On Wednesday, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro entertained gaggles of reporters at media day in Bristol and fielded questions about his grand strategy for transforming Disney’s storied sports network into a multiplatform lifestyle brand, replete with a flagship streaming service, a more personalized digital experience, a new social media strategy, etcetera. Amid some of the softballs, however, he was asked about something at least theoretically unrelated: Was Disney’s search for a successor to Bob Iger affecting his own stewardship of ESPN? 

Pitaro, of course, is one of four Disney executives officially under consideration for the role—alongside Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, and parks tsar Josh D’Amaro. In reality, though, Bergman is considered a drive-by. And Pitaro, who is campaigning for the job from Bristol rather than Burbank, is also considered an outsider in what is generally believed to be a two-car race between D’Amaro and Walden. Regardless, the nearly decade-long obsession with Iger succession being what it is, this reporter wanted a window into Pitaro’s thinking.