Tanya Van Court joined ESPN in April 2004 as the Vice President and general manager, ESPN Broadband and Interactive Television. In this role, Van Court oversees the content development and business strategy for ESPN’s broadband and interactive television initiatives. In this, she works closely with the Affiliate Sales and Marketing team, and with both the editorial and technology groups at ESPN.com. Van Court reports to John Skipper, executive Vice President, ESPN. Among Van Court’s responsibilities are oversight of content served to users via high-speed residential Internet networks (DSL and cable internet), and converged media devices (such as media center PC’s). Additionally, Van Court oversees content created for all interactive television, including personal video recorders (PVR) and digital cable set-top boxes. She also oversees ESPN’s home networking, or “e-home” initiatives, and all two-screen interactive media efforts, known as “verge.” Van Court is a 10-year veteran of the cable and teleommunications industries, having joined ESPN from Cablevision where she served as Vice President, product management – Optimum Voice. In that role she was responsible for long-term product development and oversaw the launch of Voice Over IP (VOIP) to 4.4 million homes. Prior to that she held the post of Vice President, Operations and Customer experience, Digital Products and was responsible for Cablevision’s launch of digital cable operations in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. Preceding her stint at Cablevision, Van Court worked for Covad Communications and held positions as Vice President of International Operations, Process Design and Business Development and Integration – all at separate times. While there she oversaw the launch and management of DSL for international affiliates in Japan, India and Europe. She has also served in various roles for US West Communications and for Ameritech Corporation. Van Court received both her Master of Science (1994) and Bachelor of Science (1993) degrees in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University. While a candidate for her M.S., Van Court was a National Science Foundation Fellow.
