Jimmy Pitaro Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

ESPN said Wednesday that it is parting ways NBA Countdown and NBA Finals host Maria Taylor after failing to come to terms on a contract extension. The news comes a day after what has turned out to be Taylor’s final assignment: covering the deciding Game 6 of the NBA Finals won by the Milwaukee Bucks.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorESPN and Maria Taylor, an up-and-coming on-air personality, have parted ways in the wake of an internal controversy that spilled into the public arena and drew new scrutiny of diversity policies at the Disney-owned sports-media giant.“There is no doubt we will miss Maria, but we remain determined to continue to build a deep and skilled talent roster that thoroughly reflects the athletes we cover and the fans we serve” said Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN’s chairman, in a

Football fans will love this news! Retired star quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Eli Manning, who are brothers, will lead the new Monday Night Football broadcast on ESPN2 this fall.

In a memo sent to ESPN employees on Friday, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro addressed what he called “nuanced and complicated personnel matters” related to “recent events.” Those events revolve around leaked comments made by one of the the network’s highest-profile female hosts Rachel Nichols, who is white, and another of the network’s highest-profile female hosts Maria Taylor, who is Black.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorESPN plans to drill deeper into issues of diversity and inclusion, going as far as to examine the exit interviews of recently departed employees, in the wake of a dispute that has engulfed two of the network’s basketball reporters, the chairman of the Disney-backed outlet told staffers in a memo.“Change takes time, and I ask for your partnership on this journey,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said to employees in the memo, which was circulated last week.

Sonia Coleman is expanding her role within Disney’s content group, adding HR oversight of ESPN to her current role as senior VP, Human Resources, Disney General Entertainment Content, effective immediately. 

said NABJ president Dorothy Tucker.

Burke Magnus, who first joined ESPN in 1995, has been promoted to president of programming and original content.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe Super Bowl is the TV industry’s biggest annual event. What if it became several?Walt Disney is considering a Super Bowl “mega-cast” that could create different broadcasts of the gridiron classic tailored to specific types of audiences, says Jimmy Pitaro, the company’s chairman of ESPN and sports content, during remarks made Thursday evening.

500 cut jobs last week.)“When Jodi and Connor each approached me about starting their next chapters, those conversations were filled with mixed emotions,” Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. “Jodi has been a trailblazer, not just at ESPN, but throughout our industry, and, because of her entrepreneurial approach, ESPN has always led the way.

that ESPN is eliminating 500 jobs in an effort to cut costs amid the coronavirus pandemic, Jimmy Pitaro informed his staff on Thursday.More to come…Deadline first reported the news.

ESPN will lay off 300 employees and leave 200 open positions unfilled, citing the "tremendous disruption in how fans consume sports" and a need to invest in direct-to-consumer and digital offerings.

Jill Goldsmith, Dade Hayes Walt Disney’s ESPN will eliminate 500 positions, including 300 jobs that are filled and 200 that aren’t, to reserve cash for DTC and digital initiatives, the sports media broadcaster, chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a memo (below) to staff Thursday.He said the division had reached an “inflection point.”“The speed at which change is occurring requires great urgency, and we must now deliver on serving sports fans in a myriad of new ways.  Placing resources in support of

Executives at ESPN had high hopes in the Spring of 2018 when they launched a new morning program called “Get Up!” Within weeks, they were wondering whether they ought to put the show down.