ESPN President Skipper resigns to deal with substance addiction

Walt Disney Co’s (DIS.N) John Skipper resigned as president of ESPN - the company’s most important network - on Monday due to a problem with addiction.

John Skipper, President of ESPN, INC, and co-chairman, Disney Media Networks addresses the media in Digital Center 2, a new 194,000 sq. ft building on the ESPN campus in Bristol, Connecticut May 22, 2014 will be the new home of SportsCenter beginning June 2014. /Reuters Photo

"I have struggled for many years with a substance addiction," Skipper, who was also Disney Media Networks co-chairman, said in a statement. "I have decided that the most important thing I can do right now is to take care of my problem."

George Bodenheimer will be the sports network’s acting chairman for the next 90 days, ESPN said in a statement. He had been its president from 1998 to 2011 and executive chairman until May 2014.

An ESPN spokeswoman declined to comment on who may be considered as Skipper’s successor.

The move comes with ESPN in retrenchment amid a shifting media landscape in which viewers are shifting to online platforms for television.

Disney last week also reached a blockbuster deal to acquire key film and television assets of 21st Century Fox, including regional sports networks.

Skipper, who became ESPN president in 2012, has led the network to a series of long-term distribution agreements with major rights holders, including the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB).

(AFP)

(REUTERS)