ESPN President resigns to deal with substance addiction

World
Europe

Walt Disney Co’s (DIS.N) John Skipper resigned as president of ESPN - the company’s most important network - on Monday due to a problem with addiction.

"I have struggled for many years with a substance addiction," Skipper, who was also Disney Media Networks co-chairman, said in a statement. "I have decided that the most important thing I can do right now is to take care of my problem."

George Bodenheimer will be the sports network’s acting chairman for the next 90 days, ESPN said in a statement. He had been its president from 1998 to 2011 and executive chairman until May 2014.

John Skipper, President of ESPN, INC, and co-chairman, Disney Media Networks addresses the media in Digital Center 2, a new 194,000 sq. ft building on the ESPN campus in Bristol, Connecticut May 22, 2014 will be the new home of SportsCenter beginning June 2014. /Reuters Photo

An ESPN spokeswoman declined to comment on who may be considered as Skipper’s successor.

The move comes with ESPN in retrenchment amid a shifting media landscape in which viewers are shifting to online platforms for television.

Disney last week also reached a blockbuster deal to acquire key film and television assets of 21st Century Fox, including regional sports networks.

Skipper, who became ESPN president in 2012, has led the network to a series of long-term distribution agreements with major rights holders, including the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB).

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters