DIS Walt Disney Co

By Joe Flint 

John Skipper, president of Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN and co-chairman of its Disney Media Networks unit, has resigned, citing substance-abuse issues, the network said Monday.

ESPN said George Bodenheimer, Mr. Skipper's predecessor as head of ESPN, would return to the company as acting chairman for three months while a search for a permanent successor is competed.

"I have struggled for many years with a substance addiction. I have decided that the most important thing I can do right now is to take care of my problem," Mr. Skipper said in a statement. "I have disclosed that decision to the company, and we mutually agreed that it was appropriate that I resign."

Robert Iger, chief executive of ESPN-majority owner Disney, said in a statement that he wished Mr. Skipper well "during this challenging time" and expressed thanks to Mr. Bodenheimer for returning to stabilize ESPN while a new leader is found.

The leadership transition is happening at a pivotal moment for ESPN, which is trying to calibrate its long-profitable TV business for a media environment when more consumers are cutting back on cable TV subscriptions.

It also comes as Disney has a pending $52.4 billion acquisition of assets from 21st Century Fox -- a deal announced just last week. One key feature of that deal would be Disney's taking on of Fox's regional sports networks, which would likely have to be integrated with ESPN.

Mr. Skipper, a well-regarded sports and media executive, had a two-decade tenure at ESPN and assumed the top post in 2012. His abrupt exit comes just a month after he renewed his contract to stay with ESPN through 2021.

ESPN has long been the most expensive channel in the cable TV bundle, and delivered reliable profits for Disney for years. But in the past two years, the company has faced wrenching change in the pay TV business, and has lost millions of network subscribers.

The sports juggernaut has had to endure multiple rounds of job cuts this year, as it tries to trim in certain areas such as talent and production, and add resources in the digital arena. Recently, ESPN said it would discontinue some evening editions of its newscast SportsCenter, while producing a version of the show for Snapchat.

The next leader of ESPN will have to manage the launch this spring of a new streaming service called ESPN Plus, which is meant to appeal to cord-cutters who are abandoning traditional TV. The streaming service from ESPN will air live sports such as hockey and tennis that don't air on the cable TV network.

Write to Joe Flint at joe.flint@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 18, 2017 12:11 ET (17:11 GMT)

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