ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro on streaming, the NFL and sports betting

Channels with Peter Kafka

Vox Media Podcast Network

Business News, News, Tv & Film, Technology

4.4 • 585 Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The media industry has been waiting for ESPN to cut the cord for a decade. Now it’s finally happening: This week the sports TV giant will let you start streaming — without a cable TV subscription — for $30 a month. Why now? ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro is quite frank about it: Along with his boss — Disney CEO Bob Iger — he wanted to make as much money from the cable TV business as he could before it dwindled away. And even now, Pitaro says he hopes the new service brings in customers who don’t have cable — as opposed to getting ones who do still pay for cable to trade down. That illustrates the issue facing all of the big TV players these days: They know the future is a digital one, where they’ll have to work much harder to win and keep customers. So they’re hanging on to the old TV model as long as they can. At the same time they’re trying to build a profitable streaming future. That tension is the main thrust of this conversation I had with Pitaro this week in Disney’s new Manhattan headquarters. We also had time to get into his recent deal with the NFL, his ongoing commitment to sports betting — and whether ESPN is still committed to diversity in 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	In today's fast-changing digital world, proving your company is trustworthy isn't just important for growth, it's essential.
0:08.8	That's why Vanta is here. Vanta helps companies of all sizes get compliant fast and stay that way, with industry-leading AI, automation and continuous monitoring.
0:20.3	So whether you're a startup tackling your first
0:22.8	SOC 2 or ISO-27-001 or an enterprise managing vendor risk, Vanta's trust management platform makes it
0:31.8	quicker, easier and more scalable. The results? According to a recent IDC study, Vanta customers slash over
0:40.4	$500,000 a year in costs and are three times more productive. Establishing trust isn't optional.
0:48.7	Vanta makes it automatic. Visit vanta.com slash Voxpod to sign up for a free demo today that's v a mta.com
0:59.2	slash voxpod
1:00.7	from the vox media podcast network this is channels with Peter Kafka.
1:13.5	That is me.
1:14.8	I'm also the chief correspondent at Business Insider.
1:17.7	And today I'm talking to Jimmy Patero.
1:20.2	He runs ESPN, which you've heard of.
1:23.0	But just to spell it out, sports are the biggest thing on TV.
1:26.8	ESPN is the biggest name in sports.
1:29.3	So I'm doing my math right.
1:31.3	Jimmy Petaro should be the biggest thing in TV, media, everything.
1:35.3	But as you know, things have been changing in TV.
1:38.3	It's been shrinking for at least a decade, probably more.
1:41.3	On the one hand, that hasn't been a terrible thing for ESPN because sports are the
1:45.4	one thing that hasn't been shrinking, or at least not as dramatically. On the other hand, ESPN needs
1:50.2	to actually grow, so it's finally making a move it's been considering for a decade. Starting this
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Vox Media Podcast Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Vox Media Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.