Sean Bratches, Christine Driessen, David Preschlack & Ed Erhardt
Sean Bratches
Title: EVP, Sales & Marketing, ESPN
Years in Cable: 27
Education: Rochester Institute of Technology
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less: Be yourself, everyone else is taken.
Christine Driessen
Title: EVP/CFO, ESPN
Years in Cable: 30
Education: BS, Accounting, Fordham University
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less: Communicate with honesty and conciseness.
Ed Erhardt
Title: President Global Customer Marketing & Sales, ESPN
Years in Cable: 15
Education: BS, St. John’s University
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less: Always be listening.
David Preschlack
Title: EVP, Affiliate Sales & Marketing, Disney and ESPN Media Networks
Years in Cable: 20
Education: BA, Economics, Denison University
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less: Focus on what’s right, not who’s right.
Bratches, who just announced his departure from ESPN at year-end, has unveiled new products to consumers including WatchESPN, SEC Network and Longhorn Network as a result of six major MVPD renewals led by Preschlack. New deals also brought in Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick and Chromecast as streaming partners. Under Bratches’ direction creative campaigns like “This is SportsCenter” and the FIFA World Cup executions including “Ian Darke Narrates a Date” resonated big with fans, and 15 blue chip advertisers were locked down for the new college football bowl games and the World Cup—all ratings wins for the net. Driessen helped shape the company’s broadband strategy and rights agreements with the NBA and MLS amid a highly competitive sports rights environment. And Erhardt’s customer marketing and sales savvy guaranteed a successful Upfront, ad dollars for the inaugural College Football Playoff and record-breaking cross-media revenues for the World Cup.
Bratches
The biggest innovation in cable over the last year: Consumer behavior
What’s your favorite screen? SPF 30
The day we get multiplatform measurement is the day I… stop calling Artie Bulgrin.
Driessen
Favorite screen: iPad
The day we get multiplatform measurement is the day I… take our sales team out for a champagne toast and give them a new revenue goal!
If my office produced a viral video, the background music would be… “Life Is a Highway”
My favorite business/motivational book: The Confidence Code by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman
Erhardt
If I had a show on YouTube it would be called… “Gripping, Grinning and Filling the Jar”
Favorite screen: The best available one with ESPN on it.
Multiplatform measurement? That’s coming very soon, we are in a video impression based business. Multiscreen impressions (led by video) will be first to happen this Upfront.
Preschlack
Should the industry embrace or reject “virtual MSOs” and why? Embrace, because they could prove to provide an attractive consumer offering.
If I ever found myself saying “Better Call Saul,” I’d seek his advice on… content protection language.
Favorite vacation spot: Nantucket
Favorite TV show as a kid: “A-Team”
