Cablefax The Magazine - April 2014 - 36

56 | Lighting
the Way
Charlie Thurston
Title: President, Comcast
Spotlight
Years in Cable: 34
Education: Williams College
Steve Feingold
Title: SVP, Operations
and Strategic Planning,
Comcast Spotlight
Years in Cable: 30+
Education: Drew University;
MBA, Temple University
Bill Haase
Title: SVP, Finance and
Administration, Comcast
Spotlight
Years in Cable: 12
Education: Michigan State U.
Hank Oster
Title: SVP/GM, Comcast
Spotlight
Years in Cable: 30+
57 | Political Players
Michael
Powell
Title: President/
CEO, NCTA
Years in Cable: 3
Education: College
of William & Mary; JD, Georgetown
University Law Center
Matthew Polka
Title: President/CEO,
American Cable Association
Years in Cable: 26
Education: BS, Journalism, West
Virginia University (1982); J., Duquesne
University School of Law (1986)
Best Advice: Stand Firm. Position
Yourself. Face Your Battles! (2
Chron. 20:15-17)
These two well-respected policy
wonks may steer their own separate
ships and sail different courses, but
they both serve cable's interests-
and they are both having a very busy
2014. Not only is a Communications
Act rewrite in the works but there's
the update of the Satellite Television
Extension and Localism Act, a
new open Internet proceeding and a
little something called the ComcastTime
Warner Cable merger review.
Retransmission consent reform has
made some real headway. That's
welcomed news for Polka, who has
been fighting for change for more
than a decade. It's also notable
for Powell, who took NCTA off the
36
With Comcast Spotlight
already in nearly one out
of three homes in the U.S.
and generating more than
$2 billion in revenue, its
place as an industry leader
is clear. But it's these four
executives' combined commitment
to excellence, best
practices and continually
improving processes that
drives Spotlight's success
in reuniting an audience
increasingly fragmented
sidelines recently and said it's time
to look at updates to retrans. Both
are viewed as inspirational leaders
by their members-an attribute
that's especially important given the
ongoing frictions between operators
and programmers at NCTA and the
never-ending need to stand up for the
small guy at ACA.
Polka
I watch the majority of programming
on this device: iPad
The biggest innovation in cable
over the last year: Continued explosion
of video over any device.
TV show I'd most like to have a
cameo in: " Downton Abbey " (I'm
hooked!)
John, Paul, George or Ringo?
Paul, but Ringo is a close second.
Cable exec I'd most like to see
twerking: On advice of counsel, I
take the fifth.
Cable exec I'd least like to see
twerking: That would be me. It
would not be pretty.
I wish Congress would just...
shhh, they're starting to do it... don't
distract them... retrans reform and a
Comm Act update are no longer just a
dream!
Frank Underwood or Nick
Brody? I don't know Nick Brody,
so I say Frank Underwood, but I'd
say him anyway. Everyone in D.C.
secretly wishes they were like him.
Things would move at least!
Twitter or Instagram? Twitter -
@MATTatACA, although my daughcablefaxmag.com
April
2014
across networks, providers
and devices. Together,
they've focused on expanding
the I+ platform and its
ability to put advertisers'
messages before more
eyeballs that ever before,
growing the Comcast Media
360 unit, and establishing
ters say they have no idea what I'm
tweeting about!
My favorite newfound hobby:
eBooks. I'm starting to really like it
not carrying regular books on the
planes.
One thing I would do all the time
if I could: Take photographs. It's
like an obsession.
Favorite Cable Show memory:
2009 in D.C., poetically enough,
when I became a Cable Pioneer. It is
such an honor.
Justin Bieber or Miley? I'm proud
to say not a darn one of them.
My ideal celebrity partner on
Dancing with the Stars: Dana
Delany. Wow.
Oscars or Grammys? Oscars. I'm
Mr. Movie Buff.
Favorite Restaurant: Two or three
tiny little places at home in the
eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh that
no one has ever heard about, which
is just the way I like it-DeNunzio's,
Luciano's and Rene's.
Favorite vacation spot: Anywhere
with the three lovely red-heads in
the LAMP Awards to recognize
local business excelling
at multi-screen advertising.
In 2013 their sales force
laid the groundwork to
capitalize on 2014's biggest
advertising events: the
Sochi Olympics and midterm
elections. ■
my family.
Beach or mountains? Beach,
definitely.
Alec Baldwin... NY or LA? Always a
New Yorker, a la Glengarry Glen Ross.
Who's on deck for the next
celebrity meltdown? It's got to
be a young guy, like a Zac Efron, or
someone like that. But I do believe
that the continuing, but sad, Bieber
meltdown is far from over.
Who's on tap for the next big
comeback? Jan Tremelev???...
er...sorry... I meant John Travolta...
ooops.
Desert island album? Electric
Light Orchestra, Out of the Blue... I
know it sounds weird, but ELO was
the band of my youth. Pretty good
musician too, that Jeff Lynne.
Favorite TV show as a kid? " Batman "
with Adam West. We'd stop
playing baseball to come in to watch
the show, then resume afterwards.
The last time I had a good laugh:
Watching on YouTube, " Scenes
From a Hat " from " Who's Line Is It
Anyway? " I love that show, both the
old and the new one!
Dish I can make and that
would impress a celebrity
chef: Sadly, none...
My favorite business/motivational
book: The Bible and Clutch
by Paul Sullivan
The biggest innovation in cable
over the last year is: Innovation
itself. It's unstoppable and so hard
to keep up on, but so good for
business and consumers. ■
Cablefax: The Magazine
http://www.cablefaxmag.com
Cablefax The Magazine - April 2014

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