Pete Distad, a veteran of both Apple and Hulu, has been hired to be CEO an upcoming Disney/Warner Brothers Discovery/Fox sports streaming service, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Distad most recently worked at Apple, where he led business, operations and global distribution for Video, Sports and Apple TV+. Before Apple he worked at Hulu, where he worked on the original launch team and eventually rose to senior vice president of marketing and distribution.
“This is an incredible opportunity to build and grow a differentiated product that will serve passionate sports fans in the US outside of the traditional pay TV bundle,” Distad said in a statement. “I’m excited to be able to pull together the industry-leading sports content portfolios from these three companies to deliver a new best-in-class service.”
Distad left Apple in May 2023. He oversaw the business and operations side of the Apple TV app and the TV+ streaming service. His division negotiated deals with Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball and turned the Apple TV set-top box into a hub for video content — both from inside and outside the company.
Following Distad’s departure, Apple executive Jim DeLorenzo will take the lead of Apple’s sports business team. He’s been at the tech giant since June 2020.
