James Pitaro, chairman of ESPN, will get the Frank N. Stanton Award from the Center for Communication October 3. The reception happens at 583 Park Avenue in New York. 

Pitaro was named chairman in February 2023. Previously, he was chairman, ESPN and Sports Content, since October 2020. He was named ESPN president and co-chair, Disney Media Networks, in 2018. 

“Jimmy is a forward-thinking leader and is always focused on innovation, which has kept ESPN at the top of its game,” Center for Communication Chairman David J. Barrett said. “He is also deeply committed to creating an ESPN where everyone feels they belong, making diversity, equity and inclusion a core business priority. We are thrilled to honor Jimmy for his success and his shared passion for opening doors in the media industry for young people who have been traditionally under-represented.”

The Frank N. Stanton Award, named for the former CBS president, is given out to a media innovator and leader each year. Jo Ann Ross got it in 2022, Tina Perry in 2021, Soledad O’Brien in 2020 and Rita Ferro in 2019. 

When Pitaro was named president of ESPN in 2018, Bob Iger, then Walt Disney Company chairman and CEO, said, “Jimmy’s appointment was the result of more than 20 years spent at the intersection of technology, sports and media.”

The Center for Communication educates and inspires students seeking careers in media. “The Center for Communication plays an important role in creating the future of our industry,” Pitaro said. “I am proud to represent the people of ESPN in receiving this recognition.”

ESPN said Christine Driessen, its executive vice president and chief financial officer and one of the most prominent women executives in TV sports, will retire in January 2019.

"As you all know, Christine’s career is one of great accomplishment," ESPN president James Pitaro said in a note to employees announcing the move. "When she started with the company as its Controller in 1985, ESPN was a mere 450 employees, two buildings joined by a catwalk and a small offering of sports content. Today, ESPN represents the most preeminent brand in sports media entertainment, and Christine has played a major role in this growth story."

Driessen, who also is the longest serving member of ESPN's board of directors, made the decision months ago, Pitaro said.

A Multichannel News Wonder Woman (class of 2006) and a Women in Cable Telecommunications Woman of the Year (2014), Driessen was named ESPN's CFO in 1994. She will step down from day-to-day duties on July 1 and become an adviser to Pitaro, who succeeded former ESPN president John Skipper in March. 

"She has helped guide every significant business decision and every major negotiation (domestically and internationally) in which the company has engaged," Pitaro noted. "Christine’s keen financial acumen and business judgment are rivaled only by her boundless energy, humanity and courage. She has worked fiercely to grow and develop the members of her team, champion the cause of diversity and inclusion, and graciously serve as an example and sponsor for hundreds of women at ESPN, Disney, Hearst and companies throughout the media and sports industries." 

ESPN has stepped onto the direct-to-consumer field with the April 12 launch of the ESPN+ streaming service, featuring thousands of hours of live sports events and library content but avoiding marquee content such as live National Football League or National Basketball Association contests.

The $4.99-per-month offering — part of the network’s new, reimagined app that offers more personal and customizable elements for sports fans — will feature live Major League Baseball games through ESPN’s telecasts, as well as the MLB.TV out-of-market package; all games from Major League Soccer’s MLS Live package; live Top Rank Boxing fights; PGA Tour golf events; and Canadian Football League contests.

Along with the ESPN+ service, the ESPN app — which is available on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Google Chromecast devices, as well as Android and iOS mobile devices — will continue to offer authenticated live and on-demand programming for ESPN pay TV subscribers, as well as scores, news, highlights and audio.

“I consider these offerings the beginning of a new era of innovation at ESPN,” James Pitaro, ESPN president and co-chair, Disney Media Networks, said, though he declined to estimate how many subscribers ESPN+ might bring in.

Pitaro also said the network is very interested in partnering with MVPDs on offering ESPN+ as part of their service, but he would not provide specific details.

“Our DNA is all about innovation — it’s a big part of our legacy — and we believe that we now have an opportunity to serve sports fans in new and innovative ways that, quite honestly, no one else can,” he added.

ESPN+ is the latest direct-to-consumer sports service to launch this year, following CBS’s CBS Sports HQ and Turner Sports’s Bleacher Report Live streaming service.

Tania Yuki, CEO and founder of social media research company Shareablee, said more digital sports services could emerge as consumer viewing online continues to increase.

“Sports is one of the few things that really needs to be consumed as its happening,” she said. “As lifestyles change and people become more mobile, anyone who has access to that viewer on a mobile device is going to be much more aggressive about giving them the content that they want so they don’t miss out on that viewing time.”

ESPN executive vice president and chief technology officer Aaron LaBerge spoke with Multichannel News senior content producer – programming R. Thomas Umstead about what to expect with ESPN+ and the new ESPN app. Here’s an edited transcript of their interview.

MCN: What should sports fans expect to experience with the new ESPN app?
Aaron LaBerge: First of all, we’re saying sports fans are going to see a completely reimagined ESPN app which is going to have more high fidelity, visual interface enhancements — in short, the app is just going to feel better. It’s going to have a completely new video section. We’re leveraging the best of [BAMTech Media’s] video streaming technology, including cloud based DVR, pause and rewind and restart, within the app. Of course, we’re going to be introducing ESPN+, which is the first time through the ESPN app that a fan will be able to buy a video subscription directly from us.

MCN: How important is ESPN+ for the company in an environment where competition in the TV sports arena continues to grow across all platforms?
AL: We still have a lot of people watching TV and authenticating in our app and taking full advantage of the cable subscription within our app; this is just another outlet that gives us more options to sell directly to fans and establish a more direct relationship with them. I think if you step back and think about the ESPN app as the ultimate marketplace for sports fans, you think about the fact that we want to serve every need of every fan in the world. You do that by offering scores, news and information, which is what we do today. We do that through our distributors — when you subscribe to cable, you can consume that same content in our app. And now we can sell our content directly. All those things sum up to be the ultimate sports experience. We don’t look at one versus the other, instead we see it as giving more options gto consumers.

MCN: Why is this such an important time strategically to launch ESPN+?
AL: There’s just an incredible amount of sports content — we did somewhere between 19,000 live events last year give or take. There’s so much content from all different sports that exist out there, it makes for a very rich environment for doing this. As we move into a more personalized world where we’re serving the needs of the individual fan versus all fans, I think this becomes more critical so that we can serve every fan who may have some niche interest. We want to be able to serve that fan as well as the people that are interested in the Yankees and the Red Sox.

MCN: On the programming side, what will be most appealing to viewers?
AL: ESPN+ is really an incredible value for sports fans. You get all of the MLS games; you get the 30 for 30 library of the best sports documentaries in the world, along with 5,000 to 10,000 other events throughout the year. I think it’s an incredible value for any of those things alone, let alone all of it and much more.

Former ESPN president John Skipper said he suddenly left the sports network late last year because he was using cocaine and was being extorted by a drug supplier.

In an interview in The Hollywood Reporter, Skipper said that, facing exposure, he told his family and his boss, The Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger, about his addiction.

That conversation led to his leaving ESPN.

Related: Skipper Resigns as ESPN President

“They threatened me, and I understood immediately that threat put me and my family at risk, and this exposure would put my professional life at risk as well," Skipper said. "I foreclosed that possibility by disclosing the details to my family, and then when I discussed it with Bob, he and I agreed that I had placed the company in an untenable position and as a result, I should resign.”

Skipper’s resignation came as a shock to ESPN staffers. Just days before, he’d addressed employees, outlining his plans for pushing the company into the future.

The finality of the resignation on Dec. 18 hit him hard, he said.

"That’s the day, of course, that there is no turning back; it’s done, it’s gone, it’s public," Skipper said. "It was miserable. I spent it mostly by myself in New York City. I cry sentimentally at movies, but I never cry personally. That’s the only day that I cried. And I cried because I realized the profundity of what I’d done to myself, to my family, and that I’d given up the best job in sports on the planet."

Earlier this month, Disney said that ESPN’s new president would be Disney exec Jimmy Pitaro. Skipper was asked what he thought of the announcement.

“Yeah, of course it has a certain pang to it," he said. "Because it has a sort of definitive finality, that OK, somebody new is going to be in charge. The good news is that Jimmy Pitaro is a good guy; I like Jimmy very much. He’s a good, smart executive. His style will work at ESPN. I wish him well, and (laughs) I hope he does better than the last guy!”

The Walt Disney Co. on Monday (March 5) named James Pitaro as president of ESPN and co-chair Disney Media Networks.

Pitaro has been chair of Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media since 2016.

Related: CNN’s Zucker a Candidate for ESPN Job: Reports

He replaces John Skipper, who stepped down last year because of personal issues. Since Skipper left, former ESPN chair George Bodenheimer has been running the sports network as acting chairman.

Though a leader in the sports business and a top rated network, ESPN has been hurt by the decline in pay-tv subscribers because it takes in the most revenue per subscriber of any cable network. At the same time as its distribution revenue growth has been throttled by cord-cutting, its costs for sports programming have been rising, putting pressure on profits.

ESPN is getting ready to launch a new app that will include ESPN Plus, a new subscription product that will offer live sporting events, origianl content and a library of on-demand programming.

Related | broadcastingcable.com: ESPN Plus Service Will Cost $4.99 Per Month

“As a passionate and lifelong sports fan, I am honored to be joining the ESPN team during such a pivotal time in its storied history,” Pitaro said. “The appetite for quality sports content across platforms has never been greater, and I am looking forward to working with the talented ESPN team as we continue to redefine the future fan experience.”

Pitaro’s appointment is effective immediately, and new leadership for Disney’s consumer products and interactive businesses will be named at a later date.

Before joining Disney, Pitaro served as head of Yahoo Media, where he helped build Yanoo Sports.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said that Pitaro's experence makes him the right person to head ESPN.

"Jimmy is a talented and dedicated leader with the right strategic vision, relentless drive and passion for sports required to lead the stellar ESPN team at this incredibly dynamic time," Iger said. "Jimmy forged his career at the intersection of technology, sports and media, and his vast experience and keen perspective will be invaluable in taking ESPN into the future. I also want to extend my utmost thanks to George Bodenheimer for serving as Acting Chair of ESPN these past few months; he is a true industry pioneer and helped make ESPN the undisputed leader in sports."