Striving to calm internal strife at E! and improve the entertainment channel's relations within the Hollywood community, Comcast Corp. is expected to name television veteran Ted Harbert as the new head of E! Networks as early as today, according to sources close to the situation.
Harbert, a television producer and former chairman and president of ABC Entertainment, would replace Mindy Herman. She was ousted as chief executive of E! Networks in late May amid allegations that she abused her power and alienated celebrities.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday July 03, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 37 words Type of Material: Correction
TV critics' gathering -- An article in Thursday's Business section about the new chief executive of E! Networks, Ted Harbert, said the nation's television critics would gather this month in Pasadena. They will meet in Los Angeles.
The sources said Comcast brass chose Harbert because it saw him as able to mend fences in Hollywood, stabilize the workforce and improve the ratings at E!, which have declined slightly since Herman took charge four years ago.
Unlike Herman, a lawyer with shallow roots in Hollywood before becoming the head of E!, Harbert is a television programmer with deep connections within the movie and TV industry. Clean-cut and affable, the 49-year-old executive is known for a more collaborative style than Herman, whom employees have described as confrontational.
Despite his lack of cable TV experience, Harbert may also have jumped to the top of the list in part because of his friendship with Comcast President Steve Burke, whose responsibilities were expanded this spring to include oversight of the cable giant's programming assets, including E! and its sister Style network.
Neither Burke nor Harbert would comment Wednesday.
The two worked together in the mid-1990s at Walt Disney Co., where Harbert headed ABC Entertainment and Burke ran the broadcaster's television and radio stations group. They both departed in the late 1990s, chafing under the leadership of Disney chief Michael Eisner.
Harbert had joined ABC after graduating in 1977 from Boston University and worked his way up the ranks to the top job at ABC Entertainment. Along the way, he helped guide such hits as "The Wonder Years" and "NYPD Blue."
Disney's purchase of Capital Cities/ABC Inc. in 1996 imposed a more centralized, hands-on management style. The last straw for Harbert came when a No. 2 was hired for the entertainment division without his input.
Harbert, who grew up in the New York suburbs the son of a television producer, has kept a mostly low profile since leaving ABC in 1997.
