'ESPN Magazine' Hires Overholt, First Female EIC
- by Sara Guaglione , February 3, 2016
Alison Overholt will become the first female editor-in-chief of ESPN The Magazine, the company announced Monday.Overholt was previously editor of
espnW. She will continue to report to Laura Gentile, SVP of espnW and women’s initiatives, on espnWmatters.
Overholt will replace Chad
Millman, who will become vice president, editorial director, domestic digital content.
John Kosner, EVP of print and digital media, also named Patrick Stiegman vice president, global
digital content and Ray Spoon SVP of digital product management to lead a new audience development.
Overholt, Millman, Stiegman and Spoon will report to Kosner. All changes are effective immediately.
The moves are designed to “reflect the diversity of ESPN’s digital leadership,” per a statement, and create a more “personalized
experience for fans.”
In 2011, Steven Binder, then vice president, publishing director for ESPN The Magazine,said women made up 20% of the magazine's
subscription base. advertisement
advertisement
While ESPN cable channels have been losing subscribers for the first time in its history to “cord-cutters,” the magazine’s readership is growing. An average monthly audience of 94.8 million consumers in 2015 makes it one of the top digital magazine brands in the U.S.
As Publishers Daily previously reported, ESPN
Magazine’s “Body Issue” cover, which had six different versions (one of which featured heptathlete Chantae McMillan), won the Ellie for Reader’s Choice Award at the 2016
National Magazine Awards for Print and Digital Media.
ESPN celebrated its 20th anniversary of ESPN.com last year, relaunching the Web site and the app with a push
toward stronger global editions. It launched in the U.S. in Spanish and English, U.K., Mexico and across Latin America.
