Disney's Bob Chapek Praises "Nimble" ESPN Amid Sports Hiatus

Disney CEO Bob Chapek today spoke to how "nimble" and "resilient" ESPN has been in drawing viewers despite the sports shutdown. CNBC’s Julia Boorstin asked Chapek, "How much do you expect ESPN and the lack of live sports to be a drag, not just on advertising, but also to be a driver of cord cutting going forward?” Chapek: “In the month of April amongst adults 18-49 in primetime, we were up at ESPN by 11%. I think that says something about the ingenuity of our team over at ESPN and it says something about the brand and the wealth of assets that we have. ... Live sports are critical to ESPN, but we found a way.”

Chapek admitted there is “no doubt we're going to feel the impact of the advertising hit both at ABC and ESPN, probably more pronounced at ESPN than ABC.” Chapek: “Long-term, though, I'm not sure it's really going to be anything that's going to be shocking” (“Squawk Alley,” CNBC, 5/11).