Former Apple executive, Pete Distad, has been named CEO of the new sports streaming service- a joint venture formed by ESPN, FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Distad, who most recently served as an executive at Apple for a decade following six years at Hulu, will head up all aspects of the joint venture, including overall strategy, distribution, marketing and sales.

Subscribe to Mobile Marketing Magazine

Click here to get the latest marketing news free in your inbox every Thursday

At Apple, Distad was responsible for the business, operations and global distribution of Video, Sports and Apple TV+. Meanwhile, during his time at the technology giant, he launched the new Apple TV in 2015 and later led teams that launched and scaled the Apple TV app, Apple TV+, and MLS Season Pass.

Before Apple, he served as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Distribution at Hulu.

He was also part of the original launch team of the streaming platform, overseeing customer acquisition and retention, distribution and marketing.

Prior to Hulu, Distad worked in various technology and management consulting roles, including at McKinsey & Company, Calence (now Insight) and Andersen Consulting (now Accenture).

Commenting on his appointment, Distad said: “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.

“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.”

The sports streaming offering is scheduled to launch in the autumn of this year and will be made available directly to consumers via a new app.

The platform would aggregate content to offer fans an extensive, dynamic lineup of sports content, aiming to provide a new and differentiated experience to serve sports fans.

ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery added the following joint statement: “Pete is an accomplished innovator and leader who has extensive experience with launching and growing new video services. We are confident he and his team will build an extremely compelling, fan-focused product for our target market.”