Executive Vice President, ESPN Digital and Print Media
ESPN Digital

Now in his 15th year at ESPN, John Kosner leads the company’s development in digital and print media, including ESPN.com, the world’s leading online sports service; ESPN3.com, the premiere sports event broadband service; all content development for mobile and applications, interactive gaming, and social media; and the new Grantland.com site, headed by ESPN’s star sportswriter Bill Simmons.  In addition, Kosner now manages ESPN The Magazine, ESPN’s high school digital properties, and ESPNW, the network’s initiative targeting female sports fans.  Kosner was named to his new post in May 2011.

Kosner has overseen ESPN Digital Media for the past eight years – a period of tremendous growth and industry recognition for ESPN online.  Kosner and his team have helped ESPN.com establish a clear leadership position in many categories on the Internet and Mobile:
—Pioneering online video with ESPN Motion and now ESPN3.com and the new “Watch ESPN” application
—Creating ESPN Insider, an industry-leading paid subscription service
—Achieving a 70% audience share in sports mobile and a No. 1 ranking in sports mobile apps
—Building a digital audio powerhouse with ESPN Radio that includes ESPNRadio.com; PodCenter, the leading sports podcast destination; and five Local sites (Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York) launched in 2009 and 2010
—Forging valuable partnerships with Apple, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

ESPN Digital Media has also received numerous awards including back-to-back Sports Business Journal Awards for Sports Online in 2008 and 2009.  ESPN.com has also won seven Sports Emmy’s and two Online Journalism Awards including the Award for General Excellence.

Sports Business Journal ranked Kosner as the Most Influential in Online Sports in October 2008, one of several accolades he has received.  Kosner also serves as vice chairman of the Online Publishers Association and is a member of the Alumni Council of his alma mater, the Collegiate School in New York City.

Kosner, a 29-year veteran of sports media, joined ESPN.com in December 1999 as vice president of programming and broadband development. He began his tenure at the network in 1997 as vice president of programming development for ESPN.  Earlier, Kosner worked in programming at CBS Sports; at the NBA, where he headed up the league’s broadcasting operations for seven years, and at Sports Illustrated, where he developed television and interactive content for Sports Illustrated and SI for Kids magazines.

Kosner was graduated with distinction from Stanford University in 1982 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American History.  Kosner lives in New York City with his wife Diane Burstein, their son Luke and Kosner’s older children, Walter and Grace.