If you want to know about the future of media, then you need to pay attention to the future of ESPN.
ESPN Boss John Skipper Is Coming to Code/Media
The future of Disney’s sports giant has been the biggest media story of the last six months. Time to hear what the man in charge has to say.
ESPN
Peter Kafka covered media and technology, and their intersection, at Vox. Many of his stories can be found in his Kafka on Media newsletter, and he also hosts the Recode Media podcast.
Which is why we’re very pleased to announced that ESPN President John Skipper is joining Kara Swisher, Walt Mossberg and me next month at the Code/Media conference. You should, too.
Code/Media is a two-day event that explores what happens when technology forces change in the media business, and right now there’s no better test case than ESPN.
Just a couple of years ago, the sports channel looked like the most valuable part of the TV Industrial Complex, and the one best-positioned to survive the wave of digital disruption. Now there are real questions about what happens to Disney’s most important TV franchise in a world where pay TV subscriptions are shrinking — questions that make investors quake.
Skipper is a longtime ESPN veteran who has spent the past few years trying to find new ways to grow the company’s digital revenues — without disrupting its core TV business. Will that still work? Or does he have a plan B?
We’ll find out Feb. 17 and Feb. 18, when he joins us for a candid, unscripted onstage interview.
And that’s just one of the many great events we’ve got planned for Code/Media: We’ve already announced a killer speaker lineup that includes the leaders of Vice, Sony Entertainment, Hulu, Vevo, the Financial Times and many more. And yes, there are more to come.
But enough selling: This is two days on the Pacific, in February, at the fabulous Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel, Calif, with the most interesting people in media and technology. Register here and we’ll see you there.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
