Women’s Impact Report, Cablefax’s Most Powerful Women, and Multichannel News’ Wonder Women of Los Angeles.

As a groundbreaking marketing leader, Ryan leads a team that executes media, creative, social, digital, publicity, experiential, talent relations, strategy, partnerships and award campaigns across Disney Entertainment Television’s extensive portfolio for over 250 series, specials and original movies. Recent campaigns include hit ABC shows “Abbott Elementary,” “American Idol,” “The Bachelor” franchise – including “The Golden Bachelor” – “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “The Oscars®”; Hulu Originals “Candy,” “Dopesick,” “The Dropout,” “The Great,” “The Kardashians,” “Nine Perfect Strangers,” “Only Murders in the Building” and “Pam & Tommy”; Disney Branded Television’s family favorites “Bluey,” “Goosebumps” and “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”; the popular Freeform series “Cruel Summer”; the Oscar® -winning film “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”; and the syndicated show “Live with Kelly and Mark.”

In 2023, she and her team helped garner 246 Emmy Award nominations and 43 wins across daytime, primetime, news and documentary, and children & family categories. Her team was also recognized across the top Marketing and PR awards lists in 2023, with 359 nominations and 205 wins – including 135 Promax Awards, 54 Clio Awards, 14 Golden Trailer Awards, and two Shorty Awards.

Under Ryan’s leadership, ABC regained and holds the title of No. 1 entertainment network for the fourth consecutive season – a first in 27 years – and garnered more Emmy Award nominations than any other broadcast network last year. ABC News’ “World News Tonight with David Muir” and “Good Morning America” continue to lead as the most-watched evening and morning news programs in America. This past year, ABC News Studios received its first-ever Primetime Emmy Award nominations for “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields,” which also debuted as the most-watched ABC News Studios program on Hulu. Additionally, since Ryan assumed oversight of Hulu Originals, the brand has seen a banner run in the documentary and unscripted series space with “Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence” and “God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty,” the latter becoming the most-watched documentary in the streamer’s history. Disney Branded Television continues to dominate with Disney Junior ending 2023 as the No. 1 preschool network and Disney Channel as the No. 1 cable network in the key demographic. She additionally oversees the strategy behind Disney Television Studios’ awards acclaim, with the studios having earned 54 Emmy nominations in 2023.

Ryan joined The Walt Disney Company after serving as the chief marketing officer of the Fox Television Group, a post she had held since 2015. In that role, Ryan oversaw all creative, media, social, digital and affiliate marketing, as well as strategy, brand partnerships, publicity, corporate communications, creative services and talent relations. During her tenure at FOX, the network’s multiplatform viewership grew by +19%; and she oversaw campaigns for many hit series including “24,” “9-1-1,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Glee,” “Empire,” “House,” “Last Man on Earth,” “The Masked Singer,” “New Girl” and “The Mindy Project.”