JOHN SKIPPER has quietly renewed his deal to remain ESPN President for at least three more years. Skipper signed the deal over the summer, which will keep him as ESPN President and Disney Media Networks co-Chair through '18. The deal comes about a year after Skipper’s boss, BOB IGER, extended his own deal to remain Disney Chair & CEO through June '18. Skipper was expected to sign an extension. Since taking over as ESPN President in '12, he has orchestrated huge rights deals, committing billions of dollars on rights to major sports leagues like the NBA and MLB and faced growing competition from rivals like FS1. Over the past several months, though, Skipper has overseen a period of cost-cutting in Bristol, as ESPN has had to deal with a declining cable subscriber base. During this time, it has allowed several of its high-priced talent to walk, and it did not submit a formal offer to pick up EPL rights (John Ourand, Staff Writer). AWFUL ANNOUNCING's Ian Casselberry wrote, "To say Skipper has overseen a vast change in what the network offers in terms of content on television and online would be both an obvious and major understatement." ESPN takes "a lot of criticism" from fans and media, and "much of it is valid." But the company has "undergone a sea change during Skipper’s time with the network, even during his tenure as president, and he’s kept this enormous ship steered in the right direction." Casselberry: "The bosses at Disney clearly feel the same way and believe Skipper is the man to oversee the numerous changes ESPN will have to undergo in the years to come" (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 9/16).
