ESPN and ABC Sports will merge ad sales staffs starting
in mid-October, and former Ad Age VP & Group Publisher
Edward Erhardt will lead the combined entity. In addition
to the core entities of ABC Sports, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN
Classic and ESPNEWS, the combined unit will also offer
integrated packages involving ESPN.com, ABCSports.com,
MNF.com, ESPN Regional TV, ESPN Radio, ESPN Magazine and
ESPN Zone. Each of these entities will maintain their
separate sales staffs (ESPN). ESPN President George
Bodenheimer: "Our goal is to build the biggest and most
powerful sales and marketing force in the industry." ABC-TV
Network President of Administration & Operations Alex Wallau
said the ABC and ESPN sales staffs used to have an "us-
against-them mentality." Wallau: "We've now unified our
sales force so that it will close deals day in and day out"
(DAILY VARIETY, 9/21). AD AGE's Chuck Ross writes the
appointment of Erhardt "surprised" industry observers, "in
part because" his career "until now has been in print, not
TV." Erhardt said that he has "not yet decided on a
structure for the sales operation." But sources said that
there could be two exec VPs under Erhardt, one for ad sales
and another for customer marketing. ABC Exec VP/Marketing &
General Sales Manager Larry Fried has been mentioned as a
candidate for the ad sales slot, while ESPN Magazine
Publisher Michael Rooney "was said to be under consideration
for the marketing job" (AD AGE, 9/20 issue). ABC Sports
"will retain its 20 members of its sales team" and move them
to ESPN's HQ, which has about 150 employees (N.Y. TIMES,
9/21). Erhardt is the son of former NFL coach Ron Erhardt.
