Disney TV’s Craig Erwich on Managing a ‘Potluck Dinner’ of Content, Lessons From the Strike and Why Hulu Is Hunting for Standup Comedy

It’s not about volume, it’s about curation. It’s not about serving up shows for specific demographics so much as it is having something on the menu to satisfy subscribers’ ever-shifting moods and tastes.

So says Disney Television Group president Craig Erwich in discussing the art of managing content for Hulu Originals, ABC Entertainment, Disney Branded Television and Freeform. In a sit-down interview for the Variety podcast “Strictly Business,” the television veteran compares the modern job of overseeing programming and production of shows for a spectrum of outlets — spanning broadcast (ABC), cable (Disney Channel, Freeform) and streaming (Disney+, Hulu) — as akin to throwing a giant “potluck dinner.”

“Our strategy has never been about volume. It’s always been about curation and doing things well and focused. And that’s not just in development and production, but also in the launching and the marketing of these shows,” Erwich says.

Disney’s spectrum of linear channels provides a great engine for the company’s direct-to-consumer entertainment streamers, namely Hulu and Disney+, according to the exec.

“Our direct-to-consumer customers have a very wide array of tastes,” Erwich says. “We have to have something for everybody — not just the type of person they are but the mood they’re in. Somebody might be in the mood for [Hulu’s] ‘The Kardashians,’ and then they might want to tackle something more challenging, perhaps ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’ So by making sure that every brand is in its own lane, we can make sure that we spend our money and spread that across the potluck dinner that we’re throwing for our customers on a daily basis.”

Erwich joined Hulu as head of content in 2014. He spent 12 years as a programming executive for Fox Broadcasting Co. before that, followed by nearly seven years on the production side at Warner Horizon Television. His background as a program buyer and seller gives him unique perspective on how streaming is upending the conventions (and profit margins) of the pay-TV sector. At the same time, he sees greater potential than ever for the various branches of Disney’s TV and film empire to coordinate for the greater good. For one, Erwich sees ABC and other networks as being well served by making episodes readily available for catch-up viewing on streaming services. Hulu viewing has been huge for garnering fans for ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and crime drama “Will Trent.”

“These days we can serve broadcast shows better than we ever have, because we can put these shows where people want to watch them, when they want to watch them,” Erwich says. “There are people who still want to watch a show live when they come home from work that day, and we’re there for them. But there are people who want to watch a show a day later, a week later, two weeks later, and they can watch that on Hulu.”

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On the other end of the viewing spectrum, Erwich notes that Disney has embraced YouTube as an important platform to generate sampling for a selection of new and vintage shows. It’s important that Disney characters be accessible to the new generation of kids who turn reflexively to YouTube to find content.

“Young people are watching TV differently, and we have to meet them where they are. And we’ve also been really aggressive about programming on YouTube, because we know that a lot of our audience is there,” Erwich says. “We have a whole team that’s dedicated to that. The Disney Channel YouTube channel is one of the biggest ones on all of YouTube.”

Distribution savvy and marketing prowess are also important ways that Disney stands out in a crowded marketplace, both in courting viewers and subscribers as well as creative partners.

“When it comes to top talent [we say] that this is something that we’re good at and that we believe In, because these creators work on these shows tirelessly. It’s not just a product to them. It’s very personal. So you are handling their baby, and it needs to be handled with care, because we want repeat business from our from the creative community.”

Erwich points to the level of promotion that Disney can deliver companywide for major Mouse House priorities, such as FX’s “Shogun,” ABC’s “The Golden Bachelor” and the annual Oscars telecast or Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building.” Only Disney can work plugs for an event series a la “Shogun” into everything from theme parks and retail outlets to ESPN to “Jeopardy” to “Good Morning America” to “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” he says.

“We have this ‘Disney Spotlight.’ And there’s a couple of times a year, for a couple of strategic shows, that we turn it on. When we turn that on, you feel the difference,” Erwich says.

Despite the shifting sands of audiences moving to online platforms, Disney is continuing to invest in high-profile scripted procedural dramas for ABC. Those include the launch this month of procedurals “High Potential,” starring Kaitlin Olson, and “Doctor Odyssey,” toplined by Joshua Jackson. As evidenced by “Grey’s Anatomy,” which is closing in on 20 years and counting, procedurals can be a great investment. To wit, the Alphabet network was happy to take on Ryan Murphy’s first-responder potboiler “9-1-1” (produced by Disney’s 20th Television) once Fox dropped the show last year after six seasons.

“I don’t think [procedurals] get enough credit for is just how well executed they are,” Erwich says. “They’re deceptively simple, and speaking of timelessness, these are shows that are actually reflecting the world that we’re in. It was only the broadcast shows, when you think about it, that were dealing with the effects of the pandemic and the frontline workers. That was ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ‘9-1-1,’ the ‘Law & Order’ shows, ‘The Good Doctor’ [dealing] with those stories and showing in real-time the stories of the heroes.”

Other highlights from the conversation:

Hulu Ups the Yucks: A big push for Hulu in the coming months is stepping up the pace of original standup comedy specials offered on the platform. The “Hularious” initiative is “a natural progression of our comedy efforts,” Erwich said. “We’re going back to the playbook that we followed with our other original programming endeavors, which is about being in business with best-in-class talent and curation and creating an event for each of these. So we’ll have one a month, and we have a mix of comedians from Jim Gaffigan and Bill Burr to some more undiscovered voices that we’re excited to launch.”

Lessons from “The Golden Bachelor”: ABC was rewarded for taking a gamble last fall by putting a 72-year-old retired restaurateur in the spotlight of the long-running dating reality series. “It was one of the things that was a real point of pride that was celebrated kind of from the top of the company down last year, was ‘Golden Bachelor.’ It had been a long time in the making, but I think the [2023] strikes presented the perfect opportunity for us to launch it. That became something that was not just celebrated here because it was successful, but I think became one of the bigger cultural phenomenons of the television world last year. I think it came along at the right time. It was a show that, like many of the best ABC shows, had heart and humor at its core. It was aspirational and fun, and I think gave everybody something to watch together.”

Hopes for “The Golden Bachelorette”: Erwich is eager to see how the viewers react to the next iteration of thedating show, which bows Sept. 18 with 61-year-old private school administrator Joan Vassos at the center. “What’s so great about it is that obviously this time it’s the men competing for the woman’s hand. And the men are at an age where they all know who they are,” Erwich says. “They’re there to have fun. They’ve all accomplished what they need to accomplish [in their lives]. So they’re all rooting for each other, and they’re also rooting for her. The whole show is gives you something to root for. It’s something that puts a smile on your face from start to finish.”

An Old-School Relaunch for “9-1-1”: Erwich sometimes worries that the showmanship that once defined successful TV dramas may be ebbing in a world that is increasingly on demand. When “9-1-1” relocated to ABC in March this year, executive producers Ryan Murphy and Tim Minear made sure the stakes were high when Season 7 debuted. “Talk about a lost art. We kicked off [‘9-1-1’] with a good old-fashioned three-episode event of an emergency on a cruise ship. Ryan and Tim [rose] to the challenge once again,” Erwich says.