John Skipper

This interview originally appeared in the MIPTV 2014 issue of World Screen.

From its TV networks in the U.S. and in 60 countries around the world, to radio and digital assets, websites, magazines and organized events like the X Games, ESPN is dedicated to providing fans with coverage of live sports, scores and information anytime and anywhere. As John Skipper, the company’s president and a co-chair of Disney Media Networks, explains, nurturing its relationship with sports fans has been the key to ESPN’s success.

WS: Tell us about ESPN’s best available screen philosophy and serving fans wherever they are.
SKIPPER: The best available screen philosophy grew organically out of our mission to serve sports fans, anytime, anywhere and through research and changing consumer behavior, we realized serving them across multiple devices was what fans wanted.

I joined ESPN to launch ESPN The Magazine and shortly thereafter took on the digital business. At the time, there was ESPN.com and some very early mobile offerings like score alerts sent to pagers. Even then, we were seeing that the way the consumer and sports fan was headed had digital and mobile as a central part of their daily life. So we started to explore that and work to really understand it.

When I moved on to manage our sales and content groups, we continued to focus on multiple screens. We decided, quite consciously, that we were not in the “TV business” anymore. We were in the sports-content business. That means content including video across any device or screen or medium that a sports fan uses.

WS: Would you give some examples of what type of content ESPN provides on different screens? Is television still the most-watched screen? Which others are growing in popularity?
SKIPPER: The fact is we don’t really create content only for one screen or medium anymore. When we cover sports, we do it across all media. However, without question, TV is still the most watched. It is especially true for the live sports experience. I have said many times for many years: if you have the choice of watching the game on a 70-inch high-def television, you’re probably going to.

That said, digital media—mobile, online, game consoles and other emerging media—is hugely important and by and large it has been additive. If I watch SportsCenter tonight, it doesn’t mean I am not going to want to check the scores or news on my phone tomorrow at lunch, or follow a cricket match while I’m at work. It is that passion for what we call the game around the game that we have seen and served for years—across any of the media we work on.

WS: ESPN is facing competition in the U.S. from FOX Sports 1 and from NBC Sports Network. What is ESPN’s strategy in facing this competition?
SKIPPER: A lot has been made of this, but really this is nothing new. We have had competition since the beginning of our existence even though it has intensified over the years. We actually like competition. It makes us better.

WS: Which rights/sports events are must-keep events for ESPN?
SKIPPER: I’m going to respectfully, and openly, dodge this question. To borrow the metaphor, I can’t pick between my children.

WS: Do you see live sports events being sold to digital platforms like YouTube or Yahoo? How would this alter the relationship between leagues/rights holders and linear channels?
SKIPPER: As you know, we are big believers in digital platforms—mobile, online, broadband, consoles, you name it. However, I don’t quite see the scenario you mention in the near future. That is in large part because we—and many others—do a great job of delivering value to the leagues, aggregating and entertaining mass audiences around their sports. That is not nearly as easy as many people think: to deliver the value that companies like FOX Sports, NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Sky, BT Sports and many others deliver to leagues, fans, advertisers and the rest of the sports ecosystem. Don’t get me wrong, we do not dismiss the potential. Ultimately, our job is to be sure that we’re delivering great content and value to fans across our media and deliver value to our leagues and affiliates on the business side.

WS: No other programming attracts male viewers like a sports channel. This must create a very special relationship with certain advertisers. Would you give an example of a special campaign an advertiser has created with ESPN?
SKIPPER: Since we recently wrapped up the college football season, that is top of mind. I think one of our marquee executions is the integration we achieve every year with College GameDay Built by the Home Depot. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship and a seamless experience for the fan. Outside of the U.S., we did a program with the Discover America initiative for U.S. tourism that included original content we created to run across our digital and TV channels in the U.K., Europe, Australia and South America. We were able to create something that spoke to our audience, showcased the central role sports play across U.S. culture and reached fans in a variety of markets.

WS: How has ESPN been working with advertisers on platforms other than television?
SKIPPER: Multiplatform is core to who we are and what we do, and we do it better than anyone else. In fact, Ed Erhardt, our head of sales, is credited with creating the first unified sales organization to sell across all media back in 1999. We know our fans better than anyone and we can advise our clients on the best media mix for their message. We’ve increasingly been working with movie studios in the digital space, creating beautiful home-page takeovers that lead the industry.

We’ve done some really innovative things with StubHub, where fans can literally purchase tickets for their favorite teams and access stadium views as they engage with our content. In Australia, we’ve had a great six-year relationship with Hungry Jacks around ESPNFootytips across mobile and computers, where fans can win a free burger voucher delivered direct to their smartphone to redeem in store. And globally we’ve done some really innovative marketing with Nokia—everything from jointly creating the ESPN Hub app for Nokia smartphones to a clever digital ad unit that allowed a user to emulate the user experience on a Nokia Lumia device.

WS: What is your answer to people who say cable companies should un-bundle their offerings and allow consumers to buy à la carte?
SKIPPER: The breadth and depth of the multichannel subscription is an incredible value because of the bundle. There have been numerous independent economic studies that conclude consumers would pay much more and get much less if the industry were to move to an à la carte model.

WS: What was the rationale for the sale of ESPN International’s 50-percent stake in ESPN STAR Sports?
SKIPPER: We had a great 16 years, with the ESPN STAR Sports joint venture but ultimately both ESPN and News Corp. decided that we wanted to independently pursue opportunities in Asia. We wanted more flexibility to manage our own brand and businesses in the region and we have that now. Right now, we are focused on doing that through a variety of businesses including digital properties ESPNcricinfo and ESPNFC. We’ll continue to build these properties and look for other future opportunities in the region. In the Pacific Rim, ESPN has a great position as a strong multiscreen market in in Australia and New Zealand, where we will continue its focus on growing television and digital properties. We’re now the leading digital sports publisher in Australia, and we’re excited about the potential for that and our TV channels to be complementary to each other and continue growth.

WS: What is ESPN’s strategy for international growth? What markets are you focusing on?
SKIPPER: I’ve had a number of questions about this in the past couple years, and I understand them. Let me say this: we are absolutely invested in our brand being present, growing and meaningful for fans around the world. The specific shape and look of ESPN in each market will not be the same, though. Nor should it be. Each market is different so we will need to have different businesses—and each will change and evolve in its own way. In some markets we will have digitally-led businesses (like we have at present in India with ESPNcricinfo), in others we’ll have fully integrated TV-led multiscreen markets (like we have in the U.S., Latin America, Brazil and Australia), in some we may have digital media and syndication businesses (like we currently have in the U.K. and Southeast Asia), and we may even have joint ventures in some cases (like in Canada with TSN and RDS).

Ultimately, the core strategy is the same: serve fans and develop sustainable, growable businesses. How that is done market by market will differ and we have excellent local leadership around the world.

WS: One of the major challenges linear broadcast and cable networks are facing is that viewers are increasingly watching on demand rather than live television. Sports events are the one type of programming that are always watched live—so what challenges are linear sports channels facing in today’s fragmented digital media world?
SKIPPER: I love the position we are in. Yes, there are challenges. Competition has never been greater than it is today. It’s nice to have a 34-year head start, but now more and more other companies around the world have seen what we saw many years ago: sports is valuable, compelling and important to many people.

Our challenge is to continue to be sure that when a sports fan—die-hard or casual, American, Indian, Australian, Mexican or Brazilian—comes to ESPN on any screen or device, they have a great experience. If we do that better than anybody, we’ll matter to fans and that will be good business.