Meadowlark Media has picked up another prominent ESPN name, but this one is also staying with the Worldwide Leader. Pablo Torre is joining Meadowlark, the content studio founded by former ESPN president John Skipper and former ESPN host Dan Le Batard, two people Torre worked with a lot at ESPN. But he’ll also still be a regular contributor to ESPN programming, including Around The Horn and Pardon The Interruption. Brian Steinberg broke that news at Variety Tuesday:
Pablo Torre is joining Meadowlark Media after a decade-long run at ESPN. He will continue to contribute to ESPN programs 'Around the Horn' and 'PTI'https://t.co/KQXKITuDyj via @variety
— Brian Steinberg (@bristei) March 14, 2023
Torre and Le Batard tweeted about that as well:
SOME PERSONAL NEWS: https://t.co/ty6gBwFUvZ 🏴☠️ https://t.co/3staKlHxAz
— ‘Miserable’ Pablo Torre 🕳️ (@PabloTorre) March 14, 2023
Here’s more from Steinberg’s story:
“They are looking to build another show directly out of ‘The Dan LeBatard Show,’ which is a monster,” Torre says of Meadowlark in an interview. Torre envisions a digital program with audio and video components that will allow him to “tell original stories, do a bit of journalism and figure out how to make that show a home that can fit all of the things I aspire to do creatively.” Torre will also contribute to Meadowlark’s unscripted efforts.
…“Everyone in this industry knows Pablo’s work resides at the top of it,” said Le Batard, who gained new fame while hosting shows at ESPN, in a statement. “He’s an original thinker. A necessary voice. An unimpeachable journalist at a time that could use a few more of those. Very few people his age have his range and his resume. I’m honored and moved that he follows his heart to help us build something excellent. We don’t have to pay him, too, do we?”
The answer? Yes. Torre says he will receive a small equity stake in Meadowlark as part of his decision to join the company.
Torre headed to ESPN in 2012 after five years at Sports Illustrated (and after an even-earlier stint at The Harvard Crimson, where he wrote an early piece on the Stephen A. Smith Heckling Society of Gentlemen, back when they were just heckling Tom Tolbert). He’s done a lot of different things at the Worldwide Leader, including reporting and writing for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, regularly appearing on shows including Around The Horn, PTI, the old Highly Questionable with Le Batard, and the more recent Debatable, hosting 700 episodes of the ESPN Daily podcast, and even getting his own High Noon show with Bomani Jones for a bit.
It sounds like this Meadowlark role will let Torre use some of that versatility and explore his creativity. The creative environment and the amount of control is something Le Batard has already spoken about valuing at Meadowlark, and it seems likely that will work for Torre as well. But it’s interesting to see him find a way to also continue making ESPN appearances. We’ll see how he balances those roles.
[Variety; image from a Torre appearance on Around The Horn in October 2021, via ESPN on YouTube]
