Cablefax The Magazine - July 2017 - 16

2017 TOP OPS AWARDS
MSO LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
Neil Smit
Comcast Cable
If you want to understand a bit
about Neil Smit's management
philosophy, count how many times
he uses the word team below.
(Spoiler: there are 10 mentions of
team or teamwork) He's so used to
ducking the spotlight, we weren't
even sure we'd nail him down for
this award.
It's richly deserved. After fi ve years at Charter, he led Comcast Cable
as CEO for seven years before becoming vice chairman in April.
At Comcast, he introduced the X1 platform and helped usher in a
renewed focus on the customer.
" Neil is one of the best leaders I've ever worked with. He's fair,
smart, and driven, but more importantly he's an incredibly kind and
unique human being, " Comcast CEO Brian Roberts says. " He steered
Comcast Cable beautifully and expertly for seven years, building
an extraordinary team and creating a culture of innovation and
customer experience. All of us are better people for having had him
in our lives, and we are glad that he will continue to be part of our
family as vice chairman. "
While Smit made sure to keep attention focused on the Comcast team,
he opened up to us in an interview about his time in the industry.
Comcast is also being recognized as Cablefax's MSO of the
Year. What do you think is the secret to the company's success?
It's a wonderful honor and we're grateful to Cablefax. All of our success
starts and ends with the team. We have an amazing group of
people and leaders like Dave Watson who understand how a team
works and love competing. Outside of the military, I've never seen a
team more focused on a target than this one... When the people at
this company set their minds to something, look out, they can move
on a dime. It's the best team in the business.
Thank you sincerely for your service as a Navy SEAL. How do
you think that role has shaped who you are?
Teamwork is absolutely critical for the SEALs. You don't survive without
your team and that's how I've played every role I've had since that time.
You also have to be able to take whatever is thrown at you. You can't
just pass on a mission-you always have to fi nd a way, no matter how
diffi cult and no matter how high the odds are stacked against you. We'd
say... it isn't a matter of " if, " it's a matter of " how. " Ultimately, you
fi gure out the how together, and you succeed as a team.
What are you most proud of from your time in the cable industry?
I'm proud of the work the team has done to improve customer service
and set us on a path to make customer experience a real differentiator.
What makes me most proud is that we didn't choose the easy
path. We made some big, diffi cult moves, like rolling out NPS, that take
time, but will pay off. Change like this takes the whole company and
you've got to be all-in... from management to the frontline. That's
what is going to make the difference in the years ahead.
Moving to a part-time role has presumably allowed you to
pursue new passions and spend more time with family. How are
you taking advantage of this new status?
It's been nice to get up at 6:30 rather than 4:30 and to have the
time to take some pretty incredible vacations with my wife, Barbara,
and my sons. We went ice driving in Northern Canada-the trick is
mastering the art of driving sideways on ice, which was fun-and
fi shing in the Amazon.
Yet you're still working for Comcast in the role of vice chairman.
What are you doing?
I'm spending my time looking for technology-oriented growth opportunities
for Comcast. I'm back and forth between Philadelphia and
California working with the corporate team.
Can you make any predictions about what the industry is going
to look like a few years from now?
We live in an instant gratifi cation world and that's only going to accelerate.
Customers will continue to demand better experiences faster
and the best companies will fi gure out how to surprise them. Take the
voice remote as an example. The team took an already great experience
with X1 and made it fundamentally better by adding voice. Now
we have over a billion voice commands a quarter. Voice will continue
to be a game-changer. We are only beginning to scratch the surface of
what's possible. Our industry will also fi nd new, exciting ways to use
artifi cial intelligence and machine learning in applications.
- Amy Maclean
16
cablefaxmag.com
July 2017
Cablefax: The Magazine
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Cablefax The Magazine - July 2017

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