By Glenn Hyams, Class of ’16
Everyone knows that sports play an important, passionate role in the lives of most Americans. With that being said, I was fortunate enough to get a behind the scenes look at the worldwide leader as I interned for ESPN in their Affiliate Sales and Marketing department in New York City. Specifically, I worked for the Digital Video Distribution (DVD) group. Affiliate Sales and Marketing is responsible for negotiating all the massive cable deals with providers such as Time Warner, Comcast, etc. The DVD team specifically negotiates the terms and contracts for all “Over-The-Top” platforms. Thus if you see the “Watch ESPN” app on your Xbox One, it was my area that made it possible. This was an extremely exciting group to be a part of as the media world is constantly changing with more people cutting the cord from their traditional cable services and moving towards online and over-the-top streaming.
ESPN intern Glenn Hyams
Throughout the summer, I worked on numerous projects that culminated in large presentations to the top management of both ESPN as well as the parent company, Disney. One of the best parts of interning at ESPN was having the ability to participate in the intern competition, “The Pitch.” All 75 ESPN interns from Bristol to New York to LA were given the opportunity to create a new business idea or original show/ segment and pitch it to executives across the company. My specific idea focused on creating a new segment of SportsCenter centered on social media and increasing user interaction. I was in a team with two other interns, and in the end, we created an elaborate presentation that could only last a maximum of five minutes. One of the hardest parts of “The Pitch” was making sure that we could identify a problem, create a solution and tie it all back to ESPN’s company priorities in such a short amount of time. Fortunately, after the first round of presentations to five members of the programming department, my team was selected as a finalist.
Being selected as a top five team out of the 18 groups that participated in “The Pitch” was truly an unforgettable experience. Just being able to see an idea originate from a quick brainstorming session and really take on a life of its own is something I will always value. This competition proved that through the right amount of research and hard work, any well-thought out idea can gain enough traction to be seen by some of the most important executives at ESPN. We received extremely positive feedback about our presentation and continue to maintain relationships with all the judges involved in “The Pitch.”
Another presentation that I worked on throughout my time at ESPN was entitled, “Reset Watch.” ESPN was the first company to really role out a successful mobile application, which puts a lot of pressure on the group to continue to innovate and better enhance the experience for a mobile user. During my research, I came up with numerous ways that the app can be improved through analyzing competitors to meeting with members of the “Watch ESPN” department. The summer long project culminated in a final presentation to all different employees throughout ESPN.
Overall, I will never forget this summer with ESPN. I was lucky enough to work for a department that was extremely welcoming from my first day on the job. There were so many incredible moments throughout the duration of my internship that I will always remember. From the “Intern Symposium” where all the ESPN interns had the opportunity to meet with ESPN president, John Skipper, to all the networking events across all different departments of ESPN, everyone is constantly innovating. Sport is the common denominator that brings the nation together. Whether your team is winning or they haven’t raised the championship banner in your lifetime (i.e. Islanders, Jets, Mets, sigh), this summer gave me a behind the scenes look at how the most successful network serves sports fans anytime, anywhere.
This post is part of the Looksharp Internship Blog Competition. To read more about the competition and view other posts go here.
