Chris Connelly has been named interim editor-in-chief of Grantland. Connelly is an award-winning reporter whose work includes contributions to E:60, Outside The Lines, ABC News and many other programs and publications. Connelly will continue as a contributor for 20/20 and other ABC News programs, where he mainly covers popular culture.
“We are thrilled to have a journalist of Chris’ caliber join us on an interim basis as we go forward and build on the smart, fun, adventurous, creative, unexpected and vital spirit of Grantland,” said ESPN evp of global strategy and original content Marie Donoghue.
April was Grantland’s most trafficked month ever, with video viewing on the site up +277 % since last June. The site’s creator Bill Simmons recently didn’t have his contract renewed by ESPN, but he shouldn’t be out of work for too long.
“Bill Simmons had the vision to create Grantland, and his leadership, ideas, and inspiration made it singularly great. I’m looking forward to helping the writers, editors, and producers on this amazingly talented staff create more of the outstanding work for which they’ve rightly become known,” Connelly said.
Prior to joining ESPN/ABC in September 2001, Connelly spent more than a dozen years at MTV, where he was a host specializing in movies; later, he was also a correspondent for MTV News.
Connelly, Simmons and Wesley Morris recently got together for a Grantland Summer Movie Preview video, check it out: