Disney Headlines for August 27th, 2024
This week: Disney reconfigures ESPN again, triggering spinoff speculation.
Also, Disney+ officials lament a casting decision that may have set back the Star Wars franchise.


Disney+ Logo
We’ve got plenty of drama in the latest batch of Disney Headlines.
Remember Norby vs. McAfee?


Photo: ESPN
In April, Norby Williamson left ESPN after a lengthy career. The perception at the time was that the exec had lost a power struggle.
Williamson had started in ESPN’s mail room in the 1980s and gradually worked – some would say backstabbed – his way to the top.


Photo: Fox News
Ultimately, Williamson earned the company’s influential position, Executive Senior Vice President of Studio and Event Production.
Williamson had a hand in any live broadcast you’ve watched on ESPN, from Sports Center to the ESPYs.


Photo: Deadline
Several former on-air talents lament that Williamson ultimately cost them their dream jobs, which makes his comeuppance somewhat karmic.
When Disney CEO Bob Iger personally courted Pat McAfee, the latter individual took that as an indication he was above the law.


Photo: Variety
Once Williamson tried to rein in McAfee, the latter individual went nuclear during a live broadcast.
Everyone at Disney knew that someone had to go, and it wouldn’t be McAfee, who had just signed a massive contract.


Photo: Awful Announcing
So, Williamson finally lost a power struggle, an eventuality for which he was long overdue, and left the company.
In the process, ESPN’s hierarchy suffered a power vacuum, as even though Williamson earned a promotion in 2017, nothing had changed.


Photo: Awful Announcing
Williamson called the shots with live broadcasts for 18 years. There was a hold, and ESPN finally moved to fill it this week.
What Just Happened


ESPN
The new name to know at ESPN is Mike McQuade, who now holds the post of EVP, Sports Production.
That’s a new job that makes McQuade the new Norby, so to speak.


Photo: Deadline
According to Deadline, “McQuade has overseen the production of live events and studio shows across multiple sports.”
So, he seems like a natural choice to replace Williamson without causing many ripple effects internally.


Photo: Tamir Moore
McQuade has worked at ESPN for 37 years, making him a veteran of the company’s early years.
The executive will oversee many of ESPN’s most important broadcasts, such as Monday Night Countdown, NBA Countdown, and Sunday NFL Countdown.


Photo: ESPN
Disney just committed tens of billions of dollars to NFL and NBA content.
So, it wanted a veteran hand in charge, just one lower key than Williamson.
The New ESPN Hierarchy


Photo:GETTY IMAGES FOR ESPN
Still, for ESPN, the changing of the guard presented an opportunity to perform a reorganization.
The magnificently named Burke Magnus, ESPN’s President of Content, announced the move on Monday, August 26th.


ESPN
Magnus revealed the promotion of David Roberts, who just gained the most difficult job at ESPN.
From this moment forward, Roberts will take charge of ESPN’s “non-sport specific studio shows.”


ESPN
Magnus published a memo that describes the impacted programs as “SportsCenter, First Take, Get Up, The Pat McAfee Show,” Around the Horn, and Pardon the Interruption, among others.
So, Roberts now deals with the perennial headache of McAfee, the highly paid shock jock who gleefully sticks it to the man whenever possible.


(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
McAfee recently allowed an on-air guest, Aaron Rodgers, to slander a high-profile Disney employee, Jimmy Kimmel.
In the aftermath of this incident, McAfee promised not to bring Rodgers back to the show until the NFL season began.


Photo: Bloomberg
Then, Rodgers appeared on McAfee’s show the following day. So, yeah. Good luck, David Roberts!
Magnus announced two other significant infrastructural changes.


Photo: Deadline
“(ESPN is) bringing together our International Production team and our ESPN Deportes and International Editorial teams, along with Business Operations for International, under one leader – Freddy Rolón.”
Also, “the SIG group is being divided into two functional areas – Research and ESPN Stats & Analysis.”


Photo: ESPN
ESPN threw a bone to outsiders by saying, “Research is a key group that supports our storytelling functions.”
Meanwhile, he describes ESPN Stats & Analysis as “critical to our digital strategy.”


Photo: ESPN
To a larger point, this reorg clearly defines ESPN as a standalone entity, should the need arise to spin off this division into a new company.
Spinoff rumors emerged in earnest in 2022 and never really went away.
This move makes ESPN fully autonomous. We’ll see what happens next.
“Whoa.”


Photo: Lucasfilm
If you listen to my podcast or read MickeyBlog’s streaming ratings, you know that I’m pretty bummed about The Acolyte.
I’m the opposite of a Star Wars fan, and my hot streak of predicting failure has continued.


Photo: Lucasfilm
Anytime I think a Star Wars project looks good, it’s pretty much the kiss of death for the title, with The Acolyte as the latest example.
My tastes are not the norm, but I suspect there’s one topic where Star Wars fans’ pop culture tastes would have aligned with my own.


Photo; Lucasfilm
You see, I’m the guy who watched Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures in theaters on opening night. I’ve still got the ticket stub somewhere.
I was begging people to watch The Matrix on opening weekend, swearing it would blow their minds, while other critics said it was a 13th Floor knockoff.


Photo: IMDB
That’s a real thing that happened, even though The Matrix came out a couple of weeks earlier. The early days of the internet were wild, my friends.
Anyway, I’ve been on the Keanu Reeves bandwagon for a while and am riding high thanks to the brilliance of the John Wick franchise.


©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
That’s why I’ve bitterly laughed over the postmortem regarding the failures of The Acolyte.
Last year, during the creation of the project, rumors floated that Disney+ executives wanted Keanu Reeves to join the project.


Photo: Lucasfilm
Later, after The Acolyte had cast Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae in a lead role, reports surfaced that Disney still coveted Reeves.
Squid Game vs. John Wick: Who Ya Got?
Since then, we’ve found out why Disney didn’t get its way. During the creative process, Leslye Headland saw Squid Game.
In that moment, she recognized that Jung-jae checked all the boxes for the role she had created, Sol.


Photo: People
Disney+ officials felt that at the price they were paying, a reported $180 million for eight episodes, they needed a draw to sell the premise.
Keanu Reeves would do that in a way Jung-jae and Amandla Stenberg simply could not.


Photo: Disney+
He’s a box office draw, and those tend to do extraordinarily well on streaming.
Now that The Acolyte has failed, suffering a cancellation after just one season, Disney’s money people have regrets.

Photo: IMDB
Some believe that the show was miscast from the start and would have performed much better with Reeves instead.
I’d argue that the story itself matters more, as Reeves couldn’t save 47 Ronin, Hardball, or Sweet November from failure.
When audiences don’t connect with characters, the star matters less.
This is more about blaming someone else rather than taking accountability.
To Headland’s credit, the writer is taking ownership of The Acolyte’s struggles, a rare and noble act in Hollywood.
Still, there’s enough smoke around the Keanu Reeves fire that you should probably expect a future Star Wars appearance from him.
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