Blonder Tongue Laboratories, a maker of video and broadband equipment for cable operators and other service providers, said it has appointed industry vet Steve Necessary to its board of directors.

Necessary, who had headed up all major video initiatives at Cox for more than a dozen years, retired from Cox at the end of 2017.

Necessary, who last served as EVP, product development and management at Cox for the company’s business and residential service portfolios, still maintains a relationship with Cox on a part-time consulting basis, Blonder Tongue said.

During his career, Necessary was also an exec at VOD pioneer Concurrent Computer Corp. and Scientific Atlanta (sold to Cisco Systems in 2005), including a stint as CEO of PowerTV, once a video software subsidiary of S-A.

"We are extremely pleased to welcome Steve Necessary to our Board of Directors,” Robert J. Pallé, Blonder Tongue’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Throughout his career, Steve has demonstrated a proven record of success through his leadership and intimate, in-depth knowledge of the cable and communications markets. As such, Steve is in a unique position to provide us both product and market guidance from the multiple-system-operator point of view."