John Skipper to Exit Meadowlark Media
Meadowlark Media CEO John Skipper is exiting the media company.
Skipper co-founded Meadowlark in 2021 alongside radio host Dan Le Batard with a goal of bringing his show to digital platforms. Skipper, the former president of ESPN, subsequently pushed Meadowlark to develop documentary and unscripted fare, inking a first look deal with Apple TV+, and developed a franchise called Sports Explains the World that would encompass both anthology series and podcasts.
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In a statement posted to his social media accounts, Le Batard indicated that the company will continue to produce documentary fare, and that Skipper would remain involved providing 'leadership and guidance' to the company.
'Thankful to John Skipper for his friendship and look forward to his continued leadership and guidance on and off air,' Le Batard wrote. 'I asked him to build a successful, fiercely independent media company within four years, and he has. Meadowlark will continue to produce films and documentaries. Our audio/video network is thriving, and we look forward to sharing good news shortly in that regard. I'm so grateful that our Skipper has navigated today's turbulent media seas to get us into much safer waters.'
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So I talked to my wife and she said, 'You can go and do a couple weeks,' so I took [daughter Steely]. She's in the commercial. You can watch and pick her out. I also snuck in Sean Gleason, he's the Lieutenant Commander. With this story you tell in the PBR ad, how much were you leaning into Rip? There are Rip vibes, but it feels like Cole speaking to the audience. I can't help the fact that I look like the character. I am the character (laughs). But I changed my jacket, my hair color and my hat. It's not like I could put on shorts and flip flops, so it is what it is! I can see how you leaned into appealing to women. Taylor Sheridan has leaned into the female audience, especially in more recent seasons of by spotlighting not only his starring women but more female characters in this world. That's something we haven't typically seen in Western projects. What inspired you here? I grew up with three sisters. So the white-collar side of the ad, I just thought, I'm going to make these girls strong and cool and smart. So, they are kind of badasses! They're on a $15 million yacht and then they jump into a million dollar Dodge, a classic car. Then they show up [at PBR] and they're in their own space in VIP. They are full of energy and life. The women we cast were perfect for it. The ad debuted during the recent PBR finals. That's a big audience, but you're also on a show that has the biggest audience on TV. Does the fandom differ when people approach you? Not much! It's the same world. When I walk through the stadium versus the airport, it feels exactly the same (laughs). It's amazing how much people have fallen in love with not only the show but the character, and the amount of love I've gotten over the last seven years is just mind-blowing. I got into acting to affect people. So the idea that I've done that in a big way and that I can see personally is always something that is going to make an artist like myself feel good. Rip is a major sex symbol. Rip and Beth (Kelly Reilly) are an iconic TV couple. How wild are your fan encounters? I was at South Point, which is a notorious cowboy hotel in Las Vegas. A woman came up to me and she had a tattoo of my character and I thought it was fake. She said, 'No, it's real. I just got it done.' That's crazy. (Laughs) That's a crazy moment that someone would take the character and put it on her body, or that people would name their children after Rip. It's just another acknowledgement of what Taylor started and our collaboration together, and the work that I've done with Kevin Costner and Kelly and Luke [Grimes], Wes [Bentley, the Yellowstone main cast]. It's been a tremendous ride, and I look forward to hopefully more years with Kelly, seeing what we can create for the audience that is hopefully as good or better. After the about how you felt it was the most beautiful ending for Rip and Beth, yet it also opened the door to set them on a new story. Ever since the first reports came out about a being developed, fans have been eagerly awaiting to hear more about what that could look like. When you are discussing continuing on with them, what is important to you in a Rip and Beth-focused series? Not having the cast around certainly [is hard]. Forrie J. Smith [who played Lloyd] has become such a great friend of mine that to think that my right-hand guy wouldn't be there [is hard]. But Kelly and I, we're focused on [Rip and Beth's] relationship and our love together, and what we're going to get [them] into. I'm excited just like everybody else. I can't wait to see what they come up with. Hopefully, we'll start seeing stuff soon. How much does Rip leave you when you aren't playing him? I'm pretty good about turning the switch on and off. I have to come home and be dad. I have to be a husband. 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Being able to control and tell stories, whether with the lens or working with actors to help them and be better, or sharing what I've learned along the way, is what I really look forward to doing. I don't think I'll ever get away from the love I have for acting, but it's a different version of storytelling. I love the process of being able to shoot something knowing I have control of the edit, what the message is. There are so many facets to being a storyteller and being able to use all of the people that you've worked with — great directors who I've been blessed to work with, some of the greatest I think in the last 25 years. I've learned a lot from them, so it's been cool to take pieces I've learned from them all and implement them into how I tell a story. So what are you working on with PBR next? I don't know. Sean and I will sit down like we always do in the year and look and what he wants to do. 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