John Kosner

Last updated
John Kosner
John Kosner Portrait.jpg
Born (1960-10-20) October 20, 1960 (age 63)
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma mater Stanford University BA, 1982
OccupationDigital Media Executive

John Robbins Kosner (born October 20, 1960) is an American digital media executive. He is currently the president of Kosner Media, a digital and sports consulting company. He is also an advisor to the 890 Fifth Avenue Partners SPAC [1] and an investor and advisor in sports technology startups as part of Micromanagement Ventures, a portfolio he created with the late NBA Commissioner Emeritus David Stern in 2018. [2] He served as executive vice president, digital and print media [3] for ESPN from January 2012 through June 2017. [4] He had overseen ESPN.com since 2003 and was an employee with ESPN for over 20 years. [5] [6]

Contents

Prior to ESPN, Kosner was vice president, TV programming and development for Sports Illustrated . Before joining Sports Illustrated , Kosner was vice president, broadcasting for the National Basketball Association. Kosner started his career at CBS Sports in September 1982 and progressed to Manager, Programming. While at ESPN, Kosner oversaw recruitment and talent development of content teams, including Wright Thompson, Bill Simmons, [7] Zach Lowe, Ramona Shelburne, Bill Barnwell and Sambit Bal as well as specialists like Adrian Wojnarowski, [8] Matthew Berry and Darren Rovell. Kosner has received several honors. In 2008, he was named the most influential person in sports digital media [9] by the Sports Business Journal .

Personal life

Kosner's father, Edward Kosner, is a noted journalist who writes non-fiction book reviews for the Wall Street Journal and previously served as the editor in chief at Newsweek (where he led the magazine's coverage of the Watergate scandal), New York and Esquire magazines, and at the New York Daily News (where he led the newspaper's coverage during 9/11). [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

In November 2005, Kosner married Diane Burstein, then Director, Marketing for Best Life magazine. Kosner and Burstein have a son, Luke Kosner, born in 2007. Kosner also has two children from his first marriage, Walter, born in 1991 and Grace, born in 1995. Walter is currently the lead guitarist of the indie rock band The Walters.

Awards

SportsBusiness Journal awarded ESPN its annual award for Best in Digital Sports Media five times in 10 years [18] and named Kosner the Most Influential in Online Media in 2008; [9] ESPN.com also won eight Sports Emmy's and two Online Journalism Awards, including the prestigious Award for General Excellence. [19] He has also appeared on lists of powerful and influential figures in sports media in Business Week Magazine, Daily Variety, Cynopsis, and Cablefax. [20] [21] [22] [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications</span> Communications and journalism school at Syracuse University

The S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, commonly known as Newhouse School, is the communications and journalism school of Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. It has undergraduate programs in advertising; broadcast and digital journalism; Esports communications and management; magazine, news, and digital journalism; public relations; television, radio and film; visual communications; and music business. Its Master's Programs includes degrees in advanced media management; advertising; audio arts; broadcast and digital journalism; Goldring arts journalism and communications; magazine news and digital journalism; media studies; multimedia, photography and design; public diplomacy and global communications; public relations; and television, radio and film. The school was named after publishing magnate Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., founder of Advance Publications, who provided the founding gift in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonnie Bernstein</span> American sports journalist and executive

Bonnie Lynn Bernstein is an American sports journalist and media executive. She has been named one of the most accomplished female sportscasters in history by the American Sportscasters Association, spending nearly 20 years as a reporter and studio host at ESPN, ABC and CBS Sports, covering the NFL, NBA, MLB and college football and basketball. Bernstein is currently the founder and CEO of Walk Swiftly Productions, a multimedia production company specializing in non-scripted sports and entertainment content.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregg Popovich</span> American basketball coach (born 1949)

Gregg Charles Popovich is an American professional basketball coach and executive who is the president and head coach for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Popovich has been a member of the Spurs organization since 1994, as president of basketball operations and general manager before taking over as coach of the Spurs in 1996. Popovich is the longest tenured active coach in the NBA as well as all other major sports leagues in the United States. Nicknamed "Coach Pop", Popovich has the most wins of any coach in NBA history, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in NBA history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sreenath Sreenivasan</span>

Sreenath "Sree" Sreenivasan is an academic and practitioner in journalism and communications, serving as the inaugural Marshall R. Loeb visiting professor at Stony Brook University School of Journalism in New York. He was previously chief digital officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and chief digital officer of Columbia University. He also served as chief digital officer of the City of New York from October 2016 through May 2017. He has been a technology journalist based in New York City and served as an academic administrator and professor in the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. In 2015, he was named one of Fast Company magazine's Most Creative People of the year. He was also identified as the most influential Chief Digital Officer of 2016 by CDO Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackie MacMullan</span> American journalist

Jackie "Mac" MacMullan Boyle is a retired American freelance newspaper sportswriter and NBA columnist for the sports website ESPN.com. She retired from ESPN on August 31, 2021.

John Collins is an American professional sports executive, who has served as operating partner of the NY Islanders since Jun 2023. He is also chief executive officer of On Location Experiences, an experiential hospitality business and the official hospitality partner of the National Football League (NFL). Collins is a member of the board of directors of Super Group Holding Company Collins was a founder of Sports Entertainment Acquisition Company, a SPAC which merged with Super Group in a way to take it public. Collins previously served as chief operating officer of the National Hockey League (NHL), which was named "Sports League of the Year" by the SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily in 2014 and 2011. Before joining the NHL, he was a senior executive with the NFL and the president and chief executive officer of the Cleveland Browns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Schefter</span> American sportswriter and reporter (born 1966)

Adam Schefter is an American sports writer and reporter. After graduating from University of Michigan and Northwestern University with degrees in journalism, Schefter wrote for several newspapers, including The Denver Post, before working at NFL Network. He has worked as an NFL insider for ESPN since 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Silver</span> American businessman and NBA commissioner

Adam Silver is an American lawyer and sports executive who serves as the fifth and current commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He joined the NBA in 1992 and has held various positions within the league, becoming chief operating officer and deputy commissioner under his predecessor and mentor David Stern in 2006. When David Stern retired in 2014, Silver was named the new commissioner.

Adrian Wojnarowski, nicknamed Woj, is an American sports columnist and reporter. He is an NBA insider for ESPN, having previously covered the NBA for Yahoo! Sports.

Myx is an American pay TV channel based in Daly City, California with an office also in Redwood City, California targeting a multicultural audience. As a sister network to Myx (Philippines), it launched in the United States in 2007. MyxRadio launched in November 2019 as a radio station on Dash Radio & as a global podcast on Spotify, iHeartRadio & Apple iTunes in March 2020. A video on demand service for Myx shows is also available via iWantTFC and TFC IPTV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacqueline Hernández</span> American multimedia businesswoman

Jacqueline Hernández is a Hispanic-American multimedia businesswoman specializing in multicultural and youth marketing. Hernandez is the CEO and founder of New Majority Ready, a marketing and content development firm. She is the former CMO of NBCUniversal Hispanic Enterprise and COO of Telemundo Enterprises and mun2. She currently serves on the board of directors of Victoria's Secret and Estrella Media. Prior to that, Hernández worked across multiple brands and platforms, including as publisher of People en Español, Teen People, and in various leadership roles at Time, Fortune, CNN International, and Combate Americas.

Mike McCarley is an American media executive and the founder and CEO of TMRW Sports, a company which he founded with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Previously, he was president of golf for the NBC Sports Group after leading marketing for NBC's Olympics and Sunday Night Football franchises. He is a protégé of former NBC Sports & Olympics Chairman Dick Ebersol and has had close connections to several sports icons, including the late Arnold Palmer, Jim McKay, John Madden and golf superstars Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler.

The International Business Times is an American online newspaper that publishes five national editions in four languages. The publication, sometimes called IBTimes or IBT, offers news, opinion and editorial commentary on business and commerce. IBT is one of the world's largest online news sources, receiving forty million unique visitors each month. Its 2013 revenues were around $21 million. As of January 2022, IBTimes editions include Australia, India, International, Singapore, U.K. and U.S.

<i>Grantland</i> Sports and pop culture website owned by ESPN

Grantland was a sports and pop-culture blog owned and operated by ESPN. The blog was started in 2011 by veteran writer and sports journalist Bill Simmons, who remained as editor-in-chief until May 2015. Grantland was named after famed early-20th-century sportswriter Grantland Rice (1880–1954).

Viamedia is a cable television and digital advertising company headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. Viamedia provides advertising sales management for cable TV operators, MVPD's, telcos, OTT/streaming and video providers across the US. Viamedia is one of the industry's leading providers of media advertising solutions for local, regional and national businesses and brands. The company currently has more than 12,000 active and prospective advertisers nationwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DraftKings</span> Daily fantasy sports content provider

DraftKings is an American daily fantasy sports contest and sports betting company. The company allows users to enter daily and weekly fantasy sports–related contests and win money based on individual player performances in five major American sports, Premier League and UEFA Champions League football, NASCAR auto racing, Canadian Football League, the XFL, mixed martial arts (MMA), Boxing, Tennis, All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and WWE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandon Scoop B Robinson</span>

Brandon Robinson, known professionally as Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson, is an American television host, sportswriter, podcaster, executive producer and an NBA Insider who is currently a sports betting content creator at Bovada Casino. He's had prior stops as a host at Spotify, a columnist at CBS Sports and a television analyst at Bally Sports Network.

Malika Rose Andrews is an American sports journalist and reporter. She is the host of NBA Today, which replaced The Jump. She joined ESPN in October 2018 as an online NBA writer and debuted as its youngest sideline reporter for a broadcast during the 2020 NBA Bubble. Andrews was named one of the Forbes 30 Under 30 in the sports industry for 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WWE ThunderDome</span> Bio-secure bubble for professional wrestling events

The WWE ThunderDome was a bio-secure bubble created by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, in partnership with the full-service fan experience company, The Famous Group. It was launched in August 2020 as a way for professional wrestling fans to attend WWE events virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. The bubble was a videoconferencing crowd system and arena staging utilized for broadcasts of television shows and pay-per-views of the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It worked by users signing up days before an event, logging in and joining at their allocated call time to be seen on a screen at the event in real time. It was free of charge to spectate an event.

Michael Levine, known by his nickname Vino, is an American sports agent and executive known for being co-head of CAA Sports, the sports division of Creative Artists Agency (CAA). He has been ranked as one of the most influential people in sports by Worth and Sports Business Journal.

References

  1. ↑ "Marvel's Avengers Lend Home to Kosner and Calemzuk for $250 Million SPAC Buildout". 24 December 2020.
  2. ↑ "Lessons and wisdom of Micromanagement: Former NBA commissioner Stern, ESPN exec Kosner team up with firm".
  3. ↑ "ESPN Has Seen the Future of TV and They're Not Really Into It". Bloomberg.com. 2017-03-30. Retrieved 2017-12-21.
  4. ↑ "James Andrew Miller: ESPN Executive Shake-Up Ushers in "New World Order" (Guest Column)". www.hollywoodreporter.com. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 2017-12-21.
  5. ↑ Spangler, Todd (2013-05-16). "ESPN Goes for the Extra Point With Hackathons". Variety. Retrieved 2017-12-21.
  6. ↑ "ESPN's digital boss has strong words for people who think ESPN is in decline". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-12-21.
  7. ↑ "ESPN.com Boss John Kosner On Yahoo: "I'm More Concerned With The Guy In The Garage"". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-12-21.
  8. ↑ "Inside Adrian Wojnarowski's move to ESPN". Awful Announcing. 2017-09-28. Retrieved 2017-12-21.
  9. 1 2 "20 Most Influential Digital Sports Media". Sports Business Daily. Retrieved October 13, 2008.
  10. ↑ "Kosner Appointed Newsweek Editor". NY Times. July 31, 1975.
  11. ↑ "Kosner, Former Editor of Newsweek, Chosen as Editor of New York". NY Times. March 1, 1980.
  12. ↑ "Hearst Names New Top Editor to Turn Esquire Around". NY Times. May 30, 1997.
  13. ↑ "Sunday News Gets Bigger". NY Times. Feb 22, 1999.
  14. ↑ "Lessons and wisdom of Micromanagement: Former NBA commissioner Stern, ESPN exec Kosner team up with firm". www.sportsbusinessdaily.com. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  15. ↑ Needleman, Sarah E. (2020-03-06). "Traditional Sports Look to Gamers to Reshape Viewers' Experience". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  16. ↑ "A new reality powered by AI". www.sportsbusinessdaily.com. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  17. ↑ "Kosner Media". Kosner Media. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  18. ↑ "Previous Winners". www.sportsbusinessdaily.com. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  19. ↑ "General Excellence in Online Journalism - Online Journalism Awards". Online Journalism Awards. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  20. ↑ "Cynopsis Sports Announces Winners of Sports Media Awards Honoring the Year's Top Sports Programs, Campaigns and People". PRWeb. Retrieved 2017-12-21.
  21. ↑ "ESPN Digital Awards - ESPN MediaZone". ESPN MediaZone. Retrieved 2017-12-21.
  22. ↑ "CableFAX 100 2012 - Cablefax". Cablefax. Retrieved 2017-12-21.
  23. ↑ "Digital Awards 2014 - Cablefax". Cablefax. Retrieved 2017-12-21.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.