Five months after not allowing BURKE MAGNUS to break his contract and join IMG, ESPN has promoted him to Exec VP/Programming & Scheduling, where he will continue reporting to Exec VP JOHN WILDHACK. The promotion officially puts an end to IMG’s plan to hire Magnus to run IMG College. The Magnus news is part of several executive promotions that also will see CONNOR SCHELL remain with the company as Senior VP and Executive Producer of ESPN Films and Original Content. ROSALYN DURANT also will be promoted to Senior VP/College Networks. Schell’s future at ESPN was cast in doubt when the company declined to renew the contract for his close colleague BILL SIMMONS, with many believing that Schell could opt to follow Simmons out the door. Schell will oversee video on FiveThirtyEight.com and Grantland.com, as well as the ESPY Awards. He will report to Exec VP MARIE DONOGHUE. Meanwhile, ESPN picked Durant to replace JUSTIN CONNOLLY, who is moving back to Bristol to run the affiliate group. Durant will move to Charlotte to take over SEC Network, Longhorn Network and ESPNU. She will report to Magnus. Other ESPN moves that were announced this morning: TINA THORNTON was promoted to Senior VP/Production and Multimedia Sponsorship Integration & Management Operations, where she will report to Wildhack; JOHN DAHL was promoted to VP & Executive Producer of ESPN Films and Original Content; and LIBBY GEIST was promoted to VP/ESPN Films and Original Projects. Dahl and Geist will report to Schell.
