NEW YORK : Former ESPN and ABC-TV president Steve Bornstein has been hired by the National Football League (NFL) to serve as president and CEO of its young NFL Channel.
Bornstein who was serving as an adviser to the league on television and strategic media since September 2002, was hired fulltime by the League last Thursday. As CEO, and the executive vice president of media, Bornstein will oversee all aspects of the NFL on television, including development of the league's new digital production center in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. 
Bornstein was at the forefront of the team that spearheaded the development of the NFL Channel, the first TV service dedicated exclusively to the NFL and football. The channel will begin airing next fall and will be available 24 hours a day.

Bornstein was the ESPN president and CEO from 1990 till 1999. In 1996, he was also made president of ABC Sports and also served as chairman of the Walt Disney Internet Group from 1999-2001 before taking over as president of ABC Television, a post he held for a year before stepping down last May.