ABC News, the stations were combined under the leadership of Disney veteran Debra O'Connell

Another major media company is merging its news division and local stations in hopes of reaping new profits from two companies hurt by the rise of live video streaming services.

Disney will put veteran executive Debra O'Connell at the helm of a new division that includes ABC News and the operations of its local stations, with ABC News President Kim Goodwin and Station President Chad Matthews reporting to her. The structure is similar to the one Paramount Global put in place last year when it combined CBS News, CBS Local and syndication stations under one executive, Wendy McMahon.

O'Connell will report to Dana Walden, co-president of Disney Entertainment. Meanwhile, Goodwin has renewed her contract to remain in her current position, although she will have a new layer of management between her and Disney's top executives.

“Debra is an excellent executive who has succeeded in a wide range of leadership roles at our company and knows well the extraordinary strength of ABC News and its world-class journalists,” Walden said in a statement. “This new role gives her oversight of all of our line operations, where she will be able to enhance and nurture our iconic brands into the future. I look forward to her leading these incredibly talented teams as we build on our success.”

O'Connell takes over ABC News at a confusing time, when more consumers are getting headlines and news breaks from digital and streaming media. ABC News has long enjoyed dominance in the country's evening and morning news slots, but those two programs, “World News Tonight” and “Good Morning America,” have recently declined among viewers ages 25 to 54 — the most popular demographic. By advertisers in news programs.

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