ESPN, now one of Disney’s three corporate pillars, reorganizes executives, hires Burke Magnus and announces the return of Rosalyn Durant to Park’s employment

Now one of Disney’s three divisions, ESPN has reorganized its leadership ranks accordingly, promoting chief content officer Burke Magnus and welcoming back Rosalyn Durant to a key role after a stint in the parks division.

Jimmy Pitaro, who was appointed chairman last month as part of a major restructuring led by Disney CEO Bob Iger, announced the new organizational structure in an employee memo. (Read it in full below.) The update gives Pitaro a leaner structure as the company continues to dismantle the media and entertainment distribution infrastructure put in place by former CEO Bob Chapek. While there has been speculation about the possibility of a spin-off or divestment of ESPN, Iger confirmed last month that it is not for sale and will remain a “differentiator” as part of the Disney portfolio.

Magnus, a 28-year-old occupational health practitioner who was president, programming and original content, will now hold the title of president, content. He will oversee studio programming, live events, newsgathering, investigative journalism, original content/ESPN Films, the talent office, audio, digital and social media. Stephanie Druley, David Roberts, Norby Williamson, Brian Lockhart and Kaitee Daley will all report to Burke, Pitaro said.

Durant, a 24-year Disney and ESPN veteran, was awarded the title of EVP, Programming and Acquisition, with her role including the all-important rights deal. Talks with the NBA will be one of their near-term priorities as the league’s U.S. media deals near expiration and Disney/ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery enters an exclusive negotiation window. For the past three years, Durant has served as SVP of Disney Springs, Waterparks and ESPN Wide World of Sports. In addition to programming and rights, Durant will be responsible for ESPN+, ESPN International, Andscape and espnW.

In another notable move, Tina Thornton, head of content operations and creative environment, is expanding her current responsibilities to include the Production Operations Group and moving back to ESPN. As part of this move, the Synergy team will transition from Thornton’s organizational oversight to the marketing team under Laura Gentile, who will oversee all aspects of ESPN marketing, including ESPN+ and social marketing.

“Now is the perfect time to bring fresh perspectives to elements of our operations while driving accountability deeper into our organization,” Pitaro wrote in the memo. Here it is in full:

Team,

I am excited about the opportunities to transform our business and collaborate in new ways. For ESPN, this means responsible and efficient management of a larger, more complex, multi-platform organization with global reach, and we’ve put a lot of thought into how best and most efficiently to manage these expanded responsibilities. This is the perfect time to offer fresh perspectives on parts of our business while bringing responsibility deeper into our organization. Therefore, today we are announcing the following changes:

burke magnus, previously president, programming and original content, will now lead the newly formed content organization as president, content, overseeing studio programming, live events, news gathering, investigative journalism, original content/ESPN Films, the talent office, audio, digital and social media. Out now Stephanie Druley, David Roberts, Norby Williamson, Brian Lockhart and Kaitee Daley will all report to Burke. Burke is a 28-year ESPN veteran and his impact on our organization cannot be overstated. He has led teams responsible for some of ESPN’s most important and influential content, both licensed and developed. He is building strong relationships both internally at Disney and externally with our competitive partners, and will bring valuable institutional and industry knowledge to his new role as he builds on our history of developing unprecedented cross-platform storytelling.

Rosalyn Durant returns to ESPN as EVP, Programming & Acquisitions, joining us from DPEP where she was SVP of Disney Springs, Water Parks and ESPN Wide World of Sports since early 2020. In addition to programming and rights acquisition, Rosalyn will be responsible for ESPN+ and ESPN International, as well as Andscape and espnW. Rosalyn has a long list of accomplishments during her 24-year career at Disney and ESPN. In the parks, she played a key role in restarting the NBA season on the “Bubble” on ESPN Wide World of Sports during the pandemic. At ESPN, she was most recently SVP of College Networks, where she oversaw ESPNU, SEC Network and Longhorn Network, and was a key member of the cross-functional leadership team that successfully launched the ACC Network. Rosalyn’s leadership and strategic business experience will benefit ESPN, especially as the market for live sports rights remains highly competitive. She moved to Bristol and splits her time between Bristol and Charlotte.

There will be a transition period for both Burke and Rosalyn. Burke will remain involved in certain negotiations during this transition period while Rosalyn completes her work at DPEP.

Tina Thornton, head of content operations and creative environment, will expand her current responsibilities to now oversee our production operations group and transition to ESPN.

As part of this move, the Synergy team will move from Tina’s organization to the Marketing team under Laura Gentile. Laura will now oversee all aspects of ESPN marketing, including ESPN+ and social marketing.

Burke, Rosalyn, Tina and Laura will report to me, as will Mark Walker, Head of Sports Business Development and Innovation, Rob King, Executive Editor, Special Projects, and Chara-Lynn Aguiar, SVP, ESPN Strategy and Bureau of the Chairman. Legal, HR, Communications and Finance will continue to report to both the Company and myself at this time and, as mentioned, Technology, Affiliate sales, advertising sales and our international leads report to me, Dana Walden and Alan Bergman.

We know that the transition can be difficult, especially after going through so many changes over the past few years. We have the team, expertise and structure to continue to build ESPN, and your leadership team is excited and confident about our future.

Now I love our hand more than ever.

Jimmy