PEABODY, MA — Peabody native Jon Litner will receive one of television's biggest lifetime honors on Wednesday as the CEO and president of the YES Network is set to be inducted into the 2026 Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame.
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame pays tribute to the influencers, innovators, and visionaries of broadcast, cable, and streaming television, and their previous honorees include Oprah Winfrey, Bob Iger, Johnny Carson.
Litner's achievements include being the EVP and COO of the NHL, group president with NBC Sports Group, and now president and CEO of the largest regional sports network and exclusive regional media home of the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets.
He began his career in sports television at ABC Sports, where he held several executive positions from 1991 to 1999. Litner was responsible for the acquisition and management of several iconic sports properties, including NFL Monday Night Football, NCAA Football and Basketball, the Rose Bowl, Indianapolis 500, Kentucky Derby and the legendary anthology series "Wide World of Sports."
Litner also played a leading role in creating college football’s first National Championship Game as part of the Bowl Championship Series and in securing MLB television rights through the formation of The Baseball Network.
Litner was later named Vice President, Business Affairs, for The Baseball Network.
Litner graduated from Yale University in 1985 and from Cornell Law School in 1988.
At Yale, he was a two-sport varsity athlete (football and baseball) and an Oaklawn Foundation Scholar.
Litner, a longtime director of Little League Baseball International, currently serves as Vice Chairman of its Board of Directors.
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