Fox Sports Names Mark Silverman President, National Networks

Veteran media executive will retain his role as president of Big Ten Network

Veteran media executive and Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman has been named president, national networks, Fox Sports.

Mark Silverman

Silverman is no stranger to Fox Sports: BTN is a joint venture of Fox Sports and the Big Ten Conference. He has overseen all aspects of the successful college sports network since its inception in 2007 and will remain its president after he assumes his new position in Los Angeles on Jan. 16.

“Mark is an excellent, creative executive who has been in the Fox Sports family for over 11 years with great success,” says Eric Shanks, president/executive producer, Fox Sports. “We couldn’t be more thrilled he has chosen to take this new role on our team.”

Silverman will oversee all programming, production, marketing, and digital for Fox, FS1, and FS2 live productions and studio shows.

BTN has enjoyed tremendous success and growth under Silverman, boasting more than 60 million subscribers throughout the U.S. and Canada. The network has extended its portfolio beyond the traditional linear network with extensive digital-media offerings in BTN2Go and BTN Plus.

“Mark’s been a creative and trusted leader at BTN for more than a decade,” says Jim Delany, commissioner, Big Ten Conference. “I have no doubt that Fox Sports’ national networks will all benefit as a result of Mark’s special combination of executive skills. We look forward to continuing to work with him in this new role.”

Early on in his career, Silverman spent 13 years in executive positions at The Walt Disney Co., including serving as SVP/GM of the ABC Cable Networks Group and SVP/GM, ABC Family Channel.