The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%) through the joint venture ESPN Inc. The company was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen and Ed Eagan along with his son Scott Rasmussen.
Philip Frederick Anschutz is an American billionaire businessman who owns or controls companies in a variety of industries, including energy, railroads, real estate, sports, newspapers, movies, theaters, arenas and music. In 2004, he purchased the parent company of the Journal Newspapers, which under Anschutz's direction became the American conservative editorial newspaper Washington Examiner.
The S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, commonly known as Newhouse School, is the communications and journalism school of Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. It has programs in print and broadcast journalism; music business; graphic design; advertising; public relations; and television, radio and film. The school was named after publishing magnate Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., founder of Advance Publications, who provided the founding gift in 1964.
Robert Allen Iger is an American media business executive who currently serves as the chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company. He previously served as the president of ABC between 1994 and 1995 and the president and chief operating officer (COO) of Capital Cities/ABC, from 1995 until its acquisition by Disney in 1996. Iger was named president of Disney in 2000 and succeeded Michael Eisner as CEO in 2005, until his contract expired in 2020. He then served as executive chairman until his retirement from the company on December 31, 2021. At the request of Disney's board of directors, Iger returned to Disney as CEO on November 20, 2022, following the unscheduled and immediate dismissal of his appointed successor, Bob Chapek.
ESPN on ABC is the branding used for sports event and documentary programming televised by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. Officially, the broadcast network retains its own sports division; however, in 2006, ABC's sports division was merged into ESPN Inc., which is the parent subsidiary of the cable sports network ESPN that is majority owned by ABC's corporate parent, The Walt Disney Company, in partnership with Hearst Communications.
Donald P. Garber is an American sports executive who has served as the Commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999. Garber is also the CEO of Soccer United Marketing and a member of the United States Soccer Federation board of directors.
Disney General Entertainment Content (DGEC), formerly ABC Group, Disney–ABC Television Group and the second incarnation of Walt Disney Television, is part of Disney Entertainment, a division of The Walt Disney Company that oversees its owned-and-operated television content, assets and sub-divisions.
The WNBA on ESPN refers to the presentation of Women's National Basketball Association games on the ESPN family of networks. Under the title of WNBA Tuesday, games are broadcast throughout the WNBA season on Tuesday nights on ESPN2.
Kevin Audette Plank is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. Plank is the founder and executive chairman of Under Armour, a manufacturer of sportswear, footwear and accessories, based in Baltimore, Maryland. As of October 2021, his net worth was estimated at US$1.8 billion.
Rob Simmelkjaer is an American television executive, journalist, entrepreneur, and is the CEO of New York Road Runners. He served as a senior executive and on-air journalist at ESPN, ABC News and NBC Sports. In 2020 he founded a digital video interview platform called Persona. He also has served as Chairman of the Board of the Connecticut Lottery corporation since 2020.
Throughout its history, ESPN and its sister networks have been the targets of criticism for programming choices, biased coverage, conflict of interest, and controversies with individual broadcasters and analysts. Additionally, ESPN has been criticized for focusing too much on men's college basketball, LeBron James, Aaron Judge and football and very little on other sports such as the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball. Other criticism has focused on issues of race and ethnicity in ESPN's varying mediated forms, as well as carriage fees and issues regarding the exportation of ESPN content.
Chester Robert "Chet" Simmons was a television executive. He worked at ABC Sports, NBC Sports and ESPN, and was the first Commissioner of the USFL. From 1957 to 1964, he helped build ABC Sports into a leader in sports programming and was a key part of the development of Wide World of Sports. He joined NBC Sports in 1964 where he stayed for 15 years becoming the first President in 1977. At NBC, he pioneered instant replay and coverage of the Olympics and NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four. In 1979, he left NBC to join the soon to launch ESPN becoming its second President. At ESPN, he oversaw the launch of the Network, the development of SportsCenter, the first broadcasts of the NFL Draft, coverage of the early rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four and the development of Chris Berman, Bob Ley, George Grande, Greg Gumbel and Dick Vitale. In 1982, he became the first Commissioner of the United States Football League and led it through three Championships and players including Herschel Walker, Jim Kelly, Reggie White, Steve Young and Anthony Carter.
Peter Rice is a British media executive. He is the former Chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content for The Walt Disney Company and former President of 21st Century Fox, where he worked from 1989-2019.
Virginia "Ginni" Rometty is an American business executive who was executive chairman of IBM after stepping down as CEO on April 1, 2020. She was previously chairman, president and CEO of IBM, becoming the first woman to head the company. She retired from IBM on December 31, 2020, after a near-40 year career there. Before becoming president and CEO in January 2012, she first joined IBM as a systems engineer in 1981 and subsequently headed global sales, marketing, and strategy. While general manager of IBM's global services division, in 2002 she helped negotiate IBM's purchase of PricewaterhouseCoopers' IT consulting business, becoming known for her work integrating the two companies. As CEO, she focused IBM on analytics, cloud computing, and cognitive computing systems.
Michael G. Rubin is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is the CEO of Fanatics, the world's leading provider of licensed sports merchandise; and executive chairman Rue Gilt Groupe, the premier off-price e-commerce portfolio company, which includes RueLaLa.com, Gilt.com, and ShopPremiumOutlets.com. He previously founded GSI Commerce in 1998, selling it to eBay in 2011 for $2.4 billion.
John Skipper is an American television executive, former executive chairman of DAZN Group, former president of ESPN, and co-founder of Meadowlark Media.
Marillyn Adams Hewson is an American businesswoman who served as the chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Lockheed Martin from January 2013 to June 2020. She is currently the strategic advisor to the CEO of aerospace and defense manufacturing company Lockheed Martin. On March 1, 2021, she retired as executive chairman and a board member.
Mark Shapiro is an American television and media executive. In 2018, he was promoted to become the President of Endeavor after working as the co-president of WME-IMG since 2016. He was Executive Vice President for Programming and Production at ESPN until 2005, before becoming CEO and President of Six Flags, Inc. Shapiro has also been the CEO and Executive Producer of Dick Clark Productions.
Disney Media Networks was a business segment of The Walt Disney Company that oversaw the company's television networks, cable channels, television production and distribution studios, and owned-and-operated television stations. The segment's primary divisions were Walt Disney Television and A&E Networks.
