he wanted the service to eventually be a larger competitor to entities such as ESPN and compete for more significant sports rights, but that they wanted to "build our brand in this country, expose the quality of our technology and start to meet people." Of his personal condition, Skipper added that "I'm in a great place. I am excellent, quite healthy. I think you can tell that. I have a level of acceptance and enthusiasm going forward." Meadowlark Media In January 2021, Skipper joined former ESPN personality Dan Le Batard to launch Meadowlark Media, a content company focused on sports. He will remain at his position at DAZN. The company most recently signed a deal with Apple TV+. Legacy Skipper's time as President of ESPN received both praise and criticism. He was admired for his strong support of journalism. The Ringer wrote that "he knew quality" and "spoke a language that editorial people could understand." He was credited for taking chances on ambitious projects like Grantland, FiveThirtyEight, The Undefeated, and 30 for 30. Sports Illustrated wrote that Skipper made ESPN "gobs of cash ... but he also made the network smarter and sharper." Skipper "championed soccer and the NBA, realizing that ESPN, armed with its many affiliates and platforms, could get more out of broadcast rights than any of its competitors could." He was also praised for pushing ESPN to become "more diverse on air and online when it came to both gender and race." During Skipper's tenure, ESPN lost nearly 15% of its subscribers as consumers moved to streaming and over-the-top (OTT) options and laid off more than 500 employees as all traditional media companies were impacted by cable's decline. Additionally, ESPN's TV ratings declined significantly across the board due to the cord-cutting and the network endured criticism from new competitors over the declining quality of its programming. Skipper's 2014 disregard of eSports as a "real sport", referring to them as a "competition" instead, has been negatively noted by various websites. Personal life Skipper is divorced with two adult sons and lives in Manhattan. In 2018, he began dating Venezuelan fashion entrepreneur Carmen Busquets. References External links John Skipper – ESPN MediaZone – official ESPN bio John Skipper – The Walt Disney Company – TWDC corporate bio People from Lexington, North Carolina Living people ESPN executives American Broadcasting Company executives Presidents of ESPN Presidents of ABC Sports University of