ventures ever, covering a wide variety of sports across the widest variety of media platforms in the business. In print, on radio, television, the Internet, by th en ex ti ss
ue
satellite and on your tablet or phone, you can always find scores, commentary, games and chat on ESPN. John Skip-
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per, ESPN’s president since January 2012, has had a hand in shaping it all — from the content you see, read, hear and argue about, to the way it’s packaged, managed,
ISSU E DOUB LE 2012 SPEC IAL ARY 9, $5.99 JANU
marketed and sold, to the way advertisers work with the company. Skipper, 55, began his media career at Straight Arrow Publishing, best known for publishing Rolling Stone. He went on to Spin magazine, a music publication, and then to the Walt Disney Company, where he was responsible for the publishing group. In 1996, when Disney acquired CapCities/ABC, a TV and media group, ESPN was part of the package. Since that time, it has become one of Disney’s top-performing stars, and for 14 years, Skipper has played a role in making that star shine brightly. He began by developing a magazine for ESPN, was placed in charge of ESPN.com, then took over advertising and sales, and finally, Skipper became responsible for all of ESPN’s vast ever-changing content. When Skipper took over from George Bodenheimer, ESPN’s much-loved president, he inherited a company that was successful, stable and in possession of deep reserves of talent and experience. Skipper discussed his career and the lessons he learned with Jed Hughes, Korn/Ferry International’s Vice Chairman and Global Sector Leader for Sports, and Joel Kurtzman, editor-in-chief of the Korn/Ferry Institute’s Briefings on Talent & Leadership.
60
Q4.2012
You began your career at Rolling Stone. How did you make the leap from publishing magazines and books about music and entertainment to sports?
Skipper: It was more happenstance than predetermined. I moved to sports because Steve Bornstein, who was president of ESPN at the time, wanted to have an ESPN magazine. I was already at the Walt Disney Company, where I was managing book and magazine publishing. So in 1995, when Disney bought Cap Cities/ABC, which owned ESPN, Steve Bornstein said, “Well, who’s the magazine guy at Disney who can take a look at our magazine?” They were publishing a magazine called Total Sports. And so they had me look at the magazine and asked me what I thought about it. I told them that I believed there was a good opportunity for an ESPN magazine, but the one they were publishing was woefully inadequate. I also said we probably ought to stop, shut down the magazine, rethink what we wanted to do and start a new magazine. So that’s what Steve asked me to do. What got you to ESPN?
Skipper: When we presented the plan for the new magazine, they said, “Well, the good news is we’re going to do the magazine. And the further good news is you’re going to come over to ESPN from Disney and run it.” They transferred me to ESPN. Once you made the move, how did you establish yourself at ESPN?
Skipper: I had a pretty good partner in John Walsh, who was a longtime editorial executive at ESPN. He was my partner when we did a prototype for the magazine and were figuring out what we wanted. And then he became my guide. I guess he was my guide to ESPN, which was very different from Disney. Disney was a big, global, Los Angeles-based company. ESPN is in Bristol, Conn., a small town. It had a very entrepreneurial spirit. There was a significant adjustment in culture. And at Disney I was not a senior executive. When I moved over to run the magazine, the same thing was true. I was at the VP level, sort of a third-ring guy. How were you able to succeed?
Skipper: I had the president of the company, Steve Born-
stein, wanting me to do the magazine. So I had a direct relationship with the guy in charge. And I had a guide, John Walsh, who helped me figure out the company. We ran the magazine from 34th Street in New York, and Walsh gave me some great advice. He said, “Go to Bristol once a week to the staff meeting. It’s the way you’ll get to know the people in Bristol, and the way you’ll begin to understand the company.” He said, “If you don’t do that, you can’t succeed here.” So I did it. How did you learn ESPN’s culture?
Skipper: Mostly personal relationships. The fact that I
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