Erhardt considered retirement last year after having run ad sales for ESPN since '99
ED ERHARDT is retiring as ESPN’s top ad sales exec, effective this coming January. He will be replaced by Disney-ABC TV Group Ad Sales President RITA FERRO, who will continue to run ad sales for Disney’s news, kids and radio businesses and report to Disney Direct-to-Consumer & Int'l Groups Chair KEVIN MAYER. News of the 61-year-old Erhardt’s retirement did not come as a surprise. Earlier this year, ESPN’s ad sales reported through N.Y. (the direct-to-consumer and international groups) rather than Bristol. Erhardt, whose most recent title has been President of Global Sales & Marketing, has been a mainstay at ESPN for the past two decades. Former ESPN President GEORGE BODENHEIMER hired him in '99 to run ad sales. He previously was the publisher of the trade magazine Ad Age (John Ourand). VARIETY's Brian Steinberg noted Erhardt had "considered stepping down at the end" of '17, but "found himself called upon to stay as ESPN went through a transition in leadership" with JIMMY PITARO replacing JOHN SKIPPER as ESPN President. Erhardt said, “I care about the company. I care about ESPN. I care about the people. I opted to stay for another year” (VARIETY.com, 9/5). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Suzanne Vranica noted Erhardt "championed cross-platform measurement for TV advertising and also established an in-house creative agency dubbed CreativeWorks" in '10 (WSJ.com, 9/6).
BRIDGING THE GAP: AWFUL ANNOUNCING's Andrew Bucholtz wrote naming Ferro as Erhardt's replacement is "furthering ties between ESPN and Disney’s other properties." This is "part of a shift in how Disney’s advertising sales for media properties are handled." It is also notable that Erhardt is not being replaced with "someone else based in Bristol or someone else even at ESPN" (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 9/5).
