ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro on Disney CEO rumors: ‘I’m in my dream job’
"I love the brand. I love our road map. I love what we’re doing right now."
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‘Demoralized’ ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro reportedly considered leaving Disney over Bob Chapek’s decisions
Anonymous Disney exec cites The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers and Big Shot renewals as questionable Peter Rice decisions
"A senior Disney official cited Mr. Rice’s decision to renew two struggling shows on the Disney+ streaming service—“The Mighty Ducks” and “Big Shot”—as examples of questionable deal-making. Both shows cost more than $50 million and neither had shown the type of success that merited additional seasons."
Disney refutes report on a potential ESPN spinoff, stock surges anyway
That stock bump today might be a tough data point to ignore now, though.
ESPN and ABC hit some revenue issues in Disney’s third quarter, but less than other divisions, and ESPN+ now has 8.6 million subscribers
The media networks division, which includes ESPN and ABC, saw a boost in operating income, but a lot of that was about programming costs for the NBA in particular not being applied to Q3. Overall, the media networks saw slight revenue declines, but they seem to have less issues than other Disney divisions.
Bob Iger is reportedly “effectively running” Disney again amidst COVID-19 disruptions, with “dire” internal mood
"A crisis of this magnitude, and its impact on Disney, would necessarily result in my actively helping Bob [Chapek] and the company contend with it, particularly since I ran the company for 15 years!"
Disney announces parks chairman Bob Chapek as new CEO, with Bob Iger staying on as executive chairman through 2021
ESPN parent corporation Disney has found their next CEO.
