Oliver Dizon
Late last year, Dizon was given oversight of both linear and digital account management as well as commercial operations at ESPN. Not long after, the groups were combined to better capture the scope of work for the network’s advertising sales business. Dizon oversees development of revenue management and price optimization tools designed to maximize inventory. He says with technology changing so rapidly, “whoever comes out with the technology that can best superserve the consumer will be the winner… whether it is arranging the content for ease of discovery or coming up with a recommendation engine for keeping the viewer more engaged with the programming.”
What grade do you give the cable industry on diversity and why?
Compared to other industries, I think that cable has done a pretty good job in fostering diversity. Having been in this business for quite some time, I have seen some significant changes through the years both on the content and production, ad sales and affiliate sides of the business. You need not look further based on the honorees in this publication.
The technology that will most benefit cable over the next year is…
Hard to say on what technology will most benefit cable since technology is changing so fast. But whoever comes out with the technology that can best superserve the consumer, I think, will be the winner… whether is arranging the content for ease of discovery or coming up with a recommendation engine for keeping the viewer more engaged with the programming. To steal a line from a sports movie, “If you build it, they will come.”
What television show/s – cable or broadcast – best embrace diversity?
I am glad to see that the programming on television has made great strides in representing the diverse population of our country. But what I am most pleased about is the willingness to employ casts both in front and behind the camera that reflect the general population…“Black-ish,” “Fresh Off the Boat,” “How To Get Away With Murder,” to name just a few. We have a saying here at ESPN… Diversity is about who is on the team, inclusion is about who gets to play. Both go hand in hand.
