Veteran TV executive Allison Rawlings is set to join Disney Entertainment in November, serving as the head of publicity and communications at FX. She comes to the prestige outfit after nearly a decade with NBCUniversal.
“FX’s communications strategy has always been founded on a passionate support for the artists who make our brand their home, as well as an unwavering commitment to respect for the journalists who cover our industry,” said FX chairman John Landgraf, to whom Rawlings will directly report. “With Allison at the helm of our publicity and communications team, we gain an admired leader whose experience, creativity and passion will continue and amplify FX’s work — and the integrity with which we pursue it.”
The role will see Rawlings guide strategic direction for FX publicity, communications and creative services, including talent relations, awards, events and photo publicity. Her oversight includes all consumer publicity campaigns for FX original series that air on linear channels FX and FXX as well as Hulu and Disney+. This newly created role fills the vacancy soon to be left by John Solberg, who announced this past summer that he’d be retiring after 28 years with the company at the end of his current contract.
“FX has long been synonymous with exceptional entertainment,” Rawlings said of her appointment. “After years of admiring them from afar, it’s a privilege and a thrill to be joining this incredible team.”
Despite cable’s shrinking influence and being subsumed under the vast Disney TV umbrella in 2019, FX remains a force in original programming. It notably topped all other platforms at the 2024 Emmys, including deep-pocketed HBO and Netflix, thanks to the success of Shōgun and The Bear.
As for Rawlings, her tenure at NBCUniversal found her most recently serving as EVP of communications for the television and streaming division — where she led a communications team across NBC, Peacock and six cable networks. She led brand positioning, executive visibility, creative campaigns, issues management and internal communications as well as the initiative to reposition Peacock during the run-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Prior to that, she held executive communications jobs at DreamWorks Animation and Geffen Playhouse.
A graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Rawlings serves on the national board of trustees for the Educational Theatre Foundation.