Peter DiCecco

Peter DiCecco is senior vice president and general manager, Music, Walt Disney Television. In this position, he oversees all dealmaking, business strategy, and business and legal affairs related to the production, acquisition and distribution of music for television programming produced by or for The Walt Disney Company. This includes The ABC Television Network, ABC Studios, ABC News, the Disney Channel networks, Freeform, FX Networks and FX Productions, Fox 21 Television Studios, National Geographic Partners and Twentieth Century Fox Television. He also oversees ABC’s creative music services department; administers the music publishing catalogs for ABC, Oprah Winfrey Productions and the Fusion network; and runs music business affairs for Disney Consumer Products and Disney Interactive internationally, and the Disney Theme Parks and Resorts globally. He reports to Ravi Ahuja, president of Business Operations, and CFO of Walt Disney Television.

DiCecco sets music policy for top-ranking TV franchises, such as “American Idol,” “Dancing with the Stars” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” and creates ancillary business opportunities for the music assets from such franchises. He also developed individual music strategies for the launch of Disney XD, Disney Junior, Fusion and Disney’s new Disney+ direct-to-consumer platform. He was also integral to the launch of ABC’s WATCH app, the television industry’s first live and on-demand TV Everywhere service. As part of his global responsibilities, DiCecco manages music business affairs for Disney’s TV productions produced worldwide, including those produced in Japan, Russia and India.

Previously as senior vice president, Music, Business and Legal Affairs, Disney|ABC Television, he co-created and launched the ABC Music Lounge on abc.com and forged strategic partnerships with iTunes, Amazon and major record labels to make Disney|ABC Television a welcome and profitable destination for top talent.

Prior to these roles, DiCecco was vice president, Music and Business Affairs, ABC Entertainment Group. As the head of music for ABC, he was responsible for setting music policies for The ABC Television Network and for brokering all music deals for the network, including its entertainment, daytime, sports, late-night and news divisions. During his tenure, he created Session Five, an Emmy®-winning music production library for ABC. DiCecco also designed and executed ABC’s first-ever New Artist Development Program to find and cultivate new musical talent to be featured on ABC properties.

DiCecco started at The Walt Disney Company as senior counsel in the intellectual property section of the corporate legal department. There, he provided counsel to Disney’s various business units, including Disney Cruise Lines, Disney Consumer Products, Buena Vista Home Entertainment and Disney Character Voices International. Among other things, he negotiated music deals for the grand opening of Disney’s California Adventure theme park and launched the “Radio Disney Jams” and “Grey’s Anatomy” soundtrack franchises. Additionally, he was a subject matter expert and member of Disney’s New Technology Committee, the first-ever user-generated content committee, and the Monetizing Streaming Content Committee, among others.

From 1994 through 1997, DiCecco was associated with the law firm of Gottlieb Schiff Bergman & Sendroff, P.C. in New York. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association and is registered in-house counsel in California.

DiCecco’s philanthropic activities were recognized when he was named The Walt Disney Company’s Executive Volunteer of the Year in 2016.