Disney Hires Former Meta Exec Andre Rohe as Executive Vice President of Product Engineering at Disney Entertainment and ESPN
Rohe began his new position earlier this month.
In preparation for the launch of ESPN's Flagship streaming service coming this fall, Disney has brought on ex-Meta executive Andre Rohe to lead a newly created product engineering group for the media company and sports network.
What’s Happening:
- The Hollywood Reporter shares that Disney has hired Andrew Rohne to oversee a new product engineering group for Disney Entertainment and ESPN.
- Taking on the title of Executive Vice President of Product Engineering, Rohe arrives at Disney after serving as Vice President of Engineering at Facebook and owner of Instagram.
- Joining the entertainment giant in January, Rohe reports to Disney Entertainment and ESPN’s Chief Product and Tech Officer Adam Smith.
- Rohn will split his time between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
- Prior to his work at Meta, Rohe spent six years at YouTube and eight years at Google in engineering roles.
- This new position comes just ahead of this fall’s ESPN Flagship launch.
- Between Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, Disney has an amazing nearly 200 million subscribers, 157 million of which have ad-supported subscriptions.
- Disney’s next streaming venture, ESPN Flagship, intends to take the brand from linear TV to digital. Last year, Disney CFO Hugh Johnston shared ““When we finally launch ESPN flagship, which is going to be a much more sophisticated product sometime in early fall of next year, that product is going to be about much more interaction," Johnston said. “It’s really not going to be just an analog product delivered digitally, but it will be a true digital native type of product. So, if you want to do ESPN — betting through ESPN Bet, you’ll be able to do it on the app."
What They’re Saying:
- Adam Smith, Disney Entertainment and ESPN Chief Product and Tech Officer: “Andre is an incredibly talented technologist that brings not only a deep background in managing world-class engineering teams and years of expertise in scaled recommendation and product personalization, but also a truly collaborative spirit."
- Andre Rohe, Disney Entertainment and ESPN EVP Product Engineering: “It’s exciting to be a part of that and to reunite with Adam, and it’s humbling to have the opportunity to lead this great team of engineers as we work to shape the future of how people around the world engage with entertainment and sports."
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