Did the next president of ABC News just walk in the door? Out of nowhere? Yesterday, ABC News president David Westin sent out an unusual email to "ABCTV News ALL" with an out-of-left field announcement: He was appointing "a single, senior executive to oversee all of our television broadcasts, replacing the structure in which the programs reported to several different people." That person: J. David (Dave) Davis , the just-former President and General Manager of WABC-TV, now the brand-new Executive Vice President responsible for ABC programs and related operations:

Reporting to me, Dave will oversee Good Morning America, World News, 20/20, Primetime, Nightline, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, and our overnight newscasts. Because they are so integrally related to our broadcasts, special events, our directors, and advertising and promotion will also report directly to Dave.

And just like that, David Westin had a number 2.

A number 2 out of nowhere, by the way — though Davis is well-liked and respected in the industry, importing him from left field to, well, oversee everything at ABC News is a whole different ball game (one exec at another network called Davis a "cipher"). Prior to Davis, there was no clear successor; according to ABC spokeswoman Cathie Levine, Davis' title (Executive VP) is brand-new and so is this new clear path of succession.

Westin cautioned that changes are to come thanks to Davis' "fresh perspective" and outlined a few of his own, specifically Paul Slavin's new position as SVP Digital at ABC News (from SVP Worldwide Newsgathering), reporting straight to Westin. It's actually an exciting new position — like it or not, digital is the brave new world of news and as we've noted before, ABC could use the help — but it's only exciting if you weren't sort of hoping to be, say, the next in line for president of ABC News. Slavin's roots are in the news division, as a producer and now managerially, and this can't be news he was pumped to receive. No doubt that's part of the reason that Westin was careful to laud Slavin for two whole paragraphs in his memo and emphasize how critical his new job was. Still, that came further down in the memo from the description of how important Davis' new job was.

Another potential heir was Phyllis McGrady , ABC lifer on the magazine side (GMA, 20/20, Turning Point, many a Baba Wawa special) now the new SVP Creative Development (reporting to Westin — "all of our programs and all of our digital outlets will have access to Phyllis and her team's creative horsepower"). Paul Mason is now SVP Politics (reporting to Davis) and Bob Murphy is now VP Administration (reporting to Davis).

NB: We asked Levine about what happened to the former positions held by these people, specifically Slavin's "SVP Worldwide Newsgathering" position. Would they be subsequently filled by other ABC Newsers? Per Levine: "That title and some of the other titles senior management held were dissolved. New titles for Davis, Slavin and others were created to reflect the new structure and responsibilities." Translation: Those who reported to Slavin now report to Davis.

One more cipher in the mix: What David Westin's plans are now. As mentioned above, prior to this shake-up — and no small one at that — Westin had no clear successor (though certainly there were contenders). Now, in one fell swoop, Westin all but arranged for his own tidy exit.

At this point the buzz seems muted (coverage has essentially reported on the contents of the memo ) — largely because it seems to have come as such a surprise. We shall see how things unfold.

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