The day any broadcast entertainment president gets hired is the day the countdown starts to when he or she will get fired. Being president of a broadcast network is not unlike being president of the United States: it’s a job that comes with term limits, although not pre-determined ones.

Thus, the ouster last week of ABC Entertainment Group President Paul Lee came as a surprise to probably no one, especially as ABC this season has fallen 14% among its key adult 18-49 demographics, and several of its new shows — The Muppets, Blood and Oil, Wicked City — were all DOA, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which on Monday ran an inside take on what really went down at the network.

Related: Paul Lee Resigns as President of ABC Entertainment

Last year’s story, unfortunately, is far different than the one ABC had to tell last year, when it was wowing everyone with its diverse casts in shows such as How to Get Away With Murder, Black-ish, Fresh Off the Boat and Scandal. Still, a broadcast network president is often only as good as the current season, and this one’s been tough.

In addition, as THR reports, Lee didn’t appear to be in sync with Disney/ABC TV Group President Ben Sherwood, who ascended to that position last February after running ABC News. Lee, a protégé of departed Disney Media Networks Co-Chair Ann Sweeney, had been in place since 2010.

Even less surprising, says THR, was Sherwood’s appointment of Channing Dungey to head ABC, moving up from executive VP of drama. Dungey appears to receive stellar reviews all around, and has a tight relationship with super-programmer Shonda Rhimes, who now owns Thursday nights at ABC with such shows as Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, Grey’s Anatomy and soon, The Catch, premiering on March 24.

Looking ahead, insiders expect Sherwood and Dungey to focus more on potential money-makers, such as multi-camera sitcoms (think The Big Bang Theory) and procedural dramas (think CSI or Law & Order), formats that sell well in syndication and in international markets.

For Sherwood, the game is always being played, he told THR: “I always told the folks at [ABC] News to play the game as if we were half-a-million viewers behind and never take anything for granted,” he said.. “It’s the same philosophy here: We’re in a nonstop battle. You gain ground, you lose ground, you keep fighting.”

Brief Take: Now that Sherwood’s made his move, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for ABC in a game that’s getting increasingly challenging for the broadcast nets.

Read more: The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline

[Images courtesy of The Wrap (Dungey), The Hollywood Reporter (Lee, Dungey)]

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