Steve Bornstein
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Steve Bornstein (born April 20, 1952) is the chairman of the Media Networks division of the gaming company Activision Blizzard. He previously held high-ranking roles at NFL Network,
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
, and
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
. While at ESPN, he organized showing ''
SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...
'' reruns during the morning hours.


Early life and education

Bornstein was born and raised in a
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family in Fair Lawn,
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
to Julian Leon and Marge Frankel Bornstein. Bornstein is the youngest of four siblings, the others being Fred, Andy, and Faye. He attended the
University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
and graduated in 1974 with a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
in
communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
.


Career

Bornstein began his career as a producer, and later executive producer, at WOSU-TV in
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...
,
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. He also worked with
Warner-Amex Cable Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...
, producing
Ohio State Buckeyes football The Ohio State Buckeyes football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing Ohio State University in the East Division of the Big Ten Conference. Ohio State has played their home games at Ohio Stadium in ...
programming for the company's interactive QUBE system.


ESPN

In January 1980, he joined ESPN as the manager of program coordination when the cable sports network was a four-month-old start-up. During his time as manager of programming coordination, he developed and implemented ESPN's successful programming philosophy of presenting a mix of events, sports news and special interest programming. In 1988, Bornstein was promoted to Executive Vice President of Programming and Production. He advanced through the network's programming and production ranks, becoming ESPN's youngest president and
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
in 1990 at age 38. In January 1992,
ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
was launched and began a rollout of 24-hour programming in October 1998. Also in 1992, Bornstein established the subsidiary ESPN Enterprises to develop new businesses like ESPN.com, which has grown to become the leading sports news and information site on the internet. Bornstein helped to oversee the debut of ESPN2 in October 1993 and ESPNews in November 1996. In October 1997, Bornstein directed the acquisition of
Classic Sports Network ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns 20%). The channel was originally l ...
and rebranded the channel as ESPN Classic, adding yet another network to the ESPN family. Additionally, Bornstein oversaw the development of ESPN International, which has grown to include ownership - in whole or in part - of 24 television networks internationally, as well as a variety of additional businesses that allow ESPN to reach sports fans in over 61 countries and territories across all seven continents. In March 1998, '' ESPN the Magazine'' was launched as a joint venture of
Disney Publishing Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), formerly known as The Disney Publishing Group and Buena Vista Publishing Group, is the publishing subsidiary of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Its imprints inclu ...
and ESPN with distribution being handled by Hearst Magazines. Throughout his time at ESPN, the network created the ''
SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...
'' franchise, '' NFL Countdown'', ''
NFL PrimeTime ''NFL Primetime'' is a sports television program that has aired on ESPN since 1987. The show is presented similarly to ESPN's own '' SportsCenter'', featuring scores, highlights, and analysis of every game of the week in the NFL. When it debut ...
'', '' Baseball Tonight'' and the ''
Outside the Lines ''Outside the Lines'', or also referred to as ''OTL'', is an American television program on ESPN that looks "outside the lines" and examines critical issues in mostly American sports on and off the field of play. The primary host of the show is ...
'' series. In addition to his contributions to ESPN programming, Bornstein developed the X Games and Winter X Games, week-long extreme sports competitions. Bornstein is also credited with the creation of the ESPYs Awards, short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award. First awarded in 1993. During his tenure at ESPN, Bornstein's team won 59 Emmys and 57 Cable Ace Awards.


American Broadcasting Company

In April 1996, Bornstein was named President of ABC Sports. In a short time, Bornstein established ABC Sports as the preeminent network of college football, creating the College Football Championship Series, and extending contracts with all major CFB conferences. In 1999, Bornstein was named President of ABC, where he was responsible for all the media network and cable assets at ABC/Disney.


NFL Network

In January 2003, Bornstein was appointed president and CEO of NFL Network and Executive Vice President of Media by then NFL
Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...
Paul Tagliabue Paul John Tagliabue (; born November 24, 1940) is an American lawyer who was the History of the NFL Commissioner, commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). He took the position in 1989 NFL season, 1989 and served until September 1, 2006 ...
. While at the NFL, Bornstein oversaw the league's media division, which included the relationships with national broadcast and sponsorship partners as well as NFL-owned media assets and revenue. In November 2003, Bornstein launched NFL Network, which was the most widely distributed sports network in the history of the industry when it launched and became the youngest network ever to win a
Sports Emmy The Sports Emmy Awards, or Sports Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), the Sports ...
after just 58 days on the air. In 2009, Bornstein spearheaded the creation of NFL RedZone, the widely acclaimed channel produced by NFL Network that whips around live to every NFL game on Sunday afternoons delivering the touchdowns and most exciting moments to viewers. Under Bornstein's leadership, NFL Network and NFL RedZone completed distribution deals with Cablevision and Time Warner Cable in 2012. Currently in more than 72 million homes, NFL Network now has carriage agreements with each of the country's largest television providers including Comcast, DirecTV, DISH Network, Cablevision, Cox, Charter, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-Verse. Ultimately, Bornstein would bring the league's internet and mobile assets in-house and help build NFL Media into a collection of league-owned media assets including NFL Network, NFL.com, NFL Mobile, NFL RedZone, NFL Now, and NFL Films along with the NFL's social media platforms. While building out and growing the NFL's own media assets, Bornstein reconfigured and repackaged the NFL's television assets and helped the league bring NBC back into the fold, move ''Monday Night Football'' to ESPN, introduced flexible scheduling, and created a new package of Thursday primetime games for NFL Network. Bornstein was instrumental in the December 2011 landmark nine-year extensions with CBS, FOX and NBC which continue the NFL's tradition on broadcast television through the 2022 season. Those new deals came just three months after he helped secure an eight-year agreement to keep ''Monday Night Football'' on ESPN until 2021. Bornstein also helped lead renewal negotiations in 2014 with DirecTV for exclusive rights to carry NFL Sunday Ticket and its package of every Sunday afternoon out-of-market game through a new multi-year agreement. The 2014 renewal also expanded DirecTV's rights to stream NFL Sunday Ticket live on mobile devices and via broadband, known as NFL Sunday Ticket TV. In 2014, Bornstein was succeeded by Brian Rolapp as CEO of NFL Network.


Charitable activities

Bornstein takes part in numerous charitable activities with a wide range of organizations. He is the founder and current board chair of The V Foundation, one of the nation's cancer research funding organizations, which has raised more than $125 million for cancer research in the name of late
college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
coach Jim Valvano. In addition, he has served on the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and the California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness, the National Cable Television Association, Hampton University, Steamboat Ventures, and Infoseek.


Activision Blizzard and FlockU.com

On October 21 video game publisher Activision Blizzard announced the establishment of a new
esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...
competitive video game division headed by Chairman Steve Bornstein and Senior Vice President Mike Sespo of Major League Gaming. He is currently on the board of directors for hudl.


Personal life

Bornstein lives in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
with his wife Carol and four children.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bornstein, Steve 1952 births Living people American Broadcasting Company executives Jewish American sportspeople NFL Network People from Fair Lawn, New Jersey University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication alumni Presidents of ESPN Presidents of ABC Sports Presidents of the American Broadcasting Company Esports businesspeople Activision American chief executives in the media industry