ESPN Executive Vice President of Production Norby Williamson has announced that he is leaving the network after a nearly 40-year run, according to Deadline.
- The news of Williamson’s exit comes just a few months after popular on-air personality Pat McAfee accused the executive of “attempting to sabotage” his show by leaking “negative ratings information.”
- Williamson is credited with building SportsCenter into the instantly recognizable signature franchise that it is.
- The news of his departure comes from a memo from President of Content Burke Magnus, which was sent to employees this morning.
- The full memo, including a statement from Williamson, can be seen below:
“Colleagues:
I am reaching out with some important news. Norby Williamson will be leaving the company today after nearly 40 years of dedicated service.
During Norby’s career, he made significant contributions across many important roles within Content. Through his steadfast commitment and attention to detail, Norby has had a lasting impact on the sports fans’ experience. His wide-ranging influence includes SportsCenter, breaking news coverage, immense creativity within event and studio productions and diverse storytelling across various ESPN platforms.
Norby wanted to share the following message:
“Almost 40 years ago in 1985, I was so very fortunate to be offered an opportunity at ESPN. Due to the exceptional hard work, creativity and commitment of the people of ESPN, and to a much lesser extent my contributions, I’d like to think we’ve left our great company in a far better place than we found it.”
As soon as possible, we will be conducting a full search for a new senior content executive to help lead our team. Additionally, we will soon provide details about our interim reporting structure. We understand you may have questions about this transition. I, along with my direct reports, will be available to address any questions in the coming days.
We thank Norby for his many contributions to ESPN and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.
Burke”