{"id":502089,"date":"2026-01-08T20:13:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T20:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/502089\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T20:13:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T20:13:14","slug":"after-series-of-carriage-battles-disney-ups-jimmy-zasowski-to-key-distribution-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/502089\/","title":{"rendered":"After Series Of Carriage Battles, Disney Ups Jimmy Zasowski To Key Distribution Role"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAfter navigating carriage battles with Charter, DirecTV and YouTube TV over the past three years, Disney<\/a> has promoted longtime executive Jimmy Zasowski<\/a> to a key distribution<\/a> post.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs President, Platform Distribution, Disney Entertainment and ESPN, Zasowski will spearhead negotiations with pay-TV<\/a> operators and other distribution partners. The task is far more complex than when a handful of major MVPDs ruled the industry. Today, the variables have multiplied due to streaming, not to mention the ongoing shrinkage of the pay-TV bundle.<\/p>\n

\n\tAn additional complication last year was the departure of Justin Connolly<\/a>, a 27-year veteran of ESPN and Disney, who moved to a senior post at YouTube just as its TV arm was starting renewal talks with Disney. After the companies failed to reach an agreement, Disney networks went dark for 15 days. Disney sued YouTube, claiming it had poached Connolly. The suit was later settled<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tSean Breen<\/a>, who is EVP Platform Distribution Sales for all global accounts and the North American business, stepped in on an interim basis after Connolly\u2019s departure. He co-led negotiations with YouTube TV along with Jimmy Zasowski. He will now take on an expanded global role in platform distribution sales, Disney said, adding responsibilities for the EMEA, LATAM and APAC regions.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe promotion was announced Thursday by Disney Entertainment Co-Chairmen Alan Bergman and Dana Walden and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro, to whom Zasowski will jointly report.<\/p>\n

\n\tZasowski will lead the distribution and monetization of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN; the company\u2019s linear portfolio, including the eight ABC-owned\u00a0television stations; ABC\u2019s\u00a0broadcast affiliations; and film and television programming across home entertainment and content licensing. His responsibilities\u00a0also\u00a0include\u00a0all distribution-related business operations and\u00a0direct oversight of global distribution and content licensing throughout North America, EMEA, LATAM and APAC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cJimmy is a skilled strategist, excellent\u00a0dealmaker, and a thoughtful, collaborative leader who will advance the company\u2019s distribution efforts to the next level,\u201d Bergman, Walden and Pitaro said in a joint statement. \u201cWe have full confidence in his ability to lead this global organization, build on the strength of the team, and drive results as consumer viewing habits and the media landscape continue to evolve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tZasowski joined Disney in 2009. He most recently served as EVP of Platform Distribution Strategy, where he led\u00a0distribution strategy and business affairs for Disney\u2019s direct-to-consumer services, linear networks and home entertainment. In this role he was responsible for deal analysis, strategic planning and developing growth strategies to expand the company\u2019s footprint throughout the media landscape.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m honored to have the opportunity to lead the best distribution and content sales team in the industry,\u201d Zasowski said.\u00a0 \u201cI look forward to building upon the successful partnerships that we have across the globe and further expanding access to Disney\u2019s best-in-class content in this dynamic marketplace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After navigating carriage battles with Charter, DirecTV and YouTube TV over the past three years, Disney has promoted…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":502090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[225188,7299,9728,171,50123,225189,169585,94168,225190,173,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-502089","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-carriage-negotiations","9":"tag-disney","10":"tag-distribution","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-executives","13":"tag-jimmy-zasowski","14":"tag-justin-connolly","15":"tag-pay-tv","16":"tag-sean-breen","17":"tag-tv","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115861310904643780","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}