ESPN has yet another new Monday Night Football director, this time turning to a Fox Sports veteran with Super Bowl experience. Plus: ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro is uninterested in succeeding Bob Iger as Disney CEO; NBC has a new deal with USA Track and Field.
ESPN taps longtime Fox director Kempner in latest MNF change
ESPN has hired longtime Fox Sports director Artie Kempner to serve in that position on its Monday Night Football coverage, Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, John Ourand of Puck and Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports reported within minutes of each other Monday evening. All three reports quoted ESPN president of content Burke Magnus on the record, with Marchand perhaps landing the most significant of those quotes — as Magnus admitted that MNF is “not in the same conversation with Fox and CBS relative to our overall game presentation.”
Kempner will be the fourth different director of Monday Night Football in less than a decade, replacing Derek Mobley, who only held the role for two seasons after replacing Jimmy Platt, who had the role for only two seasons after replacing Chip Dean.
An original member of the Fox Sports production staff in 1994, Kempner directed the network’s Super Bowl broadcasts in 2005 and 2008 — the first two times Joe Buck and Troy Aikman called the game. ESPN/ABC has the Super Bowl in two years, with Buck and Aikman set for the call.
He previously worked for CBS Sports from 1982-94.
ESPN president Pitaro reportedly uninterested in succeeding Iger
ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro is uninterested in succeeding Bob Iger as Disney CEO, Lucas Shaw of Bloomberg reported Monday. Pitaro had widely been considered a potential contender for the position when Iger exits the role at the end of next year. When Iger last stepped down from Disney, he was replaced by Bob Chapek for an ill-fated two-year run.
Prior to becoming ESPN president in 2018, Pitaro served as Disney’s consumer products chairman. He has been with the company since 2010 after a previous run with Yahoo!.
NBC extends USATF deal through next Olympic year
NBC Sports has renewed its contract with USA Track and Field to carry indoor and outdoor track and field through the next Summer Olympic year in 2028, it was announced Monday. The news came just days after NBC renewed its agreement to carry the Olympics for an additional cycle through 2036.
The four-year extension is half the length of the eight-year deal the sides previously struck in 2016.
