The Cable TV Pioneers named the 25 new members who will be inducted at the group's 57th annual banquet, in Denver, with the banquet date and venue still to be announced. 

The group described the new group as including men and women who reflect the changing and expanding areas of the industry. (They include former Charter Communications CEO Tom Rutledge as one standout.) Their ranks include CEOs, presidents, engineers, trade executives and others who have contributed to cable’s evolution and growth. 

Also: Meet the 2022 Class of Cable TV Pioneers

“Our industry’s growth and diversity into new platforms, content and technologies are clearly evident by the members of the Class of 2023,” Jim Gleason, Cable TV Pioneer vice-chair, said in a statement. "This class clearly demonstrates the leadership, values and entrepreneurial success that continue to make the Cable Pioneers relevant.”

The 2023 class of Cable TV Pioneers, with company designations given by the Pioneers organization, is:

• Amy Lynch, Comcast
• Arturo Marquez, Fuse Media
• Balan Nair, Liberty Latin America
• Daniel McKay, C3 Broadband Integration
• Diane Christman, The Cable Center
• Dick Beahrs, Court TV (retired) 
• Eric Perbohner, Technetix (deceased)
• Jack Burton, Broadband Success Partners
• Jack Dyste, Mega Broadband (retired) 
• James Manchester, Comcast
• Jeff Smith, Comcast
• Jennifer Smardo, Comcast
• Kathy Payne, Cox Communications
• Keely Buchanan, Charter Communications
• Marc Aldrich, Amazon Web Services
• Michael Powell, NCTA
• Pragash Pillai, Altice USA
• Randy Wells, RBC Daniels (retired) 
• Shannon Saviers, GrowthLinx Advisors 
• Sheri Langford, Charter Communications
• Stacey Slaughter, NCTI
• Sudhir Ispahani, Alpha Global Partners
• Susan Burgstiner, Marketing On Demand
• Thomas Monaghan, Charter Communications

Cable TV Pioneers also is inducting a group representative of the numerous behind-scenes individuals whose entrepreneurialism and inventiveness have enabled new, critical services to launch at scale, the group said.

Yvette Kanouff, chair of the Pioneers, said: “By acknowledging these special inductees, we celebrate a huge group, who often go unrecognized for their innovations and standardizations, ranging from technology specifications, interoperability and testing to chip functionality. These advancements have enabled services including broadband, wifi, on demand and more.”

The Special Designated Pioneers for 2023, and their company affiliations as listed by the group, are:

• Mike Emmendorfer, Calix Inc.  
• Jack Moran, Comcast/Futurewei Technologies (retired)  
• Jason Schnitzer, Applied Broadband  
• Lisa Denney, Broadcom  
• Niki Pantelias, Broadcom  
• Pawel Sowinski, Charter Communications  
• Robert Howald, Comcast  
• Steven Harris, SCTE  
• Tom Williams, CableLabs  

The Cable TV Pioneers was founded in 1966 during the NCTA convention in Miami, Florida. The original fledgling group of 21 entrepreneurs has grown to more than 700 men and women over the past 50 years. For more information, visit CableTVPioneers.com.

Diversity Week made its return to New York from October 9-13, with The WICT Network Leadership Conference and Touchstones Luncheon, the NAMIC Conference and the Walter Kaitz Foundation Annual Fundraising Dinner all returning to in-person status for the first time since 2019. Plus, the Cable TV Pioneers inducted their 2022 class at a gala ahead of SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in Philadelphia, and more. 

Jack Cole, founding partner of Washington communications law firm Cole, Raywid & Braverman (CRB) and a member of the Cable TV Pioneers, died on October 13 at his home in Sea Island, Georgia. He was 92.

Cole, who practiced communications law for half a century and whose firm was one of the first to specialize in cable issues, was considered by many the dean of the cable TV bar and fought for cable against what he saw as regulations that protected the politically influential, which at the time were the TV stations that he said could control public opinion.

"Jack was counsel over the years in many landmark proceedings before the FCC and the courts reflecting, and affecting, the development of the cable industry, and authored numerous articles and commentaries on cable regulatory issues and the First Amendment," points out his former senior partner, Burt Braverman, now a partner with Davis Wright Tremaine, which merged with CRB in December 2006.

Cole once said that he was proudest of the fact that while the powerful broadcast industry provided three or four channels, the cable industry turned that into almost unlimited choice.

In the early days, some of the fights were with TV stations who did not want competing programming imported into their markets via cable, TV stations who wanted must-carry rules, and movie producers that wanted damages for the retransmission of copyrighted programming, the last notably decided in cable's favor in the Fortnightly case.

Cole called that case, in which he was involved with at Smith & Pepper (though he said chiefly as a "briefcase carrier"), the most significant legal proceeding in the history of the industry.

The movie producers won at the district and appeals court levels and Cole said there were rumblings in the industry about not spending any more money on what appeared to be a lost legal fight. Wiser heads prevailed and the U.S. Supreme Court granted a further appeal. The Supreme Court reversed the lower courts. Had they not, Cole argued, the industry would likely have looked a lot different.

John Pope Cole Jr. was born in Washington in 1930. After serving a year in the Air Force, Cole went to Auburn University, graduating with an engineering degree then getting his law degree from George Washington Law School in 1956. With law jobs in short supply during the recession, he told the Cable Center in a 2000 interview, he landed a job at what was then the FCC's Broadcast Bureau (now part of the Media Bureau).

When he met two lawyers looking for a third to join their firm -- Smith & Pepper -- he signed on, working mostly with Stratford Smith, who Cole said was the first D.C. lawyer to do any work for the cable TV business.

Cole took a leave of absence to work for a member of Congress on the Communications Subcommittee. Then in 1966 he left for good to launch CRB, with initial cable clients including Bob Rosencrans of UA Columbia (one of the largest cable operators of the time that merged with TCI) and Irving Kahn and Hub Schlafly at TelePrompTer, the largest cable system in the country in the early 1970s (which became Group W Cable and ultimately a part of Comcast).

Cole stepped back from active practice in about 2000 but was a member of the Liberty Global board for almost two decades.

Survivors include his son, John, and daughter, Nina Cole Loard, as well as two grandchildren and a sister, Jan cole Benjamin.

A memorial service is planned in Washington but has not yet been scheduled. ■

The Cable Pioneers will induct 21 industry executives into its ranks at an upcoming gala on September 19 at the Union League of Philadelphia, honoring industry veterans for their contributions to the cable business, innovation and community service.

While this year’s class is a bit smaller than the 24 that were inducted in Atlanta last year, Cable TV Pioneers chair Yvette Kanouff said when it comes to the event, volume doesn’t matter.

Each class is nominated by their peers and while the award itself honors the impact each inductee has made on the industry, Kanouff said it goes much deeper than that. She added that inductees also have made an impact on their communities, overall industry leadership as well as innovation across the industry as a whole. 

“That’s why there is no set number,” Kanouff said of each class of inductees. 

This also is the first year in the 56-year history of the Pioneers that the gala will be held in Philadelphia, home of the nation’s largest cable operator, Comcast. Coincidentally, several long-time Comcast executives — including Charlie Herrin, who heads up Comcast’s Technology, Product and Experience organization; Xfinity president William Connors; retired VP Joseph Guariglia; Comcast Technology Solutions VP and general manager Allison Olien; and Comcast Cable executive VP, chief technlogy officer and chief information officer Richard Ribioli — are being honored as Cable Pioneers.

Outgoing Charter Communications vice chairman John Bickham also is being honored for his 35 years in the business, including stints at Cablevision Systems and Time Warner Cable. And perhaps as proof of the inductees commitment to their communities, former HBO executive VP, domestic networks and marketing and current Westfield, New Jersey, Mayor Shelley Brindle also is being honored.“We have such a strong class and it just goes to show that especially after COVID and after we’ve been through so much that the people in our industry are stepping up to say, we want to make sure that the people that got us here, that carried us through and continue to innovate, get the proper recognition,” Kanouff said. “I think that is really special.” 

Kanouff added that joining the storied list of executives enshrined in the Cable Pioneers is not just an acknowledgement of individual accomplishments, but of those of entire organizations. 

“I’ve heard this comment from high-level executives, that this is a symbol of accomplishment by the entire organization,” Kanouff said. “It’s not just me winning an award, but the work we did.”

This year’s class of Cable Pioneers are men and women involved in all aspects of the cable TV business, including CEOs, sales, marketing and technology executives and consultants. They are:

• Dale Ardizzone, chief operating officer and corporate secretary, INSP LLC;
• Janice Arouh, president, network distribution, Allen Media Group; 
• Nomi Bergman, investor and strategic adviser, Advance;
•  John Bickham, vice chairman, Charter Communications; 
• Shelley Brindle, mayor of the town of Westfield, New Jersey; 
• Ralph Brown, founder and principal, Brown Wolf Consulting; 
• William (Bill) Connors, president, Xfinity, Comcast Cable; 
• Matthew Deprey, VP of finance, C-SPAN; 
• John Dowd, retired VP of operations, Dycom Industries; 
• Jeffrey Finkelstein, chief access scientist, Cox Communications; 
• Joseph Floyd, retired president, Midcontinent Communications; 
• Camilla Formica, chief program officer, The Cable Center; 
• Joseph Guariglia, retired VP, Comcast Cable; 
• Charlie Herrin, president of the Technology, Product, Experience organization within Comcast Cable; 
• Randy Lykes, chief technology officer, Viamedia; 
• Ned Mountain, former president, Wegener Communications; 
• Allison Olien, VP and general manager, Comcast Technology Solutions;
• John Piazza, president and CEO, Greyfox Services; 
• Michelle Rice, president, TV One Networks; 
• Richard Rioboli, EVP, CTO and CIO for Comcast Cable;
• Theresa Sauerwein, Western sales manager, Radiant Communications.

The Cable TV Pioneers has selected 21 new members for induction into its Class of 2022, which will take place September 19 in Philadelphia prior to the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo.

“The diversity and accomplishments of this class are noteworthy and deserving of Pioneer status,” Cable TV Pioneers chair Yvette Kanouff said in a statement. “These new members from Founders and Presidents to Engineers, Marketers and Ad Sales executives represent the best of what our industry offers. They truly are indicative of the achievers whose entrepreneurial spirit, leadership and innovation have contributed to the success of our industry and our communities.”

The inductees are men and women involved in all aspects of the cable TV business, including CEOs, sales, marketing and technology executives and consultants. They are: Dale Ardizzone, chief operating officer and corporate secretary, INSP LLC; Janice Arouh, president, Network Distribution, Allen Media Group; Nomi Bergman, investor and strategic adviser, Advance; John Bickham, vice chairman, Charter Communications; Shelley Brindle, mayor of the Town of Westfield, New Jersey; Ralph Brown, founder and principal, Brown Wolf Consulting; William (Bill) Connors, president, Xfinity, Comcast Cable; Matthew Deprey, VP of finance, C-SPAN; John Dowd, retired VP of operations, Dycom Industries; Jeffrey Finkelstein, chief access scientist, Cox Communications; Joseph Floyd, retired president, Midcontinent; Camilla Formica, chief program officer, The Cable Center; Joseph Guariglia, retired VP, Comcast Cable; Charlie Herrin, president of the Technology, Product, Experience organization within Comcast Cable; Randy Lykes, chief technology officer, Viamedia; Ned Mountain, former president, Wegener Communications; Allison Olien, VP and general manager, Comcast Technology Solutions; John Piazza, president and CEO, Greyfox Services, Inc.; Michelle Rice, president, TV One Networks; Richard Rioboli, EVP, CTO and CIO for Comcast Cable, and Theresa Sauerwein, western sales manager, Radiant Communications. 

The Cable TV Pioneers was founded in 1966 during the NCTA Convention in Miami, Florida. The original group of 21 entrepreneurs has grown to more than 700 men and women over the past 50 years. Photos, articles and video of the 54th Anniversary celebration, previous banquets, as well as member rosters, are available here. ■

The Cable TV Pioneers inducted their 2021 class at a gala in-person event in Atlanta, with the induction returning to in-person status after a virtual gathering a year ago. Click below to view a gallery of photos from the evening.  

The Cable TV Pioneers said it has selected 24 new members for induction into its Class of 2021, which will take place at a ceremony in conjunction with the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo, scheduled for Oct. 11 in Atlanta. 

“Just as our industry rose to the challenge of keeping America connected this past year, these men and  women continued to make significant contributions on their business, home and community fronts,”  Pioneer chairman Dave Fellows said in a press release. “The Class of 2021 exemplifies the Pioneer spirit and  commitment to do the best no matter the circumstances.” 

This year’s class includes men and women from CEOs and company founders to techs and journalists who have made a positive impact on the cable TV business. This year’s honorees include Next TV, Multichannel News and Broadcasting & Cable Senior Content Producer -- Programming  R. Thomas Umstead, as well as Astound Broadband CEO Jim Holanda, Crown Media Family Networks President and CEO Wonya Lucas and 605 founder and CEO Kristin Dolan. 

“We think it will be a wonderful induction, and we hope to incorporate some of the unique elements  of the 2020 event that C-SPAN generously broadcast and streamed, like the engaging and fast-paced  inductee videos,” Pioneer co-chair, Yvette Kanouff said in a press release. 

The 24  inductees to the Cable TV Pioneers for 2021 are: Mark Adams, Cox Communications; Michael Adams, Broadband Semantics; Richard Amell, Bright House Networks; Peter Barton (Posthumous); Patricia Baughman, Cable One (Sparklight); Tracy Baumgartner, Comcast/NBC Universal; Jack Caparrell, Service Electric; Sherita Ceasar, Comcast; Kristin Dolan, 605; Dale Elifrits, Comcast; Diego M. Gastaldi, Vmware, Inc.; John Higginbotham, ACA Connects; Jim Holanda, Astound Broadband; Richard (Dick) Kirsche, Kirsche Consulting; Chris Lammers, CableLabs;  Filemon Lopez, Comcast; Wonya Lucas, Crown Media Family Networks; Amy Maclean, Cablefax; Jim McCauley, DB Communications; Tom McMillin, Nevis Advisors; John E. Roos, Insp; Robert (Bob) Scanlon, Shelter Cove, LLC; Patricia (Patsy) Smullin, California Oregon Broadcasting Inc.; R. Thomas (Tom) Umstead, Broadcasting + Cable Multichannel News.  

Details about the upcoming banquet can be found here. 

The Cable TV Pioneers is looking for nominations for the class of 2021, which would be inducted in a ceremony on Monday, Oct. 11, ahead of the opening of the the SCTE•ISBE Cable-Tec Expo. The nomination application is available online at CableTVPioneers.com. The application period will end April 30, 2021.

Cable Pioneers members who have been in the group for three years may nominate men and women who have a minimum of 20 years' industry experience; have demonstrated outstanding leadership and have contributed to the growth of the industry and their communities.

Also Read: 54th Cable TV Pioneers Class Scales Industry Heights

The group is developing plans along with the SCTE to conduct the 55th annual induction ceremony ahead of the Cable-Tec Expo 2021, the convention slated to be held at the World Congress Center in Atlanta Oct. 12-14. “While we were pleased and delighted to partner with C-SPAN to televise and stream the Class of 2020, induction, we’re looking forward to resuming our live presentation of the new Class of Pioneers” Cable TV Pioneers chair Dave Fellows said in a statement.

The Cable TV Pioneers  have made history again. For 50 years, the organization’s induction ceremony was held in conjunction with the annual NCTA–The Television & Internet Association convention. When that show folded its tent, the Pioneers induction moved to Denver, just before the start of the SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo in October. But like every other industry celebration this year, the Cable TV Pioneers 54th annual induction didn’t involve dinner in a convention center ballroom. Instead, the 2020 Pioneers were honored virtually, direct from Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Pioneers Dave Fellows and Yvette Kanouff  hosted the televised and streamed ceremony from Spring Creek Ranch, a resort set in a 1,000-acre wildlife preserve with the Teton mountain range as the backdrop. With production support from New England Sports Network, the class of 2020’s induction was televised Dec. 4 by
C-SPAN3 and C-SPAN.org.

Fellows and Kanouff welcomed 22 honorees, who joined the more than 700 colleagues inducted since 1966. And for those who didn’t catch the live telecast, the induction ceremony  will be streamed on cabletvpioneers.com starting Monday, Dec. 7 . 

Jeff Berenson

An early advocate of advanced video technology, Jeff Berenson’s expertise has been invaluable to small cable operators seeking to make the most of their DOCSIS networks.

Berenson’s career has seen his involvement in a wide range of national and international projects, including video-on-demand, set-top box improvements and billing and provisioning technologies at Digital Equipment, Spyglass/OpenTV, Bearing Point and Vidiom, as well as consulting on integration of large acquisitions for Comcast and Charter Communications. He was senior VP of engineering and then SVP of product management for guide products with Rovi, where he filed several patents.

As president of consulting firm ITV Partners, Berenson continues to assist cable TV vendors and operators and other startup companies in the broadband, OTT, telecom and satellite industries.

A guest lecturer on the video industry at Harvard University, Berenson has also addressed Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers members and MBA students at Southern New Hampshire University on pro sports broadcast rights and marketing.

Paul Broadhurst

Starting with a small investment 30 years ago, Paul Broadhurst built Technetix Group into a leader in the manufacture of headend and access fiber transmission equipment. 

He entered cable at the United Kingdom-based consulting company PA Consulting Group, where he worked on the satellite antennas for the launch of British Satellite Broadcasting, a predecessor to BSkyB. With two other engineers and a $15,000 investment, he launched a startup whose first order was for radio-frequency upconverters that enabled the delivery of six TV channels on Aberdeen Cable’s old 250-MHz system. Today, Technetix, which is affiliated with Liberty Global Ventures, serves cable operators across Europe, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region.

Broadhurst holds 17 patents. He has held leadership positions with SCTE Europe and contributed to its initiatives. Outside of his industry work, he supports Chestnut Tree House, a children’s hospice in the U.K., and serves as a council member of the Confederation of British Industry.

Rick Cimerman

A former public utilities telecom director, Rick Cimerman joined NCTA–The Internet & Television Association in 1995 to help member companies navigate state telecom policy. His expertise was critical in helping cable companies address the complicated regulatory requirements involved in entering the telephone business.

Cimerman, now NCTA’s VP, external and state affairs, works with member companies’ state-government relations teams to coordinate industry policy and build coalitions. He also plays a critical role with state associations, holding regular advisory meetings with their government relations leaders.

Often representing the industry before state legislators and regulators, Cimerman testifies across the U.S. on issues such as network neutrality. He has been a strong voice for the cable industry, presenting its point of view on a wide variety of issues related to delivery of voice and broadband services. He also leads NCTA’s telecommunications  group.

Beyond his industry work, Cimerman holds a leadership role with the Internet Education Foundation.

Robert Foote 

When Bob Foote joined mom-and-pop operator Ipswich Cablevision in 1980 as a technician, formal training was not widely available. He learned on the job and relied on the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers as an educational resource. His involvement with SCTE grew along with his career. He became operations manager at Ipswich, and then moved to the supplier side of the business as a regional sales rep for Arris in 1986. He became sales VP at Arris, then joined TriNet Communications as sales VP. In 2012, he was named assistant VP, MSO sales at KGPCo, where he continues to support cable operators. 

Foote has served on the SCTE New England chapter board since 1989, including three years as chapter president. He received multiple SCTE chapter awards, and was inducted into the SCTE national Hall of Fame in 2016. In addition to his work in the industry, Foote volunteers with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America.

Daniel Greiner

Earning his industry stripes as project manager with Henderson Cable, Daniel Greiner oversaw plant buildouts and installation workflow. Three years later, he moved to GS Communications, where he oversaw multiple dwelling unit construction, high-speed data construction and capital budgeting. His next stops were at EchoStar Communications as operations manager and then Comcast, where he oversaw cable, voice, and data deployments in Richmond, Virginia. In 2009, Greiner was named sales manager, MSO for JDSU (Viavi Solutions), where he worked until 2017. Today, as director of sales for 4th Wave Technologies, he is responsible for regional and corporate account management.

Greiner has held a number of leadership positions with the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers. His spare time is devoted to volunteer work with community groups including Little League, Boy Scouts and homeless shelters for veterans. With Tuckahoe (New York) Little League, he coached and worked on the group’s annual Challenger
Day event for children with disabilities.

Steve Kaplan

As a subcontractor with TelePrompTer in the late ’70s, Steve Kaplan was involved in the company’s return to franchising after many years with the first cable system in North Ridgeville, Ohio. In 1983, he founded Multilink, a designer and manufacturer of equipment for broadband operators worldwide. Under Kaplan’s leadership as CEO, the company has grown from a handful of employees to more than 300. Products include power supply modules and fiber-optic products, fiber distribution
hub cabinets and architectural raceway molding. Multilink now holds more than 40 patents.

Kaplan has been involved with the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers throughout his career, and has been a board member of its Alaska chapter for 12 years. An active community volunteer, he developed programs for the Elyria (Ohio) Kiwanis Club, built facilities for the city of Elyria, and built an internet system for a local Boy Scouts camp. Kaplan has also managed the local cemetery for 23 years.

Craig Leddy

Journalist and entrepreneur Craig Leddy entered the industry in 1982, covering regulatory affairs in Washington for Cablevision magazine. He was the first Washington bureau chief for Electronic Media, and as news editor increased its coverage of cable. He returned to Cablevision to become its longest-serving editor. 

Leddy analyzed Time Warner’s Full Service Network project and went on to conduct market analysis for the Myers Group. He then founded Interactive TV Works, a company that provides a variety of analysis and communications services to a wide range of industry clients, in 2000. He has developed multiple courses on the industry for the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, Women in Cable Telecommunications and other organizations. 

In 2011, Leddy founded the Interactive Case Competition, an annual student case-study contest for teams comprised of MBA students. Now in its ninth year, the competition has welcomed more than 300 student competitors. In addition, he frequently volunteers in support of local, national and international charities.

Ann Montgomery

From her early days as a billing installation consultant with Compulink to her current position leading field operations as area VP, central Texas at Charter Communications, Ann Montgomery has delivered results. She oversaw the introduction of Tele-Communications Inc.’s customer service philosophy, sparking an industry-wide transition to focus on customers. Promotions at TCI and executive roles with Adelphia Communications and Comcast followed.

At Liberty Global in Amsterdam, she standardized business practices for offices in multiple countries, work that included consolidating 68 outsourced call-center vendors into four partner companies. At Charter, she launched Advanced WiFi in 2019. 

Montgomery received the NCTA Vanguard Award for Cable Operations Management, and was a WICT Woman to Watch and a Wonder Women honoree. On the WICT Foundation board, she was instrumental in launching the organization’s PAR(Pay Advancement & Resources) Initiative. Montgomery was also vice chair for the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center and membership director for the Boy Scouts of America in Amsterdam.

Louise Mooney

Behind-the-scenes communications professional Louise Mooney has often been in the room where cable history happened. In 1980, when she was Louise Rauscher, she joined HBO to publicize the young network’s original shows. She then founded public relations firm Rauscher and Associates, with MTV as an early client. She established cable programming with the Television Critics Association and helped launch the Walter Kaitz
Foundation.

As NCTA’s VP of industry communications in 1984, Mooney created cable’s first national public-relations program and launched the industry’s first national consumer research. In 1988, she helped create Cable in the Classroom, and became its first CEO after she and NCTA president Jim Mooney announced their engagement.

Mooney co-founded JLM Partners in 1998, serving broadband, wireless, consumer electronics and digital media companies. Throughout her career, she has offered pro bono support to the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing and other industry nonprofits. She also volunteers with Seattle nonprofits Common Purpose and Mary’s Place.

Daniel O’Brien

Starting as a general manager with Jones Intercable, Dan O’Brien rose through the ranks to VP of business development with Warner Cable, where he introduced pay-per-view. As Cincinnati VP, operations for Time Warner Cable, he oversaw the turnaround of the company’s worst-performing division. 

Moving up the ladder, O’Brien was named president of Time Warner Satellite. As PrimeStar president and chief operating officer, he oversaw a six-way merger that culminated in a sale of the satellite TV platform to DirecTV. O’Brien was named
CEO of HSA, a public high-speed ISP, and led the sale of the company to Charter Communications in 2002. His next move was CEO of Brief Original Broadcasts and then chairman of Digitalsmiths, which TiVo purchased in 2014. He now leads Mediashift, a data aggregator for content streaming companies and advertisers. 

O’Brien has served on a number of NCTA committees and the WICT Foundation board. He is an active adviser with the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network-Colorado.

Elaine Partridge

Elaine Partridge learned the cable ropes as executive assistant to the CEO of Galaxy Cablevision. She went on to be named the company’s director of programming and marketing. She joined newly formed NewWave Communications in 2006 as director of programming, helping create a department from scratch. NewWave promoted her to VP of programming in 2013, and she facilitated due diligence for 24 merger and sale transactions.

In 2017, Partridge joined Vast Broadband as VP of special projects. Her work on the company’s e-commerce channel led to a 400% increase in sales and revenue. She served on the WICT and Missouri Cable Telecommunications Association boards and is currently vice chair of the NCTC board. The Mid-America Cable Telecommunications Association honored Partridge with its 2017 Pathfinder Award. 

Partridge volunteers with the YMCA and other local charities, and created a Vast-sponsored community event in conjunction with the local Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo.

Shane Portfolio

Former U.S. Army platoon Sgt. Shane Portfolio has brought military discipline to his cable career, starting as a call-center agent for Tele-Communications Inc./AT&T Broadband. He advanced to senior director of network operations for Comcast, moved on to regional VP/engineering roles, and then senior VP of engineering. He is concurrently working on a Ph.D. at North Central University with a focus on women and people of color in the technology industry.

Portfolio is also an active volunteer. He was Region 1 director for the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers and vice chairman of its advanced engineering group. He served as vice chair of the Women in Cable Telecommunications National Board and has been a popular speaker for the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications, WICT and SCTE/ISBE. Beyond the industry, he serves on multiple boards of directors, including Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Metropolitan State University and the Denver Foundation. In addition, he is a committed philanthropist for Autism Speaks, the United Way and the Red Cross.

Richard Prodan

Richard Prodan brought years of electrical engineering experience to CableLabs in 1990. As senior VP and chief technical officer, he led a team focused on downstream transmission of digital TV and bidirectional transmission of high-speed data. He was then senior VP and chief scientist at Terayon and VP and chief technology officer with Broadband Communications; and a Broadcom fellow, set-top box and cable modem group. He was instrumental in establishing DOCSIS 2.0, 3.0, 3.1 and full duplex (FDX) cable data standards. Prodan is currently a Comcast fellow in the Next Generation Access Networks group.

In addition to his many technological contributions, Prodan holds 76 patents and is an IEEE Life Fellow for leadership in the development of high-definition TV and broadband networks. He is an SCTE Rocky Mountain associate board member. Volunteer work outside the industry has included involvement with YMCA Indian Guides, the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers Association and teaching at Cooper Union.

Joe Quane

After 10 years as a high school teacher and coach, Joe Quane joined the Scientific Atlanta sales force — one of the first non-engineers to do so. Over 15 years with SA, he advanced to Western regional manager and then national account VP with SA/Cisco Systems. When cable went digital, he built relationships that led to partnerships to build set-tops with competitors Pace and Pioneer. He was also instrumental in the early deployment of HDTV at Time Warner Cable. 

Quane founded consulting firm Interim Solutions Group in 2009, and joined EdgeConneX as VP of strategic accounts in 2013.

An enthusiastic supporter of industry nonprofits, Quane helped involve technology companies in Adaptive Spirt, the annual Colorado event originally known as SkiTAM, which raises funds for the U.S. Paralympic Ski Team. He also volunteers with Reel Recovery, Catholic Charities of Denver, Kilimanjaro Technology Foundation and Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, among other groups.

Zak Raley

An industry advocate in the U.S. and abroad, Zak Raley began his cable career in 1996 in Japan, where he opened the sales office for Times Fiber Communications, a subsidiary of Amphenol. After returning to the U.S., he ultimately became TFC’s president and CEO. In 2007, he added an Amphenol title to his business card. As SVP/VP of Amphenol’s
RF, optics, and broadband divisions and TFC president and CEO,
Raley is responsible for 20 global operating units.

Raley is fluent in Japanese, and promotes cable at trade shows and technical training seminars domestically and overseas. A dedicated member of the SCTE, he also sponsors broadband and engineering internships for new technology graduates and MBA candidate business development internships with broadband and wireless companies.

He also volunteers as a teacher with K-9 charter school Rocky Mountain Academy, and provides therapy animals for paraplegic patients at Craig Hospital through Bear-Paw Therapy Animals.

Dick Rohm

Starting in 1973 as a producer/director for General Electric Cablevision’s local channel in Decatur, Illinois, Dick Rohm embraced the young industry and became a cable installer. He made his way through increasingly responsible jobs with cable systems in Illinois and Wisconsin before joining Cable One (Sparklight) in 1997. As a regional engineer, he was responsible for systems in eight states, overseeing rebuilds, fiber deployment and implementation of fiber-to-the-home architecture.

As director of engineering for Sparklight’s West Division since 2001, Rohm developed a tool to keep records of networks and assets up-to-date. He is currently engineering a 187-mile backbone for data services in underserved rural Arizona communities.

Actively involved with the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers and Women in Cable Telecommunications, he was instrumental in the growth of SCTE chapters in central Illinois and Idaho. He volunteers with UNICEF, Wounded Warriors and Special Olympics, among others. Rohm also serves on the board of DanceMotion Performing Company, a Phoenix nonprofit.

Jeff Ross

A veteran of New England Telephone, Jeff Ross began his cable career as director of operations for Time Warner Cable’s Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, division, where he led the deployment of a regional fiber network. As VP, national operations, he was responsible for TWC’s joint venture with US West. In 1998, he joined UPC, the predecessor of Liberty Global. During three years in Amsterdam, he launched residential phone service in the Netherlands, France, Norway and Austria, and went on to serve as president of UPC’s French cable operator.

Ross returned to the U.S. in 2003 as president of private cable operator Armstrong Utilities, where he has been a champion of customer service and new technology.

A committed volunteer within and outside the industry, Ross has served on the boards of the National Cable Television Cooperative, ACA Connects and the Pennsylvania Cable TV Association. He supports multiple charitable organizations, including Armstrong’s Healing Heroes, which provides trained service dogs for disabled veterans.

Peter Ruben

Peter Ruben interned at Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment and got his first marketing job with Warner Amex Cable in 1983. He advanced through several posts in operations marketing to become VP of sales and marketing with Paragon Cable in Los Angeles and New York. 

Moving to the programming side in 1994, Ruben joined USA Networks as VP, national accounts and then senior VP, affiliate relations. When USA was sold in 2001, Ruben built affiliate relations for HSN. He helped take the company public in 2008, launched HSN2 and worked with HSN until it was sold in late 2017. After earning a master of science degree in business analytics, he briefly led Ion Media’s distribution relations team. 

Ruben is a founding member of the CTAM Educational Foundation, and worked to involve HSN in the Women in Cable Telecommunications PAR (Pay Advancement & Resources) Initiative. He now serves as volunteer chief operating officer of the International Professors Project, a largely virtual worldwide volunteer network of professors.

Charles Segars

With a resume worthy of a feature film, Charles Segars is a writer and public servant as well as a CEO and board member of Ovation. He began his cable career as director of programming for Viacom, and advanced to executive roles at CBS and Dreamworks SKG. As Dreamworks Animation’s digital strategy adviser and head of YouTube Nation, Segars counseled Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Segars also moonlighted as a screenwriter, creating the National Treasure series of films.

Segars supports industry organizations as a speaker, sponsor and legislative advocate. He was also a deputy reserve sheriff for Los Angeles County, and from 2009-2016 was a White House associate and advance team leader for the Office of the President and Vice President of the United States. He supports arts organizations including Americans for the Arts and the Alvin Ailey Gala. This year, he sourced and secured sponsorship of 10 million N95 masks for inner-city hospitals.

Gemma Toner

Situated at the intersection of big data, technology and digital media, Gemma Toner got her start selling advertising at Rainbow Media. In leadership positions with AMC Networks, she directed the development of new-media content and interactivity. As a senior VP with Cablevision Systems, she developed an enterprise-wide big-data strategy. She holds two patents for methods of using set-top box data to measure audience viewing patterns.

In 2016, she founded Tone Networks, a content, data and over-the-top platform company and online community of women helping women.

Toner is a past chairperson of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, held a number of chapter leadership positions and was honored with a CTAM TAMI Award. She is also a past board member of Women in Cable Telecommunications and was honored as one of the Multichannel News Wonder Women in 2012.

Since 2016, Toner has served on the board of Concern Worldwide, a 50-year-old international humanitarian organization partnering with local communities to assist people living in extreme poverty.

John Williams

John Williams brings a front-line perspective to engineering leadership at Charter Communications. He started out digging service laterals by hand as a Falcon Cable installer in 1982. He went on to work as a contract installer, and then as technical operations manager for an Arizona cable system through several ownership changes. 

Williams joined Charter in 2006 as engineering manager, advancing to senior director in Southern California before moving to Denver as senior director with the company’s advanced video engineering group. Today, as VP of engineering and architecture, he oversees all aspects of the hybrid fiber coaxial outside plant from headend to home, as well as engineering for Charter’s commercial enterprise customers.

An active Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers member for 23 years, Williams served on the Deseret chapter board and is currently an associate board member with the Rocky Mountain chapter. He helped create an MSO consortium focused on extended spectrum. He also volunteers with community organizations that help homeless people.

Ronald Wolfe

Forty-year cable veteran Ron Wolfe, most recently senior director of engineering and architecture at Charter Communications, died Nov. 25 in Aurora, Colorado at 63, following a month-long battle with COVID-19. 

Wolfe started in the industry installing cable with Warner Cable in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, eventually becoming responsible for materials evaluation and approval at Warner’s national division. He joined ATC/Time Warner Cable in 1987, leading the company’s Denver training center. As director of plant engineering, he supported TWC’s national HFC deployment. He led network systems integration and affiliate relations for @Home Networks, and then moved on to Aurora Networks and BigBand Networks. He joined Charter in 2014.

A Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers senior member, Wolfe served on several national committees and the Rocky Mountain chapter board. He has been honored as SCTE Member of the Year.

As a volunteer, Wolfe worked with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the American Lung Association, among others. At the time of his death, he was in the early stages of founding a nonprofit to help at-risk youngsters who lost their fathers. 

The 54th class of Cable TV Pioneers will be inducted in a televised ceremony on C-SPAN 3 on Friday, Dec. 4, at 9 PM ET or 6 PM PT. The ceremony also will be streamed at cspan.org and, starting Monday, will be replayed on cabletvpioneers.com. Originally scheduled as a live event preceding the SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo in Denver, this year’s gala was taped in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Pioneer chair Dave Fellows and co-chair Yvette Kanouff were residing separately and were able to meet up and host the show.

Read more about the Pioneers class at this link. In Monday's edition of Multichannel News, the Pioneers will be profiled. Sadly, one of the new class members, Ronald Wayne Wolfe, died on Nov. 25 at age 63 of COVID-19.

The presentation was produced through the generosity of New England Sports Network. “We were happy to step up and support the Pioneers with our production expertise," NESN president Sean McGrail said, adding, “Televising and streaming the event is a wonderful way to celebrate and share the outstanding achievements of the Class of 2020.”

C-SPAN will televise the Cable Center's 2020 Cable TV Pioneers induction ceremony on C-SPAN3 and stream it at C-SPAN.org, the organizations said.

The 54th annual induction ceremony for the 2020 class of 22 individuals, a mix of CEOs, founders and others who "continue to contribute" to the growth of the cable industry, is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 4, 2020, at 9 p.m.

“While the restrictions of COVID-19 prevent a traditional induction banquet, the pandemic has created a new and unprecedented opportunity to showcase the Induction as a special televised presentation on C-SPAN3,” said Dave Fellows, chair of Cable TV Pioneers. The group said it would provide more information about the induction program soon. 

More: Cable TV Pioneers Says There Will Be a 2020 Class, Ceremony

To be considered for induction, cable executives have to have at least 20 years of "direct involvement" in the cable industry, as well as "demonstrated leadership and progress in their positions" and contributions to the community at large. More about the group is available at cabletvpioneers.com.

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE), its global arm, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE) and the SCTE Foundation today announced a new scholarship that will memorialize longtime cable industry technologist Doug Semon.

The ‘Zelmo’ – Doug Semon Scholarship will award grants each year for an initial period of four years to FIRST robotics teams and their college-bounds seniors. Named in honor of a lifelong nickname Semon used for himself and his work, the award is intended to advance careers in technology, and will be supported by SCTE Foundation assistance in securing internships for winners. Semon was an avid supporter of the FIRST Robotics program in and around Denver, and mentored George Washington High School’s FRC Team 1410, “The Kraken.”   

The award has been created by the SCTE Foundation and past honorees of the Women in Technology Award that is presented annually by SCTE•ISBE, Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) and CableFax. Donations can be made at on the ‘Zelmo’ – Doug Semon Scholarship page of the SCTE Foundation website.

“Doug was a formidable champion of cable technology and a tremendous ally of all of us who shared his passion for science,” said Yvette Kanouff, vice chair of the SCTE Foundation, partner and CTO of JC2 Ventures and a WIT Award winner. “On behalf of the SCTE Foundation and all of the Women in Technology winners from the last 25 years, we mourn the loss of a friend and colleague, an industry pioneer, and the husband of our dear friend, Leslie Ellis.”

After beginning his career as a cameraman with Buckeye Cable, Semon moved to Channel 100, where he rose to general manager. As director of new technology with Viacom from 1981-96, he was instrumental in setting up one of the first cable modem trials in partnership with Intel and Hybrid. The trial launched in 1994 and touted 10Mbps downstream and 128Kbps upstream during a time when the industry standard was 28.8 kpbs. Semon joined CableLabs as director of network operations in 1996 and oversaw technology developments and standards for subscriber services for Time Warner Cable beginning in 1998. He holds various patents, was named a Cable TV Pioneer in 2003 and became a DOCSIS Pioneer in 2019. He died on Aug. 18 of complications after a recent heart attack and is survived by Ellis, a technology author and analyst and a longtime contributor to MCN.

“Doug was always quick to see potential – both in our networks and in people – and to provide the guidance that would help them become their best,” said Zenita Henderson, vice president of marketing and business development for SCTE•ISBE and a WIT Award winner. “We are honored to remember the work he has done for our industry, and to help the next generation of technology pioneers in his name. We hope everyone will join us in contributing to Doug’s legacy and to helping young technologists join in his footsteps.”

Cable TV Pioneers today (July 15) named 22 new members of the organization, while the group continues to work on an alternative induction ceremony after scrapping the usual banquet celebration due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The group said the new class "includes a wide spectrum of men and women from CEOs and company founders, to techs and trade execs who have and continue to contribute to the growth of our industry. Each has proven through their business contributions, community involvement and entrepreneurial success, their value as a Cable TV Pioneer."

The Pioneers had hoped to announce the 2020 class early in July and hold an alternative ceremony on Oct. 13, when the pre-pandemic plan was to meet at a black-tie dinner in Denver at the start of the Cable-Tec Expo. The engineers' gathering, though, was cancelled due to pandemic-related concerns. The Pioneers has not decided on what an alternative ceremony might look like, yet. 

Related Link: 2020 Diversity Week Events Go Virtual

“For the past 10 years, the new class induction has been a sold-out event, and while Covid-19 will make it impossible to hold our 54th banquet, the Pioneer managing board is working hard to create a celebration worthy of honoring this outstanding class,” Dave Fellows, the Pioneer chairman, said in today's statement, adding, “We are hoping to announce alternative plans shortly that will be exciting for our new members and our sponsors.”

Here are the new Cable TV Pioneers and their affiliation as cited by the group:

Jeff Berenson of ITV Partners LLC, Paul Broadhurst of Technetix Group, LTD, Rick Cimerman of NCTA: The Internet & Television Association, Robert Foote of KGP Co., Daniel Greiner of 4th Wave Technologies, Steve Kaplan of Multilink Inc., Craig Leddy of Interactive TV Works, Louise Mooney of JLM Partners, Ann Montgomery of Charter Communications, Daniel O'Brien of Mediashift Technologies, Elaine Partridge of Vast Broadband, Shane Portfolio of Comcast, Richard Prodan of Comcast, Joe Quane of EdgeConneX, Zak Raley of Amphenol Broadband Corp., Dick Rohm of Cable One (Sparklight), Jeff Ross of Armstrong Utilities, Peter Ruben of BMP Resources, Charles Segars of Ovation LLC, Gemma Toner of Tone Networks, John Williams of Charter Communications and Ronald Wolfe of Charter Communications.

The Cable TV Pioneers organization said Friday that it will choose a class of honorees, named by early July, and intends to have an induction celebration on Oct. 13 even though the SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo to which the ceremony had been linked was canceled. "The organization is studying a variety of options for the 54th Annual induction" which it intends to hold on Oct. 13 as previously announced, the group said in a statement. "As event details become formalized, they will share this information and news among members, sponsors, nominees and friends. In the meanwhile, the Cable TV Pioneers extends its appreciation to SCTE-ISBE and to all supporters while they organize another must-attend induction."

Related: SCTE Cancels 2020 Cable-Tec Expo

The engineering group's Expo was to take place at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver but it was canceled after it was learned the convention center would not be available during the week the Expo was scheduled. Colorado's governor, Jared Polis, said the convention center would keep its designation as a temporary medical facility throughout 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pioneers said "a new and exciting celebration" would be held "in lieu of the live, major banquet" that had been slated for the evening before the Expo began.

NEW ORLEANS — The Cable TV Pioneers have welcomed 25 new industry veterans into their ranks.

Eighteen men and seven women were welcomed into the group at the 53rd Annual Cable Pioneers Banquet held in New Orleans Oct. 2, in conjunction with the SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo.

“This year’s class includes remarkable men and women who currently contribute to the growth and innovation of the industry as well as those who served the business in the past,” the group said in a statement.

Founded in 1966 during the NCTA convention in Miami, the original fledgling group of 21 entrepreneurs who gathered to draw attention to the contributions of cable television’s tenacious creators has grown to more than 700 men and women over the past five decades-plus.

To become a Cable TV Pioneer, a candidate must be nominated, have a second sponsor and have a minimum of 20 years of direct involvement in the cable industry, demonstrate leadership and progress in their positions and have contributed to their communities.

BRIAN PATRICK BANE

Brian Bane is vice president of network implementation/ construction for Comcast Cable, a position he has held since 2014. His responsibilities include outside plant construction and implementation strategies for the next generation of fiber networks across the company’s national footprint.

Bane got his start in the industry with Prime Cable in 1982, working his way to plant maintenance and headend technician in Marlboro, Massachusetts. Six years later, he moved to Continental Cablevision in Massachusetts as technical operations manager.

In 1996, Bane was promoted to the position of director of Open Settlement Protocol (OSP) Networks for Continental’s New England region, where he managed a team of 250 technicians and engineers. When Comcast acquired the operations in AT&T’s purchase of Continental successor MediaOne Group, Bane was named director of network construction for the MSO’s Northeast Division.

Bane is a member of the New England chapter of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers and was awarded its Bill Riley Personal Achievement Award in 2014. In addition to being an active United Way volunteer, he is a member of “Team Bane,” which honors the memory of Mary Murray Bane. He has personally raised more than $50,000 through Team Bane cycling, riding in the 200-mile Pan-Mass Challenge. The ride supports adult and pediatric cancer patients by funding life-saving research and treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

JOHN R. ‘DICK’ BEARD

Dick Beard is director of business development for Ervin Cable Construction, where he has responsibility for sales and business relations.

Beard’s cable journey began in 1972 with Sammons Communications as a system technician. In 1973, he moved to Continental Cablevision as chief technician for Quincy and Lincoln, Illinois, and spent the next twelve years working with their engineering team, reaching the position of director of engineering for Illinois and Missouri.

In 1985, he founded Brentec, a design and construction company, before returning to Continental five years later as regional director of engineering for Midwestern operations. In 2003, Beard assumed his current position with Ervin Construction.

Beard is a senior member of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers/International Society of Broadband Experts and serves on the boards of the Gateway and Five Rivers chapters. He is a member of the SCTE Hall of Fame, the SCTE “Circle of Eagles” and currently serves as an associate board member of ACA Connects.

He has coached multiple youth sports teams and has been recognized by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society with the MS Corporate Achievers Leadership Award.

THOMAS J. CLOONAN, PH.D.

Tom Cloonan is the chief technology officer, network solutions for CommScope (formerly Arris), a position he has held since 2002. He is responsible for specifying architectural features within network solutions platforms and all next-generation products within the company. From 1982 to 1999, Cloonan was a distinguished member of the technical staff and technical manager for AT&T Lucent Bell Labs, where he led multiple design teams. Following his Bell Labs tenure, he was one of three founding members of Cadant, a startup company dedicated to the design and manufacture of routers and cable modem termination systems.

Cloonan is widely recognized throughout the broadband industry for his initiatives in developing and deploying advanced technologies which include the Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP), Channel Bonding and DOCSIS. He holds more than 60 patents in a broad set of industry related areas, has published more than 130 papers and is co-author of four technical journals.

Cloonan is a significant contributor to the SCTE Engineering Council, IEEE Computer Society, CableLabs and other organizations. He has been a volunteer teacher as part of the National Junior Achievement program and volunteers at the West Suburban Humane Society shelter. He has mentored countless employees, students and new authors while gaining new industry patents, publishing white papers and sharing his knowledge as a speaker at technical conferences around the world.

MARC W. COHEN

Marc Cohen is executive vice president for sales and marketing at Denver-based Evolution Digital, where he is currently spearheading the company’s entry into the end-to-end IPTV solution space.

Cohen entered the cable industry in 1985 with Continental Cablevision as a sales representative in one of the company’s newly-built Michigan systems. Following the Continental tenure, Marc spent three years as sales supervisor for Comcast in Pontiac, Michigan. Subsequent career advancements took him to North Carolina for a management position with Vision Cable and later to Hauser Communications in Virginia, where his responsibilities included managing residential and business sales and negotiating right-of-entry agreements. Cohen parlayed this experience with his next career move as VP of sales and marketing for Mid-Atlantic Communications. Following the company’s sale to Comcast in 2000, Cohen and Mid-Atlantic chief financial officer John Long co-founded Longview Communications.

Cohen is an active member of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, SCTE, ACA Connects and the National Cable Television Cooperative and served as VP of the Carolina Cable Co-Op. He has served on the Cancer Research Foundation executive committee in Virginia and funded a free hot lunch program for a local elementary school from 2009 to 2014.

JOHN DICANDILO

John DiCandilo is vice president of business development for Dycom Industries, where he is responsible for key MSO relationships and promoting cost-saving solutions for customers. Prior to joining Dycom, DiCandillo spent 22 years with CommScope, responsible for first sales in the Mid-Atlantic Region and then serving as vice president of sales for the Northeast Region from 2006 to 2018.

DiCandillo served on the board of the SCTE’s Delaware Valley chapter, working on membership growth initiatives. He currently serves on the board of the SCTE Foundation, which is dedicated to the advancement of business education for industry professionals. He has been a featured speaker at many SCTE Chapter Leadership conferences and is involved with many alumni volunteer projects at his alma mater, Drexel University.

DUANE C. DICK

Duane Dick is senior partner and co-founder of Sand Cherry Associates, an award-winning consulting firm that supports top companies in cable, broadband, wireless and media. He began his cable career in 1996 as a graduate intern with US West Media Group after earning his MBA from Georgetown University’s School of Business. He was soon heading market strategy development for MediaOne Group and AT&T Broadband. When MediaOne Group was acquired by AT&T Broadband, he took on the primary responsibility for the integration of Tele-Communications Inc. and MediaOne.

He co-founded Sand Cherry Associates in 2001 and twice received industry innovation awards from CTAM. Sand Cherry, a Colorado Top 50 company, was the WICT Rocky Mountain Chapter’s Industry Partner of the Year. An active member and leader in multiple industry associations at the local, national and international level, Dick has served as a board member of CTAM’s Rocky Mountain Chapter and co-chair of CTAM’s National Chapters Council.

Dick and his wife, Michelle, both military veterans, support the Wounded Warrior Project and other veterans’ organizations. They are patrons and annual sponsors of the acclaimed Colorado Springs Youth Symphony.

MARTY DOMINGUEZ

Marty Dominguez joined C-SPAN in September of 1989 as accounting supervisor, shortly after obtaining her MBA from Tulane University in New Orleans. Dominguez would soon become finance manager, a post she held until December of 1994, when she was promoted to national accounts manager. In this role, she represented C-SPAN with MSOs, managing carriage issues, contractual relations and marketing opportunities. In October of 1999, Dominguez was named director of marketing and in 2005 was tapped as VP of marketing, overseeing all consumer marketing, print media, community outreach and election-related promotional events.

Dominguez has been a member of CTAM for 25 years, serving on committees and working groups to foster stronger partnerships with affiliates. In 2017, Women in Cable & Telecommunications recognized Dominguez with its Touchstones of Leadership “Inspire” award, and she is consistently listed among the most influential minorities in cable by Cablefax.

Born in Paraguay, Dominguez became a U.S. citizen in 2008. She spends her free time devoted to family and assisting her aging parents, but still makes the time to mentor young associates and to volunteer with animal welfare and pet adoption services.

BARRY R. ELSON

Barry Elson entered the cable industry in 1980 as vice president, market and product development for United Cable, where his franchising team won 16 of 31 competitive markets. In 1983, Elson joined Cox Communications as vice president of Western operations, was soon promoted to senior VP and in 1992 was named executive VP for all Cox operations.

In 2003, after two years of consulting for Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs on their cable television and telco strategies, he moved to Telewest Global as chairman and CEO and led a successful turnaround of the communications firm creating $2.8 billion in shareholder value in only 27 months.

Elson graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College, received his MBA at Cornell University and served in Southeast Asia as a Signal Corps first lieutenant. During this military service, he ran the world’s first mobile satellite station using Satcom 1 and Satcom 2. After Cornell, Elson became the youngest general manager at Owens-Corning Fiberglass and was the first to bring fiber optics to the worldwide market in 1971.

Elson served on C-SPAN’s board from 1986 to 1989 and on CTAM’s board, including a term as chairman, from 1989 to 1994. A two-time cancer survivor, he has funded three cancer research projects and been honored by The V Foundation for Cancer Research for his work mentoring more than 50 cancer patients nationwide.

JAMES L. FAUST

Jim Faust was the founder and first president of Zenith Cable Equipment Corp., where he produced the first addressable set-top boxes and, in partnership with Viacom, the first commercial broadband modem. In June of 1966, he joined Scientific-Atlanta as vice president for international operations and in June of 1990 was named VP of international operations for General Instrument. In January of 1995, Jim was named president of Antec Network Systems and later corporate director for Arris International.

In 2001, Faust again pioneered a new technology, video streaming, creating ClearBand. He later moved to Optinel, a major player in Gigabit Ethernet fiber transport. Faust also served as a director of ATX.

When taking time away from building companies, Jim served as a village trustee for his hometown of Golf, Illinois, and also served on the board of trustees of Lake Forest Graduate School. Faust was a team member for the United Way in Northern Illinois and with his wife, Helen, was instrumental in the establishment of a Special Needs Trust in Palm Coast, Florida.

Jim is a member of the board of trustees and heads the audit committee for one of the oldest colleges in Illinois, Blackburn College, founded in 1837.

JOHN FELLET

John Fellet was CEO and managing director of Sky TV New Zealand until his retirement in February. His 44-year cable career began in 1975 as Executive Director of the Arizona Cable Television Association. After two years of advocating for cable operators in his home state, Fellet joined Storer Communications as a regional finance manager for new-build operations in Arizona and Colorado. In 1988, he was promoted to lead the franchising, construction and operations of the company’s West Valley systems in Glendale, Peoria, Sun City and Goodyear, Arizona, where he supervised the build out of Storer’s first dual cable two-way plant.

Following Storer’s exit from Arizona through a major trade of systems with Times Mirror, Fellet moved to United Cable to oversee the construction and operations in Scottsdale. His tenure at United would continue with promotions to ever-larger systems in California until he joined Tele-Communications in 1989 as director of new ventures. TCI’s international arm, Liberty Media, tapped Fellet to assist in the development of a pay TV operation in New Zealand. What was meant to be a short-term assignment continued for 28 years, the last 18 as CEO.

A member of the Arizona Cable TV Hall of Fame, Fellet has served on the boards of the Arizona and California Cable Communications Associations and for 20 years on the New Zealand Broadcasters Council. John was instrumental in forming the Baseball Federation of New Zealand, coached two men’s national teams and in 2017 was elected to New Zealand’s baseball Hall of Fame. The Howick Hawks baseball complex was renamed Fellet Field in his honor.

JOHN C. FENGER

John Christian (“Chris”) Fenger is executive vice president and chief operating officer for Patriot Media, parent of RCN, Grande Communications and Wave Broadband. His introduction to cable operations was in January of 1980 with NewChannels Corp. in northern Alabama. A year later, Chris was named marketing manager for Rogers Cablesystems in Syracuse, N.Y. In March of 1985, Warner Amex tapped Fenger to be general manager in New Hampshire, tasked with improving operations and growing the system’s subscriber base.

From the mid-1980s through most of the 1990s, Fenger handled senior management assignments with Simmons and Marcus Cable before being recruited in October of 1998 to become senior vice president of Charter Communications’s Western division. Fenger was named president of Bright House Networks’s Central Florida division in October of 2003 and senior VP of operations for Patriot Media’s RCN group in 2011.

Fenger was an active member of the Maryland/Delaware Cable Communications Association and lobbied in Congress for the association and his company during the 1992 and 1996 Cable Act deliberations. During his time with Rogers Cablesystems, he led the company’s United Way campaign and later served as the vice chairman of the Central Florida chapter of the Red Cross and as vice chairman of a Central Florida NPR/PBS broadcast outlet, where he appeared on-air for several fundraising campaigns.

RALPH GALIONE III

Ralph Galione is enterprise account manager, global accounts, for Hewlett Packard Enterprise, with responsibility for all Comcast entities. He joined the cable industry in 1981 as a project analyst for Warner Amex/ QUBE. Galione moved to Scientific-Atlanta in 1985 as account manager and was later promoted to VP of sales.

In 2009, Galione moved to Arris as VP of sales, with oversight responsibility for a team of 11 account executives and sales engineers. In 2010, he joined Pace America, where he once again led the Comcast account team. In 2012, he became Neustar’s senior sales director for North America. He then joined HPE in 2016.

Galione was nominated by the S-A senior management team for the CTAM Executive Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2006. While with Neustar, he served as co-representative for the company’s WICT sponsorship. Galione contributed to the cable industry’s fundraising efforts by participating in the Battle of the Bands as lead singer of Ralphie & the Streamers at the Cable Show in 2008 and 2009. He currently serves as HPE’s representative to the Adaptive Spirit Program ad is responsible for coordinating the company’s activities at the inspirational gathering.

Galione was an active member of Wayne Presbyterian Church for 16 years and was a member of the choir. He regularly participated in local outreach events and funded several church initiatives. He served as a Little League baseball coach and leader of the annual fundraiser for the Mother Seton Scholarship fund.

JEAN PRICE GAY

Jean Gay is vice president, global customer financial services for CommScope. She has spent her entire 43-year cable career with the company. She joined CommScope in 1976 as an accounting clerk working with customer receivables. She was promoted to credit supervisor in 1980 and to customer financial services manager in 1986. In her current role, Gay is responsible for directing Commscope’s worldwide credit and collections functions for annual sales in excess of $10 billion.

Jean also serves as board chairperson of the CS Credit Union, with total assets of about $30 million. Gay played a significant role in the establishment of the international division in 1989, expansion of facilities around the globe and numerous mergers and acquisitions. While maintaining a full work schedule and raising a family, she earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration and her MBA in 1995. She is a WICT Betsy Magness Institute inductee from the seventh class and the first member from the manufacturing segment of the industry. She served on the board of CTAM’s North Carolina chapter and on the National and Carolina chapters of Women in Cable & Telecommunications.

Away from the office, Gay volunteers at Safe Harbor Ministry and serves on the board of the Hickory Soup Kitchen and the advisory council of the Hickory Young Professionals. She is an active member of the Highland United Methodist Church, where she teaches Sunday school and serves as a youth leader and as chair of the finance and stewardship committees.

SANDRA K. HOWE

Sandy Howe is executive vice president and president/ Americas for Technetix, Inc., a global leader in advanced technology products, solutions and services for the broadband cable industry. She is responsible for all functions for the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. Her introduction to the cable industry was with Broadband Networks Inc. in 1995, initially as a sales engineer, later promoted to regional account executive.

In 1999, Howe moved to Scientific-Atlanta as senior account manager; she was promoted to director of business development in 2006. During her tenure with S-A, she earned numerous sales awards and was a member of the tech vendor’s Sales Circle of Excellence for six years.

In 2010, Howe was named VP, strategic market development within Arris’s Advanced Technology Group; three years later, she advanced to senior VP, global marketing. She was senior VP and GM for the for Arris’s Consumer Products Group from 2016 to 2018 before joining Technetix.

Howe is a longtime supporter of women and workforce diversity, currently serving as vice chair of the WICT Global Board. Having been a member of NAMIC and SCTE for many years, she is a board member of the SCTE Foundation board and serves as investment adviser on its finance committee. Howe previously served on the Retailer Council board of the Consumer Technology Association.

RICARDO LA GUARDIA

Ricardo La Guardia is regional vice president of sales and WiFi product solutions for Arris International in Latin America. From April 2013 to January of 2018, he was regional VP for Arris in Brazil.

La Guardia joined the cable industry in May of 1992 as Latin America sales manager for CommScope. Four years later, he was promoted to sales manager for all of South America for the company. In 2000, he was promoted to vice president, operations for Brazil. In October of 2006, La Guardia was transferred to CommScope’s corporate headquarters in Hickory, North Carolina, to head up worldwide product management and customer service for the Broadband unit. He returned to Sao Paulo, Brazil in May 2011, where he was VP of Latin American sales for Big Band Networks.

La Guardia received his undergraduate degree in 1989 from Catholic University of Campinas, Brazil, and his MBA from Pfeiffer University in North Carolina in 1992. He is an active board member of the Brazil Cable TV Association and the Porto Seguro School Foundation. Ricardo and his wife are active supporters of the catechism youth group in Campinas, Brazil, and of the Children’s International Villages organization.

GARY LAUDER

Gary Lauder is managing director of Lauder Partners. From 1989 to 2015, he was director and chairman of Active Video Networks, formerly ICTV, where he guided the company’s evolution from VOD to electronic program guides and interactivity. He has also been an investor and director for Hybrid Networks and Terayon, both pioneering cable-modem providers. He was an early investor in Imedia, Big Band and Aurora Networks, as well as a dozen less well-known cable technology innovators.

Lauder’s pioneering introduction of venture capital companies to cable has brought hundreds of millions of dollars for the R&D needs of the industry and contributed to the funding of products essential to today’s broadband systems. He has been involved in industry education and advocacy as a frequent speaker for NCTA, CTAM, CableLabs, the Western Show, Kagan conferences and other events. Outside of the industry, he has been involved with the National Venture Capital Association and the Western Association of Venture Capitalists.

Lauder serves on the board of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, the advisory board of Santa Clara University’s Center for Applied Ethics and is chairman of the Transportation Committee of the town of Atherton, California.

ED MARCHETTI

Ed Marchetti is senior vice president of field operations for Comcast, overseeing technical and workforce operations, network operations and data analytics. Prior to his current posting, Marchetti was senior VP, operations and engineering for the company’s Northeast Division. He entered the cable industry in 1981 as a construction coordinator and maintenance technician for Viacom in Northern California. He remained with the Viacom management team until 2002 when he joined Comcast as vice president of operations/engineering for the California Division. He held positions of increasing responsibility before the move to Comcast corporate in 2016.

Marchetti has been a member of SCTE for more than 20 years, having served on the Golden Gate Chapter board, national board and as treasurer in 2017, when he was honored as SCTE Member of the Year. He currently chairs the national board’s member committee.

Marchetti relishes his family time and enjoys hiking, biking and golf. He is passionate about helping the less fortunate and contributes to the Reach Project Inc., a family drug counseling program. He is a core member of Life Teen, a youth outreach program at his local church.

HIMANSHU PARIKH

Himanshu Parikh is president and founder of iOPENC, a position he has held since 2014. He was engineering manager and software engineer for Tocom/General Instrument from 1978 to 1988 and as a VP and general manager at Scientific-Atlanta from 1988 to 2008.

Parikh joined Cisco Systems in 2008 as director and general manager, responsible for four business units, and was later named chief technical officer of Inovo Broadband. At S-A, he was responsible for for many cable-industry initiatives, including interdiction, MPEG licensing, CableCARDs and high-definition set-tops.

Parikh has served on the boards of several startup companies, including the Celeno advisory board and the database company Square Zero. His passion for new products has led to beneficial relationships with Broadcom, Intel, Sigma Gemtek, Greenwave and a number of MSOs.

A longstanding SCTE member, Parikh and wife Raksha are the proud parents of three children, all graduates of Georgia Tech.

CATHERINE RASENBERGER

Cathy Rasenberger is president of Rasenberger Media. She founded the firm to help develop and launch independent cable networks in the U.S. Rasenberger Media has successfully launched more than 25 of the most notable and highly branded independent networks in the U.S.

Throughout 38 years in the cable television industry, Rasenberger has held pioneering positions in publishing, sales and marketing. With Warner Bros. Television in the early 1980s, she was responsible for marketing and promoting the studio’s movies for the fledgling pay TV services HBO and Cinemax. In 1982, she was associate publisher for Cablevision magazine and national sales director for Titsch Communications.

From 1983 to 1988, Rasenberger was director, international operations and national ad sales manager for ESPN. She joined TV Guide in 1989 as director, cable operations, launching the publication’s newly created cable division. Prior to founding Rasenberger Media, she was senior VP, affiliate sales and marketing at Food Network for six years.

JOYCE REITANO SALAJ (POSTHUMOUS)

Joyce Salaj began her cable career in 1972 as a customer service representative with Manhattan Cable. She was soon promoted to customer service manager, one of only two for the entire customer service team, and by 1983 was customer service manager of the largest U.S. cable system. Among her notable accomplishments with Manhattan Cable (later Time Warner Cable of New York City), Salaj initiated the company’s first automated billing system, which was the foundation for what is now CSG Systems. She was also instrumental in the implementation of a state-of-the-art phone system to better control the MSO’s enormous phone traffic and allow supervisory monitoring of the CSR team.

After taking a hiatus from the workforce to begin a family, Salaj returned to cable in 1991 as director of customer service for Comcast in Eatontown, New Jersey. One of her first initiatives while with Comcast was to allow a floating percentage of customer service personnel to work from home. She received many accolades while with Comcast and was recognized for her influence on the Northeast Region operations that stretched beyond her scope of responsibility.

Salaj was a mentor and role model to many Comcast and Manhattan Cable employees and a strong advocate for a work/life balance for her team members. She was an early advocate for Women in Cable and a regular volunteer at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset in Somerset, New Jersey.

MATTHEW STANEK

Matthew Stanek is senior vice president of network technology operations at Charter Communications. He began his cable journey with the National Division of American Television and Communications Corp. (ATC) in 1985, initially as a bench technician before a succession of promotions to headend technical instructor and project manager. In 1995, Stanek was promoted to the position of director of technical operations for Time Warner Cable’s Austin, Texas, division; in September of 2000 he became VP of engineering.

Stanek was named TWC’s president of network operations and engineering in April of 2010 and in 2014, he became senior VP of network operations, responsible for all core networks, the national data center and voice and WiFi operations. His key achievements included network uniformity and the creation of an analytics tool which is now in use company-wide. He was part of many beta trials and first deployments of digital video, VOD and switched digital video. He holds several patents related to cable network operations and network reliability.

Stanek was elevated to senior member status at SCTE in 1993 and has served on the Global Customer Advisory Board for Cisco Systems. Outside of cable, he has served on the Library Foundation in Cedar Park, Texas, is a licensed youth soccer coach and an advocate for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

TIMOTHY VAAS

Timothy Vaas is vice president of sales for CableServ, responsible for managing expansion of current sales teams, developing growth initiatives and introducing CableServ global markets. Previously, Vaas was a VP with Product Management Consulting Group.

Vaas began his cable television career in 1980 with Magnavox CATV Sales. He would later become regional sales manager for North American Philips, where he managed all sales functions in the Mid- Atlantic, Northeast and Southeast regions. In 1992, Tim joined Pico Products as national sales manager.

Vaas has been an active SCTE member in Arizona, California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and served on SCTE chapter boards in the Piedmont region and in central New York. He was VP of the Dixie chapter and currently serves as a member of the Chesapeake chapter.

Away from his cable duties, Vaas practices taekwondo in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is a speaker for the New Path organization, which provides support and counseling to parents of young addicts in recovery.

BILL WARGA

Bill Warga has been vice president of technology for Liberty Global since 2008. Prior to joining Liberty, he was director of digital technology standards for Comcast. While in this position, he chaired the OpenCable hardware working group and served as a member of the OpenCable certification board.

Warga entered the cable industry in 1989 as head engineer and sales manager for The Garkie Group, providing contract services to CableLabs and designing hybrid fiber coaxial networks. In 1995, Warga signed on with CableLabs, where he installed and tested the first MPEG-2 digital video systems. He also helped design and run a one-of-a-kind sideby- side viewing study to determine which encoding system the cable industry would adopt.

In 2000, AT&T Broadband named Warga as director of digital video technology, charged with upgrading the Headend in the Sky (HITS) platform. He stayed with AT&T Broadband through its merger with Comcast and took on the additional responsibilities of domestic and international standards. He also chaired the joint engineering committee of NCTA and the Consumer Electronics Association for the negotiations of the one-way and two-way plug-and-play agreements with the FCC.

Warga is currently chairman of the SCTE. He led SCTE’s Engineering Committee while serving as Tony Werner’s vice chairman. He was an early champion of the Reference Design Kit (RDK) initiative and a frequent contributor to SCTE Emerging Technologies Events. He remains an active member of the CableLabs Technical Advisory Committee and serves on the board of RDK Management.

Outside of the cable technology world, Warga has served on the board of Word of Life Christian Center in suburban Denver and has participated in countless charitable programs.

THOMAS MACK WILLIAMS IV

Tom Williams is vice president of engineering and technology at Schurz Communications. He began his cable career as an R&D engineer at Scientific-Atlanta, developing and deploying the first U.S. digital set-top boxes. He moved into consulting with KPMG and later joined Comcast as regional director of engineering, where he was first to deploy new technologies including video-on-demand, high-definition digital video recorders, high-speed internet, HDTV and more.

In 2006, Williams joined Arris as VP of marketing and business development. He won two Atlanta Marketer of the Year (AMY) Awards and implemented a company- wide brand transformation and management strategy. Tom returned to consulting as a managing partner with Brightset Consulting, specializing in global marketing and communications strategies for technology companies. He joined the Schurz leadership team in 2016, driving technology strategy Williams is a longstanding member of SCTE, CTAM, the NCTC and WICT. He enjoys mentoring young people interested in technology and advanced video-related careers. He has served on the board of the Baltimore County Technology Council and the technology board for the University of Maryland, driving solutions to serve students and faculty.

An active volunteer in his hometown of Atlanta, Williams enjoys coaching youth sports teams, serving on community technology boards and supporting local and military-owned businesses. He is a member of the American Legion and a Marine Corps veteran. He is also a member of the Marine Corps Memorial Association.

MELINDA C. WITMER

Melinda Witmer started her cable career in 1994, joining HBO as senior counsel, sales and marketing, negotiating cable carriage agreements. She was later promoted to VP and joined the team responsible for negotiating agreements for major studio and independent films. In January 2001, she joined Time Warner Cable as VP and chief counsel, programming, responsible for all content-related legal matters.

In 2006, Wittmer succeeded Fred Dressler as head of TWC’s programming department, serving in several executive roles at the MSO thereafter. She finished her TWC tenure as executive VP and chief video officer, managing a multibillion-dollar programming budget and overseeing all relationships with programmers, movie studios, sports leagues and other content providers. She also served as chief operating officer of Time Warner Cable Networks, overseeing 40 regional and local news, sports and other channels.

Wittmer is currently principal of real estate media and investment firm Look Left Media and serves on the board of broadcast group Tegna and the advisory board to the dean of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

A longtime WICT member, Wittmer was a consistent presence at senior executive events, a speaker, mentor and a sponsor of several women in the Betsy Magness Leadership Institute program. She was named to the Multichannel News Wonder Women class in 2013 and won the T. Howard Foundation’s Executive Leadership Award in 2014 for her work to advance industry diversity.

Cable TV Pioneers named 25 new members to be inducted into the group at a gala ceremony on Wednesday, Oct. 2, in New Orleans in conjunction with the SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo.

"This year’s class includes remarkable men and women who currently contribute to the growth and innovation of the industry as well as those who served the business in the past," the group said in a release.

RELATED: Cable TV Pioneers Head West Into a New Era

From the Pioneers, here are the members of the 2019 class and their company affiliation, in alphabetical order.

Brian Bane, Comcast; Dick Beard, Ervin Construction; Thomas Cloonan, Arris; Marc Cohen, Evolution Digital; John DiCandilo, Dycom; Duane Dick, Sand Cherry Associates; Marty Dominguez, C-SPAN; Barry Elson, retired; Jim Faust, retired; John Fellet, retired; Chris Fenger, Patriot Media; Ralph Galione, Hewlett Packard Enterprise; Jean Gay, Commscope; Sandra Howe, Technetix; Ricardo La Guardia, Arris; Gary Lauder, Lauder Partners; Ed Marchetti, Comcast; Himanshu Parikh, iOPENC, LLC; Catherine Rasenberger, Rasenberger Media; Joyce Reitano-Salaj, posthumous; Matt Stanek, Charter; Tim Vaas, Cableserv; Bill Warga, Liberty Global; Tom Williams, Schurz Communications, and Melinda Witmer, Look Left Media. 

Banquet details will be published soon at cabletvpioneers.com, the group said.

To become a Cable TV Pioneer, a candidate must be nominated, have a second sponsor and have a minimum of 20 years of direct involvement in the cable industry, demonstrate leadership and progress in their positions and have contributed to their communities.

Pictured: the 2018 Cable TV Pioneers Class. Photo courtesy of Cable TV Pioneers.

The Cable TV Pioneers will induct one of its largest classes ever at its 52nd annual banquet. The class of 25 — 20 men and five women — ranges from programmers to pole climbers, marketers to researchers and engineers to operators, with a top cable journalist in the mix for good measure.

Serving once again as a lead-in event before the SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo, the black-tie (or “classy cocktail”) ceremony will convene Monday, Oct. 22, at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta.

Founded in 1966 during the NCTA convention in Miami, Fla., the original fledgling group of 21 entrepreneurs who gathered to draw attention to the contributions of cable television’s tenacious creators has grown to more than 700 men and women over the past five decades plus.

“We have a great class, wonderful sponsors, and we couldn’t be happier celebrating this event in Atlanta, where cable’s success and growth is so deeply rooted,” David Fellows, dinner chair of the Cable TV Pioneers 52nd Banquet, said.

For more about the event and about the history of the Cable TV Pioneers, visit cabletvpioneers.com. Honoree profiles provided by Cable TV Pioneers.

JUDI ALLEN

Judi Allen is a senior vice president with The Nielsen Co. with responsibility for all aspects of sales and service to MVPD clients, a position she has held since 2012. Previously, she had been with Time Warner Cable as vice president of programming and business development. She began her career in cable communications in 1989 as VP of affiliate relations with USA Network. In August 1992, she joined Century Communications as senior VP of marketing and programming. She served on the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing Board and executive committee from 1997 to 2000 and was chair of the pay-per-view conference in her first year of board service. She served on the Strategic Planning Committee for Women in Cable Telecommunications and was honored as Woman of the Year by the Rocky Mountain chapter of WICT in 2007. She has been a frequent speaker for WICT conferences and a repeat mentor in both the Rocky Mountain and New York chapters.

DAVID BALDWIN

David Baldwin joined HBO as a research analyst in December 1978 and was with the network for more than 30 years. A graduate of Penn State University and New York’s Queens College, he was destined for a career in education before receiving the call from HBO. There, he worked alongside Frank Biondi, Jerry Levin, Jim Heyworth and Michael Fuchs in the early years of satellite-delivered premium television. He rose through the ranks of management to the positions of director, vice president, senior VP and finally executive VP for HBO and Cinemax. Among his many accomplishments, he played a key role in the launches of Take 2, Festival and Comedy Central, logging thousands of air miles visiting MSO headquarters to promote the new product offerings. After 31 years with HBO, he retired from his position as executive VP, but was recruited by Starz CEO Chris Albrecht to assist in developing original series. It was an ideal second act in a remarkable career. He has been a featured speaker at Women in Cable & Telecommunications conferences and a guest lecturer at the Penn State and NYU Schools of Communications.

MICHAEL BATES

Michael Bates is a cable industry veteran of more than 40 years. He first signed on with Oxnard Cablevision in southern California as a service technician, with responsibility for system design and construction. Ten years later, he joined American Cablesystems as security manager for operations in New York and New England. In 1990, he moved to Continental Cablevision as general manager. Before joining Comcast in 2003, he was director of security for Media One and AT&T Broadband. At Comcast, he oversees all cable and broadband security operations and manages high-profile investigations. During his long career, he has been involved with numerous undercover operations with local law enforcement authorities, executing search warrants and providing expert witness testimony. He is a two-time winner of the National Cable and Telecommunications “Theft of Service Ideas” Competition and a Broadband & Internet Task Force Security Case Study Competition winner.

JEFF BAUMGARTNER

Jeff Baumgartner is the senior editor for Light Reading, where he covers cable technology news. Previously, he was technology editor for Multichannel News (where he had worked earlier in his career) and Broadcasting & Cable. He began his cable journey in early 1994 when he joined Jones Education Network and Knowledge TV as PR manager. After three years with Jones, he joined CableFAX Daily as Denver bureau chief and later was editor in chief of CED. He has been a primary chronicler of technology innovation in cable and broadband, and his well-researched articles have earned him the respect of all who follow the industry.

LARRY BEAUCHAMP

Larry Beauchamp began his cable career of more than four decades with Maclean Hunter’s Suburban Cablevision as chief engineer for TV-3. His responsibilities at Suburban included design and support for all television studio and mobile production operations. In 1980, he joined Comcast as regional director of engineering and technical operations for the Northeast Division, with oversight for all engineering construction and technical operations. In June of 1990, he was promoted to the position of VP of engineering for Comcast’s Northeast Division where he remained until becoming VP of engineering for the company’s East/ West Division. In 2006, he was named VP of engineering operations for Comcast’s West Division. His operational accomplishments led to his being named to the Comcast headquarters team in 2016, with responsibility for deployment and operations of the Comcast Business Services Networks. He has presented to numerous industry groups including the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers and NCTA, and was chosen by Comcast to represent the company at two national shows covering Generation Access Networks and Commercial Business Services.

JANE BULMAN

Shortly after graduating from college in 1977, Jane Bulman began her cable career as local origination program manager for Teleprompter in Wildwood, N.J. She moved to General Electric Cablevision in Grand Rapids, Mich., in 1979, then to Showtime’s Southeast Region as district manger for national accounts. While at the network, she was responsible for the launches of Viewer’s Choice, marketing and affiliate relations. In 1988, she became director of marketing for McClean Hunter’s Suburban Cablevision. She was area marketing director for Comcast in New Jersey from 1994 to 1999 and retired in 2016 as a VP, based at the company’s Philadelphia home office. She has been an active member of WICT and CTAM and was a founding member of American Teleservices Association.

CRAIG CUTTNER

Craig Cuttner is senior VP of technology developments & standards for HBO, a position he has held since 1982. Prior to joining HBO, he was a design engineer at CBS Television. He was instrumental in leading HBO from an analog, single-channel offering to today’s multichannel high-definition linear and video-on-demand products. He led the network’s projects to scramble the signal, convert to digital, evolve to HD and introduce HBO On Demand and the IP-based HBO Now and HBO Go services. For the past two decades, he has been a trendsetter for audio and video technical standards, HDTV, 4K and IPTV. Cuttner has been HBO’s spokesperson in multiple industry organizations for more than 30 years, including chairing SCTE’s audio and video encoding standards team, serving as a member of the FCC Advisory Council on Accessibility and as a member of the U.S. State Department’s delegation on global standardization of HDTV.

CHRIS EWING

During his early years in the cable industry, Chris Ewing worked as a sales representative for Southern California-based Western CATV, a family business with MSO clients in Arizona, California and Nevada. In early 1996, he was named general manager for Western, with responsibility for managing distribution, warehousing and front-office operations. He moved to Signal Vision in September 2000 to manage accounts for Comcast, Cox Communications and Mediacom Communications. When Signal Vision was acquired by CommScope in 2007, he was named technical sales manager supporting accounts in the Eastern U.S. He was promoted to regional vice president of sales for CommScope in April 2012. He was an active member in SCTE’s Southern California chapter and had a leadership role in forming the first SCTE Vendor Day. His efforts attracted neighboring chapters to participate, which resulted in more than 75 vendors exhibiting at the show. Profits from the Vendor Day shows provided scholarships for chapter members. He was Southern California treasurer from 1999 to 2001 and served on the chapter board from 1998 to 2006.

HENRY FORE

Hank Fore was a regional vice president with Comcast until his retirement in April 2017. In 1999, following a distinguished military career, he joined Lucent Technologies as the North America regional VP of technical support services. While this was his initial direct involvement with the cable industry, he had been involved with the design, installation and operations of broadband video networks with the United States Army in the U.S. and Germany. He joined Comcast in June 2003 as area VP for the 250,000-subscriber system in Dallas. In December 2005, he received a promotion to turn around a large Northern California system, serving more than 500,000 subscribers. Subsequent Comcast assignments in California and Oregon between 2009 and 2015 brought increased responsibility and produced outstanding results for the company, resulting in multiple Comcast “Region of the Year” awards. Before his retirement, he ultimately had responsibility for a $5 billion Comcast region of 2 million subscribers and 6,000 employees. Fore is a former chairman of the California Cable Television Association, vice chairman of the Oregon Cable TV Association and vice chairman of the executive board of the Texas Cable & Telecommunications Association. He is a member of SCTE and a NAMIC member and mentor.

FRED KAISER

Fred Kaiser is the CEO of Alpha Technologies. He founded the company in 1975 and served five years as general manager at Canadian Dynamics. Under his leadership, the organization has become a global leader with more than $600 million in worldwide sales and 1,200 employees. A tireless problem solver, he has traveled throughout the world meeting with MSOs to establish partnerships and collaborations to further industry objectives. His efforts led to cable’s first primary back-up UPS system and the introduction of DOCSIS-based HFC Gateway devices for WiFi and small cell deployments. The Kaiser Foundations for Higher Education at the University of British Columbia, Western Washington University and Simon Fraser University provide significant funding for scholarships to teach engineering students about power generation and the study of modern digitally controlled power devices. He has supported the SCTE Foundation since its inception and was a founding member of the SCTE Energy 2020 Committee.

VICKI LINS

Vicki Lins is president and CEO of CTAM. Her introduction to the cable industry came in 1996 when she joined Adlink as director of marketing and communications. Over the next six years, she was vice president and senior VP with the company, serving on the executive team that developed award-winning marketing programs and groundbreaking brand partnerships. She directed all creative services functions and helped drive Adlink to an industry milestone of $100 million in revenue. In 2002, she joined Comcast as VP of marketing and communications, and helped lead the integration of more than 90 markets to create the nation’s largest local ad-sales organization. She created and launched Comcast Spotlight and led the consolidation of all ad-sales marketing and communications across the company’s national footprint. While still with Comcast, she was facilitating the startup of Canoe Ventures, helping to develop business strategy and staffing the marketing, communications and creative services teams. Lins accepted her current position with CTAM in 2016. She promotes collaboration among member companies to address the industry’s challenges and oversees CTAM’s initiatives like CableMover.com and TV everywhere. She also manages CTAM’s Co-Op and Educational Boards.

GUY McCORMICK

Guy McCormick’s entire 24 years in the industry have been with Cox Communications. He has held positions of increasing responsibility with Cox, initially with the Cable Advertising Division, where he rose to VP of engineering. In 2004, he transitioned to the cable division as executive director of engineering operations. In 2011, he was promoted to VP of engineering for the cable division with accountability for corporate strategy and field operations. Two years later he was promoted to his current position of senior VP of engineering. Throughout his career, he has participated in CableLabs and CTAM events, and in 2012 he attended CTAM U at Harvard University. He was the keynote speaker at the Fiber Connect Forum in 2015 and recently presented to Georgia state legislators at an NCTA event to promote the industry’s advances in Gigabit services.

GLYNDELL MOORE

Glyndell Moore’s 40-year cable career began in 1968 at Bainbridge TV Cable in southeast Georgia. He was the system’s chief technician when Storer Communications acquired the system and convinced him to take technical leadership of all of the company’s newly acquired operations in Georgia. As Storer’s Southeast Region expanded into Alabama and South Carolina, he was promoted, first to area technical manager for the Mid-South Area, then to regional VP of engineering for the six-state Southeast Region. Following the leveraged buyout that led to Storer’s breakup, he moved to Summit Cable Services as director of technical operations. His responsibilities at Summit included supervising outside personnel, designing and building new headends, FCC regulatory compliance and implementing the first broadband fiber deployment in metro Atlanta. He served two terms on SCTE’s National Board and prepared and delivered programs for SCTE chapter meetings. He was a co-founder and officer of the Chattahoochee Chapter of SCTE and has lectured to Georgia Tech Engineering graduate students. He is a recipient of the 2001 SCTE Polaris Award for innovative use of fiber optics.

ANDY PARROTT

Andy Parrott is senior VP for technical operations at Altice USA. He began his cable journey in the early 1990s, with C-TEC, Cable Michigan and Charter Communications, as a field technician and installer. In 1999, he was named technical supervisor for Charter’s operations in Western Michigan, where he remained until accepting a transfer to Texas to become Charter’s technical operations manager. He was Suddenlink’s corporate VP for technical operations at the time of the company’s acquisition by Altice. He has been an active volunteer for industry causes. He was elected to the board of directors for the Gateway Chapter of SCTE in 2005 and a year later was named to the national SCTE Development Committee. He is a regular volunteer for Women In Cable & Telecommunications and was a featured speaker at WICT’s “Tech It Out” events. He has contributed to Broadband Library magazine for more than 10 years and traveled to South America to volunteer his technical expertise with several Central and South American MSOs.

HOLLY LEFF-PRESSMAN

Holly Leff-Pressman is chief revenue officer for Screen Engine ASI, working with clients across all distribution platforms. Fresh from law school in 1989, she was a litigation associate at an entertainment law firm before joining Viewer’s Choice Television in 1992. While with Viewer’s Choice, she initiated, negotiated and oversaw licensing and distribution of original and event pay-per-view and video-on-demand programming. In 1995, she joined NBCUniversal as senior vice president for World Wide Pay Per View and Video On Demand. Following a nine year stint with NBCU, she signed on with The Nielsen Co. as executive VP for content solutions and media research. She has been at the forefront of industry developments in on-demand viewership as well as the measurement of data and research of that viewership. She was the recipient of a CTAM “TAMI” Award in 2017 and has devoted her time and talents to CTAM’s Marketing, Digital and Research Committees. She is currently on the committee for the Media & Insights Conference and served as the conference’s inaugural co-chair.

ENRIQUE YAMUNI ROBLES

Enrique Robles is the founder and chief executive officer of Megacable. He has been responsible for all aspects of the MSO for the past 36 years. He obtained his first government license in 1982, and through organic growth has expanded to more than 200 cities and 26 states. In 1997, Megacable was the first MSO in Mexico to launch broadband services, then followed with a telephony launch in 2004 and a digital video platform in 2006. By 2007, when Megacable launched an IPO, the company had a reach of more than 1 million subscribers. He is a member of the board of directors of Grupo de Telecomunicaciones de Alta (GTAC), a consortium that has provided 19,000 kilometers of fiber to enable cost savings to make internet access available to many communities across Mexico. He is president of the National TV Cable Company Chamber and a board member of the Organization of Telecommunications Associations & Companies. In addition to his many contributions to Telecommunications advancements in Mexico, he serves as Guadalajara’s Counselor of American Chamber of Commerce, as a board member of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and on the board of the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra.

FRED ROGERS

Fred Rogers joined Warren Braun Consulting in October 1970 as director of laboratory services. Two years later, Braun Consulting became Comsonics, where Rogers managed the repair facility for CATV equipment and was responsible for FCC compliance and testing of clients’ systems. In February 1978, he moved to Jupiter, Fla., to become general manager for Broadband Engineering Inc. and, three years later, co-founded Quality RF Services, developing high-performance, high-reliability RF products for the cable industry. Along the way, he found time to design and build his own cable systems of more than 500 miles in middle Georgia and western Virginia. The success of Quality RF in bringing much-needed specialty RF products to the industry drew the attention of ATX Inc., a Canadian technology company with interests in the U.S. and abroad. ATX acquired Quality RF in January 2001 and asked Rogers to stay on to assist with the transition. He was inducted into the SCTE Hall of Fame and the organization’s Circle of Eagles in 2003. He is a proud member of the Loyal Order of the 704 and has written numerous technology articles for industry trade magazines.

TOM ROGERS

Tom Rogers is executive chairman of Winview Games Inc., chairman of Frankly Inc., chairman of Captify and CEO of TRget Media LLC. A member of the Cable Entrepreneurs Club, he was inducted into both the Cable Hall of Fame and the B&C Hall of Fame. He has won Emmy Awards for his contributions to the development of advanced TV and advertising, and is recognized as one of the most innovative and influential leaders in cable television and the broader media industries. In the early ’80s, Rogers was senior counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Telecommunications Consumer Protection and Finance Subcommittee. He was responsible for drafting numerous communications laws, including the 1984 Cable Franchise Policy and Communications Act, which governed the development of today’s cable industry. From 1987 to 1999, he was the first president of NBC Cable and executive VP and chief strategist of NBC. In addition to responsibility for founding CNBC and MSNBC, he oversaw NBC’s ownership of A&E, AMC, Bravo, Court TV and several regional sports channels. As president and CEO of TiVo from 2005 to 2016, he oversaw the first implementation of Netflix and Amazon streaming to the TV set, and many other TV innovations, while developing new partnerships with cable MSOs and hardware suppliers.

ARTHUR SANDO

Art Sando is founder and Principal of Sando Communications. He was hired by Ted Turner in 1981 as the first public relations director for Turner Broadcasting System and, over the course of the next decade, rose to become the company’s VP of marketing and communications. In addition to Turner’s Atlanta home base, he established offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, London, Moscow and Hong Kong. He was tasked with promoting CNN’s 24-hour coverage of numerous high profile events such as the 1981 attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. In 1990, he became VP of corporate affairs for COMSAT, now Lockheed Martin, where his responsibilities included corporate communications, investor relations and congressional affairs. In 1995, he became senior VP of corporate communications for King World Productions. He was presented with the NCTA’s President’s Award for outstanding service to the cable industry.

ROB SHEMA

Rob Shema has been the American Cable Association’s executive VP of member services since early 2012. He had joined ACA in 2004 as VP and chief operating officer. He spent seven years with Comcast prior to joining ACA, first as a paralegal working on the acquisitions and financing team. He was promoted to programming manager in 1997 and, a year later, to director of programming. In the latter position, he worked with the team that created local programming network CN8. Another Comcast promotion followed, to senior director of public relations and government affairs. During his tenure with ACA, membership and attendance at the group’s conferences have grown several times over and annual revenues have more than tripled. He has become the go-to guy for members needing help with regulatory issues and a major asset to independent operators.

TONY SPELLER

Tony Speller is senior VP of technical operations for Comcast’s Northeast Division. His area of responsibility covers 14 states, from Maine to Washington, D.C., with 10,000 field employees serving more than 8 million customers. His cable tenure of nearly 30 years has included multiple leadership roles with TCI, AT&T and Comcast. He has been at the forefront of many industry technical milestones, including the launch of digital video and the deployment of high-speed data and telephony of the HFC network. His advanced education includes the UCLA School of Management and Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. He has managed a number of high-visibility projects, preparing his teams for Pope Francis’s visit to Philadelphia, the 2016 Democratic National Convention, the 2017 Presidential Inauguration and the Super Bowl. He has served as an adviser and supporter of charity organizations such as the Greater Houston Partnership, a 10-county economic development organization.

CURTIS SYMONDS

Curtis Symonds is the founder and president of Symonds Synergy Group, a Virginia-based marketing and consulting firm. He entered the cable industry is 1979 with Continental Cablevision as a system general manager. In June 1982, he joined ESPN as Midwest Region director, managing the network’s sales and distribution for 20 MSOs in 14 states. In 1988, he was named executive VP for affiliate sales and marketing for BET Holdings, a position he would hold for 13 years before heading up the T. Howard Foundation. He has been recognized with many industry awards, including NCTA’s Vanguard Award for marketing excellence, the Clyde Award for marketing excellence in Black entertainment and the Walter Bremond “Achieving Against The Odds” Award. Symonds was a director of the Walter Kaitz Foundation for more than 10 years, a founding member of Cable in the Classroom and a Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau board member for 10 years. He has served on numerous CTAM committees and currently serves on the boards of the American Heart Association and Women’s Sports Foundation.

SHAWN TYLKA

Shawn Tylka joined Scientific-Atlanta in January 1995 as corporate communications director, where she was responsible for marketing support, the S-A sales team’s customer programs, trade show presence and media events. Very early in her tenure with S-A, she headed the hospitality team for 250 customer attendees at the 1996 Olympics. When Scientific-Atlanta was acquired by Cisco, she was chosen to lead all cable and media field marketing and to manage relationships with cable associations including SCTE, the Cable Center and CableLabs. Among her many industry recognitions, she has received the Cisco Humanitarian Award, S-A’s “Shining Star” Award and the “Golden Pyramid” Award for marketing from the International Promotional Products Association. She has been a behind-thescenes star at industry events for NCTA, CTAM and the SCTE, collaborating at trade shows on event specifics and creating ancillary events. She also has been involved with philanthropic activities including Women’s Orthopedic Global Outreach, the American Cancer Society’s “Relay For Life” and CURE International, an organization dedicated to the treatment of children with curable diseases.

STEVE WILLIAMS

Steve Williams is the CEO of Austin, Texas-based CATV Design Associates and Williams Communications. He was senior system designer with the Theta Com Division of Hughes Aircraft from 1972 to 1977. Following Theta Com’s sale, he was design department supervisor and design department manager for Communications Properties Inc. and Gulf Coast Cable, respectively, before founding CATV Design Associates. He was instrumental in the design and construction of the first cable systems in San Jose, Calif., and Houston, Texas. In the early 1980s to mid-1990s, he franchised and operated seven systems in Texas and Arizona. He wrote software that was more sophisticated than what was in industry use at the time, saving management time and technical resources. In 2009, he was chosen to design and build a fiber network from Chicago to New York to support high-frequency stock trading. He served on the board of the SCTE Alaska Chapter for five years and has presented at various SCTE Texas chapters. In the mid ’90s, the he was enlisted to represent the Texas Cable Association in the Texas One-Call System.

DAVID ZASLAV

David Zaslav is president and CEO of Discovery Inc., where he oversees all operations for the company’s global suite of brands, including pay TV and digital platforms. Prior to joining Discovery in 2007, he spent 17 years at NBCUniversal, where he participated in the development and launch of both CNBC and MSNBC and negotiated affiliation agreements for those networks. He forged new media partnerships with Comcast and other MSOs and oversaw the distribution of all NBCU content. Under his leadership, Discovery became a Fortune 500 company in 2014 and acquired Scripps Networks Interactive. Together, the combined companies comprise a worldclass portfolio of real-life entertainment brands. He serves on a number of industry boards including Sirius XM Radio, The Cable Center, Lionsgate Entertainment, NCTA, Grupo Televisa and the Paley Center for Media. He has received numerous accolades and awards in recognition of his contributions to cable and industry leadership. He received the Fred Dressler Leadership Award in 2014 and was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame in 2017.

The Cable TV Pioneers said Tuesday its 2018 class, to be inducted on Oct. 22 in Atlanta, will have 25 members, with Discovery Inc. CEO David Zaslav and his one-time NBC colleague, WinView executive chairman Tom Rogers, among the best-known executives on the diverse list.

The organization recognizes the contributions made by individual men and women in the cable industry to their businesses and their communities over 20 years or more. The 52nd Annual Cable TV Pioneers Banquet will be at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel the night before the SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo begins. 

RELATED: Cable TV Pioneers: 50 Facts for 50 Years

The new class includes five women, including the CEO of cable-marketing association CTAM, Vicki Lins. It also includes the longtime Multichannel News senior content producer - technology Jeff Baumgartner, who began his industry career at the former cable operator Jones Intercable.

RELATED: Cable TV Pioneers Head West Into a New Era

Here is the 2018 class, in alphabetical order, with company affiliations provided by the Cable TV Pioneers:

Judi Allen, Nielsen; David Baldwin, HBO and Starz; Michael Bates, Comcast Corp.; Jeff Baumgartner, Multichannel News; Larry Beauchamp, Comcast; Jane Bulman, Comcast (ret.); Craig Cuttner, HBO; Chris Ewing, CommScope; Hank Fore, Comcast (ret.); Fred Kaiser, Alpha Technologies; Holly Leff-Pressman, Screen Engine SCI; Vicki Lins, CTAM; Guy McCormick, Cox Communications; Glyndell Moore, Storer and Summit Cable (ret.); Andy Parrott, Altice; Enrique Yamuni Robles, Megacable; Fred Rogers, Quality RF (ret.); Tom Rogers, WinView; Arthur Sando, Turner and CBS (ret.); Rob Shema, American Cable Association; Tony Speller, Comcast; Curtis Symonds, Symonds Synergy Group; Shawn Tylka, Cisco; Steve Williams, Williams Communications; David Zaslav, Discovery. 

Details about the upcoming banquet can be found at CableTVPioneers.com.   

What better location than Cable’s Capital to usher in a new era for the Cable TV Pioneers’ annual banquet?

The first 50 iterations of the event were held in conjunction with NCTA-The Television & Internet Association’s now-defunct annual convention, most recently known as INTX. On Oct. 17, the gala for the first time will be held just before the start of the SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo, from Oct. 17-20.

“Change growth, and celebrating this year’s induction in Denver, prior to the annual SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo, is one of the many ways we are adapting and growing,” dinner chair Dave Fellows said in a statement. “We believe our 51st banquet will have a significant attendance and provide sponsors with a wonderful opportunity to participate in one of the top events of the industry this year.”

This year’s class of 20 honorees — 14 men and six women — were selected from what the group said was a record number of nominees. They join the more than 700 men and women who comprise past Cable TV Pioneers classes. The black-tie gala will be held at The Brown Palace, 321 17th St., Denver. For more information on the Cable Pioneers, go to cabletvpioneers.com.

Profiles in this section were compiled and written by Craig Kuhl.

TOM ADAMS
During his pioneering 40-year cable career, Tom Adams has not only shown a wide range of skill sets — from field technician for NewChannels to his current position as executive vice president of field operations for Charter Communications — but the leadership qualities to accomplish several key industry advancements.

For example, he led Time Warner Cable’s beta launch of high-speed data; developed and launched Newhouse Communications’s home-security business; and was first to deploy TWC’s DVR and internet-protocol telephone services. And with those accomplishments, he managed the operations with the highest of standards.

Adams’s passion for mentoring and developing the industry’s future leaders has equaled his technology advancements, as evidenced by his active roles in such industry organizations as the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers, the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing and Women in Cable Telecommunications, and his work beyond the cable industry with the United Way and other organizations fostering diversity.

MATT BLANK
As one of the most influential and impactful players on cable’s stage, Matt Blank’s achievements during his 30-year career have made an indelible mark on the cable industry, and earned him a place in the 2017 class of Pioneers.

Blank’s tenure at Showtime Networks, which began in 1988, has been nothing short of spectacular. He has helped transform Showtime into one of the most successful programmers in the TV industry, growing it into three premium networks — Showtime, The Movie Channel and Flix, plus the Smithsonian Channel joint venture. Most recently, Showtime launched a new standalone streaming service available through Amazon, Apple TV, Google, Roku and other platforms.

Blank was also a champion and an early adopter of advancing technologies such as HD and SVOD.

Yet his accomplishments go well beyond cable. He has been honored by numerous nonprofit organizations, including his work with the Harlem Children’s Zone, which takes a holistic approach to rebuilding a community by helping thousands of children and families break the cycle of poverty.

STEVE BRETT
Amidst the cable industry’s go-go years of the 1980s and ’90s, Steve Brett’s work as general counsel for Tele-Communications Inc., United Artists Entertainment and subsequently with the NCTA, would lead to a place in this year’s class of Pioneers.

Fresh from the Wharton School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Brett would go on to serve as legal counsel for key cable companies during the industry’s most volatile period, as it fought to grow its business through a gauntlet of legal battles and regulation.

His work as vice president and secretary of most of TCI’s subsidiaries and as senior executive VP for AT&T Broadband led to his current position as chairman of General Communication Inc., an independent MSO and largest Alaska-based diversified communications provider.

Outside of the cable industry, Brett has held many nonprofit leadership positions with the Volunteers of America, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Boulder (Colo.) Community Foundation and other groups, while also acting as an informal mentor to young cable executives and fellow board members.

JACK BRYANT
In 1982, Jack Bryant would launch his cable career as account manager at Oak Communications minus much fanfare. Thirty-five years later, with an impressive resume that includes positions at Scientific-Atlanta, General Instrument, Arris, Wave7 and his current role as president and CEO of ComSonics, he joins the 2017 class of Cable Pioneers.

During his journey through cable, he has tirelessly worked for his customers’ best interests, from his responsibilities as marketing manager, director of product management and VP of marketing to CEO. His “win-win” philosophy has earned him praise at every stop during his pioneering career and provided valuable expertise and insights to his legion of customers.

Beyond his work within the cable industry, he has also shown the same level of commitment to various nonprofit organizations, including work with his local Methodist church, where he has taught Sunday School and leadership studies and has served as a board member and as chairman of the Beacon of Hope.

CYNTHIA CARPENTER
Cynthia Carpenter’s 26-year odyssey through the cable industry began inauspiciously enough as employee No. 16 at Starz Entertainment. But it would launch a career in sales and marketing that transformed several marketing paradigms at myriad networks and MSOs.

From her role as director of marketing at PrimeStar, where she directed the marketing efforts of a $400 million division of Time Warner Cable, to her current position as VP of human resource operations for Charter Communications in Denver, her active, engaged, and competitive nature cultivated during her years as a student at Cornell (where she played Division I ice hockey) would serve her well.

She would bring her marketing experience, forward thinking and leadership qualities to companies such as High Speed Access Corp., Level 3 Communications, Charter Communications and others.

Yet her work with organizations such as WICT, and her pivotal role at the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center, which transforms the lives of abused, neglected and at-risk children, make her a worthy new addition to the 2017 class of Pioneers.

JOHN CHAPMAN
A true pioneer in the ever-evolving world of technology, John Chapman’s vision, innovation and strategic thinking have earned him a place in this year’s class of Pioneers.

A classic example of such thinking came in 1996, when Chapman founded the cable-modem termination systems business at Cisco Systems, where he architected and shipped the industry’s first CMTS.

And Chapman was just getting started. As a prolific inventor, he has more than 100 patents issued and pending related to the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) and has published more than 30 cable-related white papers.

He has been an invaluable asset at Cisco, spending his entire career at the highly respected company and receiving three Cisco Pioneer Awards for DOCSIS.

In 2012, he was inducted into the SCTE Hall of Fame for his work with DOCSIS and awarded the National Innovation Award in China for his work on Remote PHY.

He continues to support and mentor engineers, especially women in technology and was a member of the NCTA’s paper selection committee for several years.

ANNE COWAN
Immediately following passage of the 1992 Cable Act reregulating the industry, it became startlingly clear that a bold new marketing strategy was needed. Enter Anne Cowan and a future generation of marketing professionals.

Cowan’s vital role in reinventing cable’s marketing approach was intended to help the industry craft positive messages for the media and consumers.

It worked. And it led her to CTAM, where she would train, coach and encourage scores of young industry executives and a growing army of marketers in the finer points of cable marketing.

Most recently, she engineered the merger of Association of Cable Communicators (ACC) into CTAM, enhancing its marketing collaborations with a critical public relations and communications component.

She continues her support for the Alliance for Women in Media and the empowerment of women and in furthering diversity in her industry.

CHRIS DUNKESON
In 1993, Chris Dunkeson’s pioneering cable career was quietly launched at Jones Intercable as an installation technician and then warehouse coordinator. Today, he is responsible for all of Comcast’s residential and business customers as area vice president of New Mexico.

That’s quite a career trajectory, and one that has led to a place in the 2017 class of Pioneers.

His increased responsibilities at Comcast are a product of his increased industry knowledge and experience, having witnessed upgrades, call-center expansions, new product launches and employee growth.

He was instrumental in rolling out Comcast’s high-speed internet service in the early 2000s and currently oversees more than 200,000 customer relationships, while reducing trouble call rates and increasing on-time arrival rates.

He has served in several leadership roles at nonprofits as well, including the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, National Multiple Sclerosis Society of New Mexico and the United Way of Central New Mexico.

JANA FAY
Jana Fay’s roots in the cable industry run deep. She was C-SPAN’s first employee, hired away from the NCTA by founder Brian Lamb circa 1978, before the network even existed.

She’s played a vital role in the fledgling public-service network’s expansion these past decades. During those growth years, Fay literally saw the groundbreaking for the first private satellite uplink in Washington, D.C., for C-SPAN. Her commitment to the network led to her current position as vice president of finance, corporate secretary and treasurer.

The valuable experience gained through her many financial responsibilities would culminate in her appointment as a corporate officer.
Beyond her C-SPAN duties, Fay has played many key roles in industry financial and audit organizations.

CHARLOTTE FIELD
With AT&T Broadband serving as her apprenticeship, Charlotte Field took her acquired skills as division manager to Comcast following the merger of the two companies.

For the next 16 years, Field would be instrumental in advancing the company’s network operations, most notably the design and implementation of network operations center (NOC) processes, while identifying peering issues with the migration of the @Home internet service to AT&T Broadband’s CMTS infrastructure.

Her eventual move to Charter Communications in 2015 as senior vice president of application platform operations would elevate her to one of the top women’s executive positions in the industry, and a place in this year’s class of Pioneers.

She continues to give back to her industry and community by serving on several boards, including the University of Colorado Engineering Advisory Board and mentoring future female leaders through various industry organizations such as the SCTE’s Women in Technology program.

TONY FINGER
Circa 1981, a fresh-out-of-college Tony Finger would join newly acquired CommScope as a sales representative, arriving just in time for cable’s decade of wild growth.

His tutors included such cable icons as Tom Jost and others, providing him with the insights he would use over the next 36 years to carve out his place in the 2017 Pioneer class.

Finger’s close relationships with major MSOs established him as one of the most respected and knowledgeable executives in the cable industry, evidenced by his being named Cox Communications’s vendor of the year while receiving its Collaboration Award in 2017 for work on new cabling solutions.

His lengthy career in sales led to his current position as vice president of sales service providers, MSO, at CommScope.

His work with the SCTE has been a notable component of his resumé, having served as a board member offering his guidance on several organization functions.

JAMES GEORGE
The pioneering efforts of 54-year cable industry veteran James George, starting in 1964 as owner and president of one of the earliest CATV systems in West Palm Beach, Fla., truly represent cable’s early entrepreneurial spirit.

After partnering with the late Glenn Jones to form Jones Spacelink in 1979, George would go on to found Telesat, another CATV system, and design and build out systems in the Caribbean, Iceland, Mexico and in other countries, while serving in various capacities at several cable-related companies.

His extensive cable resume also includes consulting work for the United Nations, which sent him to Russia to design and install a small town’s phone system.

George has been elected to several boards in the engineering field and has been a member of SCTE since 1973, and now a worthy new member of the Pioneer class of 2017.

He was nominated for the International Peace Prize by the Caribbean’s United Cultural Convention and continues to mentor students at the Marion Technical Institute.

TIM GROPP
Tim Gropp’s early years in the telecom industry would lay the groundwork for his 30-year career in cable and his place as a Cable Pioneer.

Gropp’s depth of knowledge and wide range of experience in marketing, engineering, operations, supply chain and business development have been vital in his rise from account executive to his current position as senior vice president of sales at Arris. For the past 10 years, he has led and managed sales teams across all of Arris’s product lines.

Most notably, he recently led Arris’s team in building Australia’s future broadband with National Broadband Network, Co., the government business enterprise tasked with delivering open access broadband to all premises in Australia.

His sales teams have also placed a broad set of cable products and technologies around the globe. All of this after earning a degree in … botany. Go figure.

Gropp has also been a driving force for Adaptive Spirit, the industry’s effort to support the U.S. Paralympic downhill skiing and snowboard teams.

LARRY HANSON
In the fast-moving, early years of cable, Larry Hanson proved to be the right guy at the right time, joining TCI in 1977 as its regional engineer for three states.

Hanson would eventually assume responsibility for the engineering and technical staffs in eight states, while adding capital budgeting, technology improvements, performance and other functions to his job description.

Armed with this valuable experience, Hanson in 1997 started and grew Cougar Communications into a 50-employee technical services company with more than $12 million in annual revenue. Once Cougar had grown, Hanson helped launch another startup, Ambit Project Management, which today is addressing the increased need for project managers with field experience.

As a vital member of the cable industry, he has been a member of SCTE since 1980, working with the organization tasked with using the return paths of cable systems to deliver high-speed data and internet services.

DALE HOPKINS
Considered one of the cable industry’s true trailblazers, Dale Hopkins has helped build and manage numerous high-growth media companies — from major MSOs to digital and traditional media companies — since 1980.

Her deep understanding of the interactive community and its lack of resources led to her founding of Marketing Interactive, the first conference to address the challenges and accomplishments of marketers in interactive entertainment.

Hopkins’s career path has included positions at CBS, E! Entertainment, G4 Media, GSN and her current role as president and CEO of In Demand. Her cable expertise and entrepreneurial skills have proven invaluable to cable’s marketing organization, CTAM.

Outside of her industry contributions, Hopkins was a founding member of the Waldorf School in Los Angeles; is a board member of Toberman Neighborhood Center, a nonprofit organization assisting Los Angeles Harbor-area families in living healthy, purposeful lives; and is a leading force in anti-gang activities.

DEBRA LEE
In 1986, during the cable industry’s growth spurt, Debra Lee would join fledgling network Black Entertainment Television as vice president of legal affairs. It would mark the beginning of a stellar 30-year career culminating in her current position as CEO of BET Networks.

Lee has played a pivotal role in delivering record-setting ratings and led the network into original movies, documentaries, concert specials, news, public-policy coverage and late-night talk shows. But perhaps her signature at the Viacom-owned network group is pioneering an entire genre of music, entertainment, news and public-affairs programming for African-Americans.

Lee’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. She was named to both The Cable Center’s Cable Hall of Fame and the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame, along with earning the NCTA’s prestigious Vanguard Award in 2003, the first African-American woman executive to receive the honor.

And she’s now a member of the Cable Pioneers class of 2017.

SEAN McGRAIL
In 1984, Sean McGrail’s move from Continental Cablevision to director of marketing of New England Sports Network, a fledgling regional sports network channel, would have a lasting impact on the network, McGrail and the cable industry as a whole.

Throughout the 1980s, NESN, the TV home of baseball’s Boston Red Sox and the NHL’s Boston Bruins, grew steadily as a premium TV service. It strategically invested in additional sports rights, news content and technology innovations, all under the guidance of McGrail as the network’s vice president of marketing.

Yet that was just the beginning of his pioneering career.

Promoted to president and CEO in 2000, McGrail would alter the distribution of NESN to increase its reach and, in 2004, he led efforts to become the first regional sports network in the U.S. to distribute all of its home games in HD. One year later, upgrade the entire network schedule to HD.

Beyond his NESN responsibilities, McGrail has devoted much of his personal time to industry groups such as CTAM, WICT and others, and has served on several charity boards throughout New England.

RON McMILLAN
Ron McMillan’s 35-year career with Warner and then Time Warner Cable has been fraught with engineering challenges, and with true pioneering spirit met and solved.

His entry into the cable business as vice president of engineering for Warner Cable in Houston, circa 1982, would provide a litmus test as he assumed the overall supervision and responsibility for its engineering department.

It didn’t take long for him to become Warner Cable’s corporate VP of engineering, where he would oversee the planning, budgeting and execution of all engineering plans for the Warner-owned systems.

It was McMillan’s skills and ability to manage people that stood out, as it quickly became apparent he could manage employees to get the job done.

He took those skills beyond cable as well, serving on several industry related boards in Texas and Wisconsin and with several non-profit organizations such as the Be An Angel Foundation, Kid Care and Child Advocates Inc.

JAY VAUGHAN
Forty years ago, Jay Vaughan joined a small, developer-owned cable system near Austin, Texas, as a rookie technician, installer, maintenance and repair man.

The invaluable experience gained at that small system performing a wide range of jobs would lead him to a notable career and countless accolades from his peers, along with numerous industry innovations as a top engineer with Rogers U.S. Cablesystems, ATC, Charter Communications and, most recently, principal consultant with DVS Services Inc.

At each career stop, he has led the search for more cost-effective plant upgrade strategies, and in the late 1980s consulted with the French MSO Com-Dev on all technology topics. Most recently, he project-managed the development of Charter’s Worldbox version 1.1.

Vaughan has regularly presented papers at SCTE, NCTA and CableLabs conferences, and helped lay the groundwork for CableLabs’s DOCSIS Cable Modem Certification process.

RICHARD WHITE
In 1973, newly minted Pioneer Richard White would join the young cable industry as staff engineer for Vision Cable in Fort Lee, N.J., and, for the next 44 years, bring his much-needed engineering prowess to the industry.

He has been at the forefront of developing and introducing numerous technologies. For example, his guidance in launching the first operational 450-MHZ system and his role as early adopter of digital set-top boxes, high-speed data, digital video, DVRs, voice-over-internet protocol, status monitoring, VOD, home security and gaming, all contributed to his pioneer status.

His installation in 1979 of one of first FM video fiber links was a groundbreaking effort.

White’s contributions outside of his technical innovations are numerous, serving as a senior member of the IEEE since 1971. Apart from his many achievements in cable, he has served as state director of the LAMB Foundation of North Carolina and is a member and past president of Knights of Columbus in Charlotte, N.C.

In Demand has tapped veteran cable distribution and marketing executive Dale Hopkins as its president and CEO, the company announced Tuesday. 

Hopkins, who replaces recently departed In Demand CEO Bob Benya, will oversee operations for the transactional distribution company, which provides movies, concert programming and live sports events — including this past Saturday’s Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor boxing match — on a pay-per-view and on demand basis to MVPDs.

In June Hopkins was named to the 2017 class of Cable TV Pioneers.

Hopkins was previously at the Sony Pictures Entertainment and AT&T Entertainment Group-owned cable network GSN, where she held multiple roles during her more than eight-year tenure, including serving as executive vice president of distribution and CMO.

Prior to that, Hopkins served as COO of Comcast-owned G4 Media.

“In Dale, In Demand is gaining a multi-faceted leader, someone with superb business acumen who has successfully delivered value and growth throughout her career,” said In Demand board chairman Tom Montemagno in a statement.  “She has a deep well of knowledge from across several business sectors, and is well known and respected within the media industry. We are excited that she has agreed to come on board, and look forward to her partnership with the strong leadership team that we have at In Demand.”

The Cable TV Pioneers, which last year celebrated its 50th anniversary as a social organization honoring long-serving and accomplished executives and entrepreneurs in the industry, has named the 2017 class to be inducted at a banquet on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at The Brown Palace Hotel in Denver.

The banquet is timed to the opening of the SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo at the Colorado Convention Center (Oct. 17-20). 

The class consists of 20 individuals -- 14 men and six women -- selected from what the group said was a record number of nominees.

Read more: Fifty Years of Cable Camaraderie

They are, in alphabetical order, with their affiliated companies as announced by the Pioneers:  

Tom Adams, Charter Communications      

Matthew Blank, Showtime Networks Inc.           

Steve Brett, General Communication Inc.     

Jack Bryant, ComSonics    

Cynthia Carpenter, Charter Communications        

John Chapman, Cisco         

Anne Cowan, CTAM         

Chris Dunkeson, Comcast Corp.      

Jana Fay, C-SPAN 

Charlotte Field, Charter Communications   

Tony Finger, CommScope  

James George, American Cable Services   

Tim Gropp, Arris    

Larry Hanson, Ambit Project Management           

Dale Hopkins, GSN           

Debra Lee, BET     

Sean McGrail, NESN         

Ron McMillan, Time Warner Cable (retired)        

Jay Vaughan, DSV Services   

Richard White, consultant

In making the announcement, Cable TV Pioneers chair Susan Bitter Smith said in a statement: “Just as our industry grows broader and more robust, so do the number of nominees for the Cable Pioneers. It’s obvious from this year’s class that our membership consists of men and women who make significant contributions to the growth of our industry and our communities.”

Dinner chair Dave Fellows said, “Change growth, and celebrating this year’s induction in Denver, prior to the annual SCTE-ISBE Cable-Tec Expo, is one of the many ways we are adapting and growing. We believe our 51st Banquet will have a significant attendance and provide sponsors with a wonderful opportunity to participate in one of the top events of the industry this year.”

Read more: Cable Pioneers: 50 Facts for 50 Years

Information on the upcoming banquet is at http://cabletvpioneers.com. (Interested sponsors can directly contact Lisza Gulyas at 303.527.2929 or lisza@vuconcepts.com.) Photos, articles and video of the 50th Anniversary celebrations are available at the site.

The Cable TV Pioneers was founded in 1966 during the NCTA convention in Miami, Fla. The original fledgling group of 21 entrepreneurs has grown to more than 700 men and women over the past 50 years. Photos, articles and video of the 50th Anniversary celebration and banquets as well as member rosters are available at the Pioneers site.

George Michael “Mike” Welch III, a member of the Cable TV Pioneers class of 1996 who spent parts of five decades in the business, holding senior level management positions for TelePrompTer, HBO and Disney Channel, died on Jan. 25 in Pacific Beach, Calif. He was 70 years old.

Born June 1, 1946, in Denver, Colo., and living in Pacific Beach for the last 28 years, he coordinated the San Diego cable veterans' chapter, "resulting in many high level meetings (HLM) where most of the cable and world problems were solved," his friend Dan Sweeney recalled in a Facebook tribute. "He was a good, intelligent and righteous man. RIP Mike, you will be missed."

He graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in business marketing. Starting in 1969, his first job was with Wells Fargo bank in San Francisco and shortly thereafter he became involved in the cable television business. He also started a successful headhunting firm, Pro Search, for the cable industry, eventually settling in San Diego.

According to an obituary prepared by his family, "he developed a passion for jiu-jitsu, learned Portuguese and helped many Brazilians who came to the U.S. to study and compete in the martial arts.
Mike loved to travel, was a history buff and was a fountain of knowledge about cars, art, music and popular culture. He was a dog lover, helping many rescue dogs, and had a strong bond with one in particular, his dog Beau." 

His survivors include his father, George Michael Welch II, from Coronado, Calif.; a sister, Deborah Welch, and her husband Phil Stroup from Boulder, Colo. 

A celebration of his life has been scheduled for 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18, at his home in Pacific Beach, Calif.

Correction: the original headline of this story said he died at age 60; he was 70.

The Cable TV Pioneers will hold its 51st annual banquet in Denver on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, just prior to the start of the SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo.

RELATED: Fifty Years of Cable Camaraderie

The banquet for the 2016 class was held in Boston just ahead of teh INTX, the annual industry tradeshow. The NCTA announced in September that the show was being wound down, meaning the event originally set for next April in Washington, D.C., won’t be happening.

RELATED: NCTA 'Sunsetting' INTX

With no INTX, the cable industry’s annual technology and engineering confab will be stepping into the breach.

Nomination details, banquet location, sponsorship and early ticket details will be available in sometime in the first quarter of 2017 at: www.cabletvpioneers.org

”There were many industry organizations that generously offered their venues as a kick-off for our dinner,” Cable TV Pioneer chairwoman (and member of the 2002 Pioneers class) Susan Bitter Smith said in a statement. “We decided that for the 2017 banquet, SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo offered the stature, attendance and location that would serve the greatest number of our members.”

”As cable’s ‘hometown,’ Denver has been a hub of content, technology and operations for our industry, so it’s a great place to celebrate our roots and induct the new Class of 2017. Plans are already underway to select a memorable banquet venue, and we’re revving up our sponsorship packages,” added Pioneer dinner chair David Fellows, and a member of the 2008 class of Pioneers.

“SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo’s role as the industry’s pre-eminent nexus for learning, innovation and deal-making is a direct result of the vision and foresight of many of the Cable TV Pioneers,” said Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE and a member of the 2010 class of Pioneers. “Kicking-off Expo Week with the Pioneers Banquet complements our mission of expanding the relevance of Expo to programmers, marketers, media executives and other industry professionals.”

Cable-Tec Expo is set to run Oct. 17-20 at the Colorado Convention Center. 

Linda Brodsky Cooper, whose long cable TV career included speechwriting for prominent industry executives and leadership of the Women in Cable TV& Telecommunications (WICT) organization, died on July 26 in Philadelphia. She was 76 and had battled cancer for several years.

Known professionally as Linda Brodsky, she is survived by her husband, Frank Cooper; both were inducted into the Cable TV Pioneers.

Brodsky's cable career began at the University of Pennsylvania, where she wrote a paper about the nascent "pay TV" industry in the 1960s. That led to a public relations and marketing job at Jerrold Electronics (later General Instruments and Motorola), from which she jumped to the operations side of the industry.

She was VP public relations for Warner Cable Corp. and speechwriter for Alfred Stern, its chairman/president in the early 1970s. She then moved to BroadBand Communications Inc., holding a similar role for nearly 15 years. 

Among her tasks at BroadBand was writing speeches for the legendary Irving B. Kahn, chairman of the company. When Kahn returned to the industry after serving a prison term in connection with earlier cable franchise activities, Brodsky drafted the speech he delivered to a state cable TV association meeting, starting, "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted..." The line brought down the house and eased Kahn's reentry to the cable business.

When that company was sold, Brodsky moved to Bresnan Communications, remaining there from 1991 to 2010, serveing as a consultant to chairman William J. Bresnan and providing speechwriting and PR strategy for the public affairs department.

Brodsky was a founding board member of WICT (national) and founding president of the New York chapter. She served as chairman of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association's public affairs committee in the late 1970s and early '80s, and was active in many other industry groups.

Brodsky's quick wit and passionate activism came through as executive producer and writer of "The Cable Follies," WICT’s annual satirical musical fundraiser for the cable industry from 1982 to 1985.

A video of Brodsky's oral history about her top-level cable recollections is in the Cable Center.

Brodsky also was active in Volunteers for Israel, where she provided non-military support services for the Israel Defense Forces for three weeks annually from 1991 to 1998, handling repair and maintenance of military vehicles.

Memorial arrangements have not yet been confirmed.

READ MORE:Big Names Head 50th Class of Cable TV Pioneers | Cable Pioneers: 50 Facts for 50 Years | The Legend of 'Cable TV Pioneer' George Spelvin

It started out in 1966 over a nice dinner at the Americana Hotel in Miami Beach, Fla., celebrating 21 of the cable industry’s most influential members.

This year, the Cable TV Pioneers hosted more than 550 people at its annual dinner gala on May 15 in Boston.

Along the way, it helped create and sustain what is now The Cable Center, the cable industry ’s historical and educational hub, in Denver.

Not bad for an organization that will induct 14 new members to its impressive rolls this year. They are, alphabetically: Jeff Bewkes of Time Warner Inc.; Charles David Cerullo of INSP; Glenn Duval of Challenger Cable Sales; Leslie Ellis of Ellis Edits Inc.; Marwan Fawaz of Sarepta Partners; John Gibbs of Comcast; Steve Goldmintz of Marcum Search; John E. Heslip of Comcast; Yvette Kanouff of Cisco Systems; Peter Kiley of C-SPAN Networks; Mark Lieberman of Viamedia Inc.; Mike Mason of Comcast; John Arthur Ogren of Speed Connect and Brian Roberts of Comcast.

After that first dinner, Fred Stevenson, who ran Rogers TV Cable in Rogers, Ark., sent an enthusiastic letter to all the original pioneers, asking whether any of them would be willing shell out $5 for a color photo of the group taken at the dinner.

‘JUST KEEP BREATHING’

A couple of weeks later, after hearing from only a couple of pioneers, Stevenson sent out a tongue-in-cheek press release announcing that an organizational meeting of the Pioneers Club had taken place in Stevenson’s office. “Only Mr. Stevenson was present at this organizational meeting and, being eminently qualified for the job, especially because of his age, he was nominated (by Stevenson ), seconded (by Stevenson) and subsequently elected by acclimation (by Stevenson ) to be the new executive chairman or this illustrious new club.”

“When asked what the purpose and goals of the club would be, [Stevenson] replied, ‘No purpose, no goals, no nothing. Just keep breathing.’”

Eventually Stevenson exited the group and Ben Conroy, who started Uvalde Television Cable in Uvalde, Texas, took over. Others who joined in to take leadership roles included Ed Adler of Weston Cable Television Corp.; Sandford Randolph, who built the cable system in Clarksburg, Va.; and Les Read, the HBO executive who has been the group’s executive director since 1996 (and a Pioneer since 1977).

“Les is really the keeper of the flame,” Susan Bitter Smith, the Pioneers board chair and executive director of the Southwest Cable Communications Association, said. “No one can duplicate his knowledge of the history of the Pioneers, the industry, and our members.

“Les knows and keeps track of every member and he has been invaluable not only for those amazing connections, but also for that incredible voice that guides us through the induction dinner every year.”

The Cable Pioneers has always focused on camaraderie, community, friendship and a little networking. The dinners are traditionally formal affairs and held at the same time as the NCTA convention (now known as INTX).

EMBRACING A CAUSE

In 1983, the executive committee decided the group needed a higher calling. Talks took place with Penn State University to form a cable-television museum and learning center at the university.

The museum opened in 1985 with $20,000 in seed money. The Pioneers later undertook a campaign that raised $2 million to provide an endowment for operations and to fund a chair at Penn State.

When the museum moved to University of Denver in 1997, the Pioneers again stepped in to help fund the operations of the Cable Center and expand the Hauser Oral History Project. While the organizations have two distinct boards and responsibilities, the Cable Center board and Cable TV Pioneers board work closely to advance the mission of the Cable Center.

As Mike Pandzik, founder of National Cable Television Cooperative and former chairman of Cable TV Pioneers, said in his oral history of the group: “We’re not involved in world peace. We’re not involved in nuclear disarmament. But in our little corner of the world, I think we do a very good job. And this Cable Center in Denver is a great example of what can happen when you get a bunch of people together who care about each other and care about their industry and want to leave something of substance.”

Added Read: “It’s the finest crowd in the business. You can’t keep an old entrepreneur down. They just keep coming back, like rich people.”

For more about the Cable Television Pioneers, please read on through these pages.

Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts and Time Warner Inc. chairman and CEO Jeffrey Bewkes are among 14 named today to the 50th anniversary class of Cable TV Pioneers. They will be inducted at a banquet in Boston ahead of the INTX convention in May. 

The new class also includes Multichannel Newstechnology columnist Leslie Ellis and three of Roberts's fellow Comcast executives.

Here is the 2016 class in alphabetical order:

Jeffrey Lawrence Bewkes, Time Warner; Charles David Cerullo of INSP; Glenn Duval of Challenger Cable Sales; Leslie Ellis of EllisEdits Inc.; Marwan Fawaz of Sarepta Partners; John Gibbs of Comcast; Steve Goldmintz of Marcum Search LLC; John E. Heslip of Comcast; Yvette Kanouff of Cisco Systems; Peter Kiley of C-SPAN Networks; Mark Lieberman of Viamedia Inc.; Mike J. Mason of Comcast; John Arthur Ogren of SpeedConnect and Brian L. Roberts of Comcast.

The group's first class, in 1966, was of 21 entrepreneurs. Since then the roster has grown beyond 700 men and women, the organization said in a release. The banquet will be held on Sunday, May 15, the night before INTX: The Internet and Television Expo kicks off. The banquet will be at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston. More information is available at http://cabletvpioneers.com.                            

Sixteen new members will be inducted into the Cable TV Pioneers during its induction banquet to be held Monday, May 4, at the Palmer House in Chicago.Cable TV Pioneer chair Susan Bitter Smith said in a release: "This outstanding class represents a plethora of talent that has and will continue to contribute to the cable industry’s success." The Cable Pioneer celebration will be held on Monday, May 4, the night before INTX: The Internet & Television Expo (a gathering formerly known as The Cable Show) kicks off at the McCormick Place convention center in Chicago.

Here are the newest Cable TV Pioneers, by name and company affiliation, according to the Pioneers organization:

Patricia Jo Boyers, Boyers Cablevision.

John Dahlquist, Aurora Networks.

Larry Eby, Vast Broadband.

Thomas Gorman, opXL LLC.

Andrew T. Heller, Turner Broadcasting Systems Inc.

Kenneth L. Klaer, Comcast Corp.

Mary “Sam" Klosterman, SNL Kagan.

David Lorenzi Jr., Comcast Corp.

Andrew McCarthy, Comcast Corp.

Douglas W. McCormick, Rho Capital Partners.

Bob Ryan, Comcast Corp.

Josh Sapan, AMC Networks.

Mark Stephan, Mediacom Communications.

Joseph Schramm, Schramm Marketing Group.

Alex Swan, Arris.

Steven E. Wilkerson, Florida Cable Telecommunications Association.

This banquet will mark the group’s 49th class induction. Dinner chair Ben Hooks Jr. said in the release: “The banquet is one of the biggest events of the cable year providing guests and sponsors with a unique opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of the men and women who have affected positive change for our industry.”

Sponsorship and early ticket details are available at www.cabletvpioneers.org.