ESPN Needs 5 Subs to Take Place of Former Starting Programming Director
Disney's (DIS) - Get Report sports broadcasting unit ESPN appointed five executives earlier this week to lead the wide-ranging areas comprising its programming and production efforts, all reporting to ESPN President John Skipper.
The five are set to replace John Wildhack, who served as executive vice president, programming and production, as he prepares to step out of the network in order to take up a job as the athletic director of Syracuse University, his alma mater.
Mike Soltys, a spokesperson at ESPN, said Tuesday that the move is not part of a larger restructuring. Rather, the company said, it believes five people are needed to do Wildhack's job.
"It is a reflection of the scope of the operation and the ability of the people on the team who can do that," he said in a phone interview.
The sports broadcasting company is embattled with a loss of 3.2 million subscribers in barely more than a year as more households cut their cable cords or taking packages that exclude the expensive network. ESPN has eliminated some of its on-air talent in cost-reducing measures.
Most recently, ESPN reportedly agreed recently to acquire a one-third stake in Major League Baseball's video streaming unit, and negotiate with large online distribution companies to carry its programming.
The negotiations are also believed to include Amazon (AMZN) - Get Report and Facebook (FB) - Get Report , which are looking to up their live programming coverage.
Here's who is replacing the long-time EVP of programming.
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Stephanie Druley, the senior vice president of event and studio production, will be working on ESPN's remote production studio shows connected to events like the NFL and MLB. She is no stranger to ESPN or its operations -- the 24-year veteran started as a production assistant and climbed through the ranks.
Druley is a force to be reckoned with in the sports media world. In 2014, she was named to Sports Business Journal's list of "Game Changers" and in 2015 to CableFax's "Most Powerful Women." She was the vice president of production for the 24/7 University of Texas channel Longhorn Network at ESPN since March 2011.
She formerly oversaw production for the college networks at ESPN and also helped launch ESPN's SEC Network.
Before joining Longhorn Network, she was a senior coordinating producer in the studio production department. She oversaw all of ESPN's NFL studio shows, including "Sunday NFL Countdown" and "NFL Live," and was responsible for ESPN's annual on-site coverage of the Super Bowl.
For more than a decade before that, she was the coordinating producer of "Sunday NFL Countdown," heading the two-hour weekly NFL preview that won three Emmy Awards. In 2006, she led a summer series in collaboration with the Make-A-Wish Foundation that covered the sports-related wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions.
Rob King, senior vice president, SportsCenter and News, will continue oversight of ESPN's franchise. King is a past Pulitzer Prize judge, a member of the Associated Press board of directors, the National Sports Journalism Center's advisory board and the chairman of Poynter Institute's National Advisory Board. In 2016, he was named to the Board of the Center for Investigative Reporting.
King had his start in print, working at the Philadelphia Inquirer as graphic artist, deputy sports editor, assistant managing editor and deputy managing editor from 1997-2004. He also did stints at the Louisville Courier-Journal, the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, N.J., and the Commercial-News in Danville, Ill.
King was named by Fast Company among its "Most Creative People 2014." In early 2016, Forbes Magazine recognized him as one of the Top 25 most influential minorities in sports.
As the former senior vice president of content, ESPN digital and print media, King managed more than 200 editors, writers and designers across ESPN.com and its network of related sites, ESPN the Magazine and espnW.
In June 2007, he was named vice president and editor-in-chief of ESPN.com. In 2004, he joined ESPN as a senior coordinating producer in the studio production unit.
Burke Magnus is to continue on as executive vice president of programming and scheduling, a position he held since May 2015 after having served as senior vice president, programming and acquisitions. In 2013, SI.com named Magnus the fifth "Most Powerful Person in College Sports," months after being given the National Football Foundation's prestigious Legacy Award. In 2006, Magnus was named to the distinguished Sports Business Journal Forty Under 40, honoring the most promising young executives in sports business under the age of 40. Most recently, Forbes named him No. 11 on the "Most Powerful People in College Sports" list in January.
Magnus has been at ESPN since 1995 as a program associate. By 2004, he was named the vice president and general manager of ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network. In March 2008, he became the senior vice president of college sports programming.
Connor Schell, senior vice president of ESPN films and original content, will also be responsible for the production of the ESPN2 daytime lineup, including "First Take," "His & Hers" and "Mike & Mike." He will also manage NBA studio shows, ESPN Audio and the talent office. Connor will split his time among New York, Bristol and Los Angeles.
In 2012 and 2016, Schell was on the Sports Business Journal's "Forty Under 40" and, in 2012, was on Multichannel News' "40 Under 40," both for being a promising young executive in sports business.
Schell earned an Emmy Award in 2015, two Emmy Awards in 2014, and a Peabody Award in 2010 for the ESPN 30 for 30 series, 30 for 30 has also won awards at the NAACP Image Awards, the IDA Awards, the Webby Awards, and the Edward R. Murrow Awards.
The ESPN films program "Black Magic," which Schell executively produced, received a Peabody Award in 2008.
Before being promoted to his current position, Schell was the executive producer of the 30 for 30 series from 2007-11. Previously, he was senior director of program development, ESPN original entertainment. Before that, he was director of programming strategy.
Norby Williamson, executive vice president of production, will continue to oversee production operations, remote operations, stats and information, creative and studio direction, ESPN international production (with Tim Bunnell) and ESPN deportes production. He will add oversight of production and media sponsorship integration and an "at-large" creative television role to assist each of his colleagues in their new or expanded roles to develop new initiatives and enhance all of ESPN's existing programming.
Williamson joined ESPN in 1985 as a production assistant and rose through the ranks, being named executive vice president in 2007.
From May 2015, when he assumed his current role, until July 2016, Williamson also managed ESPN Audio and ESPN2's daytime programs, like "Mike & Mike," "First Take" "His & Hers." He had previously served as executive vice president, production, program scheduling and development since January 2014.
Before that that, he was the executive vice president of programming and acquisitions, starting in January 2012.