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As president, ABC Family, Paul Lee oversees the channel’s marketing, programming, operations and creative direction. Already during Mr. Lee’s tenure, ABC Family posted its highest rating for a scripted series with the premiere of Wildfire, and the show’s second season recently debuted, outperforming its freshman launch. In addition, in Spring ’06 ABC Family will air all-new episodes of the channel’s second scripted drama, Beautiful People, starring Daphne Zuniga, and this summer the channel will premiere an ambitious slate of four more dramas -- Falcon Beach, Kyle XY,Lincoln Heights and Three Moons Over Milford.
During Mr. Lee’s oversight of the channel, ABC Family posted its highest-rated and most-watched quarter ever (4Q ‘05), and finished 2005 with best-ever deliveries in the history of the channel in primetime with Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34 and Total Viewers.
Prior to joining ABC Family in April 2004, Mr. Lee was chief executive officer of BBC America, and was responsible for the development and launch of the company in March 1998, starting as general manager and chief operating officer. During his tenure, the hit comedy series The Office garnered two Golden Globes. Other shows under Mr. Lee’s supervision included the BBC’s Changing Rooms, which formatted into TLC’s signature show, Trading Spaces, the BBC version of What Not to Wear and the Graham Norton show. BBC America, since its initial launch in 1998, is now in 38 million homes.
Prior to heading BBC America, Mr. Lee spent several years at the BBC, most recently serving as channel editor for BBC Prime, the company’s 24-hour entertainment channel. He started his career as a reporter assigned to Belfast, Northern Ireland, at a particularly critical period in the conflict. Upon returning to London in 1987, he became a producer and director, going on to earn for BBC’s flagship series, Arena, a British Academy Award, as well as a BANFF Award for his documentary portrait of Woody Guthrie.
In 1990 Mr. Lee branched out into drama production, traveling to Moscow to direct Oblomov, starring George Wendt of Cheers fame. He also produced, directed and wrote TV movies. Before joining BBC in 1984, he worked as a production manager for novellas at the Brazilian national network, Rede Globo, in Rio de Janeiro.
Mr. Lee holds an MA in Modern Languages from Oxford University in England. He resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons. | 