John Skipper Resigns as ESPN President, Citing Substance Addiction Problem -- Update
December 18 2017 - 12:26PM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Flint
John Skipper, president of Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN and
co-chairman of its Disney Media Networks unit, has resigned, citing
substance-abuse issues, the network said Monday.
ESPN said George Bodenheimer, Mr. Skipper's predecessor as head
of ESPN, would return to the company as acting chairman for three
months while a search for a permanent successor is competed.
"I have struggled for many years with a substance addiction. I
have decided that the most important thing I can do right now is to
take care of my problem," Mr. Skipper said in a statement. "I have
disclosed that decision to the company, and we mutually agreed that
it was appropriate that I resign."
Robert Iger, chief executive of ESPN-majority owner Disney, said
in a statement that he wished Mr. Skipper well "during this
challenging time" and expressed thanks to Mr. Bodenheimer for
returning to stabilize ESPN while a new leader is found.
The leadership transition is happening at a pivotal moment for
ESPN, which is trying to calibrate its long-profitable TV business
for a media environment when more consumers are cutting back on
cable TV subscriptions.
It also comes as Disney has a pending $52.4 billion acquisition
of assets from 21st Century Fox -- a deal announced just last week.
One key feature of that deal would be Disney's taking on of Fox's
regional sports networks, which would likely have to be integrated
with ESPN.
Mr. Skipper, a well-regarded sports and media executive, had a
two-decade tenure at ESPN and assumed the top post in 2012. His
abrupt exit comes just a month after he renewed his contract to
stay with ESPN through 2021.
ESPN has long been the most expensive channel in the cable TV
bundle, and delivered reliable profits for Disney for years. But in
the past two years, the company has faced wrenching change in the
pay TV business, and has lost millions of network subscribers.
The sports juggernaut has had to endure multiple rounds of job
cuts this year, as it tries to trim in certain areas such as talent
and production, and add resources in the digital arena. Recently,
ESPN said it would discontinue some evening editions of its
newscast SportsCenter, while producing a version of the show for
Snapchat.
The next leader of ESPN will have to manage the launch this
spring of a new streaming service called ESPN Plus, which is meant
to appeal to cord-cutters who are abandoning traditional TV. The
streaming service from ESPN will air live sports such as hockey and
tennis that don't air on the cable TV network.
Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 18, 2017 12:11 ET (17:11 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024