Bristol sports programmer ESPN has promoted the executive who was in charge of the College Football Playoff programming, which created the largest audience in cable television history in January.
Ilan Ben-Hanan had been the network’s lead executive for college football programming since 2011, where he was the daily contact on college football for all businesses within and outside of ESPN and with all leagues, conferences, schools and bowls, including the College Football Playoff, which ESPN paid $7.3 billion for the rights to air through 2025.
In his new role, Ben-Hanan will be vice president of college sports programming, managing relationships and rights acquisitions for ESPN’s entire college sports portfolio, including the College Football Playoff, more than 30 bowl games, more than 20 NCAA Championships as well as the regular season for football, men’s and women’s basketball, and Olympic sports.
In its first year, the College Football Playoff championship game where Ohio State defeated Oregon was watched by 33.3 million viewers, a record cable TV audience. ESPN reportedly charged $1 million per advertisement.
Ben-Hanan joined ESPN in 2002 and will continue to be based in Los Angeles. He is a two-time cancer survivor and is a lead in the company’s Jimmy V Week cancer fundraising event.
