Linda Cabral, Associate Director, Affiliate Marketing, has been with Disney and ESPN Media Networks since 2008. Linda is responsible for the strategy and development of affiliate marketing distribution and launch plans for the ESPN family of networks – including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Goal Line, ESPN Buzzer Beater, Longhorn Network, and ESPN’s PPV products. In addition to network strategies, Linda oversees all ESPN sports strategies and affiliate partnership marketing efforts surrounding ESPN’s top programming priorities and properties including SportsCenter, College Football, College Basketball, NFL, NBA, and FIFA World Cup. She also spearheads Disney and ESPN Media Networks annual strategy and planning process and, through her leadership, has helped drive efficiencies across the organization as well as multiple millions of dollars in savings year over year. Linda has won various CTAM Mark, NAMIC Marketing Multicultural and ProMax Sports Marketing Awards for her work on FIFA World Cup, World Baseball Classic and ESPN’s College Football campaigns, as well as for her work on integrated client campaigns including the WatchESPN Time Warner Cable Enjoy Better campaign.
A 16 year veteran of the cable television industry, Linda began her career in Human Resources at Tele-Communications Inc. which was later acquired by AT&T Broadband. At that time she transitioned into a training role conducting new hire orientations, educating employees on billing systems and developing and leading a training program to launch a new 130-seat call center. Linda also worked in the Marketing Department at the Hartford Courant where she was responsible for internal marketing communication plans. It was then she realized her passion for working in the cable industry and went back to work for Comcast Spotlight. At Comcast Spotlight she was the Marketing Manager for the Southern New England region where she developed and implemented local and Interconnect sales and marketing plans across New England that significantly impacted Spotlight’s market share. During this time she was named to the Comcast Spotlight President’s Club, one of Comcast’s most prestigious employee awards recognizing employees for excellence and leadership.
