With ESPN executive vice president John Wildhack departing as of July 28 to become athletic director at Syracuse University, the programmer named five executives currently at ESPN who will lead programming and production roles, reporting to ESPN president John Skipper.
Stephanie Druley has been named senior VP of event and studio production from SVP of production, college networks. On top of her college production duties, she will take over responsibility for ESPN's remote production portfolio including studio shows directly connected to those events such as NFL and MLB. She will split her time between the Charlotte and Bristol production facilities.
Rob King, SVP, SportsCenter and News, will continue in that role with oversight of that important ESPNfranchise. Burke Magnus will continue in his role as executive VP, programming and scheduling, responsible for program acquisitions and rights holder relations and scheduling the unparalleled 50,000 hours of programming ESPN’s networks air each year. Connor Schell, SVP, ESPN Films and original content, will add management of NBA studio shows, ESPN Audio and the Talent Office to his prior duties, splitting his time among New York, Bristol and Los Angeles. Norby Williamson, EVP of production, will add oversight of production and media sponsorship integration and an “at-large” creative television role.
Skipper said in a release: “My focus remains on three primary initiatives critical to ESPN’s growth and future success: working with our entire senior management team to navigate the changes in our industry; ensuring that our overall content portfolio remains the best in the business; and firmly establishing throughout the company the next generation of ESPN leadership. Today’s announcement is an important step responsive to each of them and demonstrates a key advantage for ESPN – a deep bench of strong executive talent. Each of these individuals is a proven leader, and each has demonstrated tremendous dexterity and creativity in developing and presenting the compelling content that is our hallmark. Working together, they will ensure that ESPN continues to serve our fans and grow the business."
