Yahoo News The Daily Wire Hires Former Disney Exec as CMO (Exclusive)
The Daily Wire, the conservative media outlet founded by Ben Shapiro, has hired a Disney veteran to help grow its subscription streaming business.
The company has tapped Eric Caballero as its new CMO, overseeing all marketing for the company, particularly as it continues to invest in the entertainment business, arguing that legacy companies like Disney have abandoned their family-friendly roots.
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Caballero most recently worked as a vice president in Disney’s media and entertainment distribution group.
Among other projects, Caballero will lead marketing for The Daily Wire+, the company’s streaming platform. While it includes politically focused content from The Daily Wire as well as some other conservative programming, the company is moving further into entertainment, committing $100 million to produce kids and family fare, and expanding into original movies (including a Gina Carano-led offering called Terror on the Prairie).
Earlier this month the company hired Chris Sonnenburg, the showrunner on Disney Channel’s Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, to serve as vp animation, and it is signaling other hires from traditional media outlets may follow.
“I studied Disney’s traditions of customer obsession, of multi-generational franchise-building, and of broadening Hollywood’s best talent,” said Caballero in a statement. “The Daily Wire is building on this blueprint successfully enough that storytellers and media executives are taking notice and signing on.”
“Companies like Disney have betrayed their family-friendly and pro-America audiences because of outsize influence from activist shareholders and employees, leaving money and opportunity on the table in the process,” Daily Wire co-CEO Jeremy Boreing says. “But their loss is our gain—not just in audience, but in talent. After announcing our investment into kids’ entertainment, I have been fielding calls left and right from high-level talent at some of the biggest entertainment companies in the world who are seeking opportunities to come and work with us. We could not be more thrilled to have someone with Eric’s experience and expertise and are confident he will be an instrumental part of continuing our exponential growth.”
