Everyone in the U.S. knows about the vast resources and reach of ESPN as a leader in sports programming.  What they may not know is that in Asia, ESPN and its partnership with NewsCorp (the Rupert Murdoch owned media company) makes it the sports programming king of Asia and Australia, as well.  From China to Hong Kong to Singapore to India to Taiwan to Australia, ESPNStar carries sports of a variety unmatched even in the U.S. with cricket, Australian rules football, rugby, motor sports as well as all of the traditional American sports.

Thursday afternoon, we had the opportunity to visit the Hong Kong based ESPN International offices.  In fact, it wasn’t just the ESPN offices we saw, all of  Disney Corporations Asia offices (ESPN’s parent company) are located in Hong Kong.  It was an informal meeting set up through a friend and former colleague of mine that is an executive producer with ESPN in the U.S. And although informal, it was a meeting full of great information and insight into the business of sports programming and media in general.  Michael Morrison, VP and General Manager of ESPN Asia Pacific, along with Kelly Cooke, Director of Business Development for ESPN Asia Pacific, spent nearly an hour and a half talking with our group; offering information and insight into the future of the media business, including alternative platform delivery and describing to the students the type of skills they need to acquire now to be better prepared for a career in media.

Michael T. Morrison and Kelly Cooke of ESPN Asia Pacific talk with students about the future of the media industry.

It was an informative and enjoyable afternoon from the view out their office windows to the conversation.  Thanks for ESPN for everything.

Imagine this view everyday at work. The view from the conference room at Disney Corp. in Hong Kong.