Charter Communications said Thursday that it has promoted three long-time executives -- Noel Dempsey, Debi Picciolo and John Quigley -- to new corporate leadership roles, part of an updated field operations structure that is designed to accelerate performance across the company’s 11 operating regions.

In their new roles as senior VP, field operations, the three execs will be responsible for overseeing field operations across several regions and help drive operational quality and consistency throughout the various geographies, Charter said. They will continue to report to Tom Monaghan, who was recently appointed executive VP, field operations. 

“Our new regional organization takes advantage of our deep leadership talent,” Monaghan said in a press release. “Noel, Debi and John have the breadth of experience and achievement needed to accelerate our success across the regions, even as our business grows more complex and competitive. Their commitment to craftsmanship in every aspect of our work, in both customers’ homes and on our local networks, will help us build on our already-strong foundation of customer service and network reliability.”

Dempsey will oversee field operations in Charter’s Great Lakes, Northeast and Southern Ohio regions, which include the company’s operations in Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, New England, Upstate New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Dempsey had served as regional VP of field operations for the Northeast Region since March 2021, focusing on two important multiyear broadband initiatives: Charter’s now-completed 145,000-location Upstate New York buildout (a condition of the company's merger with Time Warner Cable) and Charter’s partnership with the Massachusetts Broadband Initiative (MBI), a 10-town buildout expected to be completed by 2023.

Dempsey joined Charter in May 2016 as area VP for Charter’s Central New York markets. He began his career in the cable and broadband industry as a field technician with TWC in 1996, and most recently was Charter's group VP, network expansion and outside plant design. 

Reporting to Dempsey are regional leaders Jeff Gehrig (Southern Ohio), John Higgins (Great Lakes), and Mark Fitchett, who the company announced has been promoted to regional VP of field operations for the Northeast. Fitchett has been in the cable and telecom industry for 35 years, and previously served as area VP of field operations for Charter’s Western New York service area.

Quigley will be accountable for field operations in Charter’s Carolinas, New York City and South regions, which include the company’s operations in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York City, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Since May 2016, he has been regional VP of field operations for the New York City Region, a position he held at TWC since October 2011. He earlier oversaw field operations in eastern New York and western Massachusetts for TWC as area VP in Albany, New York, and previously held a series of customer service and engineering leadership roles at Sprint.

Reporting to Quigley are regional leaders Shannon Atkinson (Carolinas), Henry Pearl (South) and Gregg Cory, who the company also announced will succeed Quigley as regional vice president of field operations for New York City. Cory had served as VP of regional field operations in New York City since August 2018 and joined Charter as area VP, Southern Manhattan, in New York City in May 2016. He held the same role with TWC since 2012, and earlier held a series of field operations leadership positions with Cablevision.

Picciolo will assume overall responsibility for field operations in Charter’s Central, Northwest and West regions, which comprise 16 states stretching from Wisconsin to Hawaii and including California. Since May 2016, she served as senior VP of field operations for Charter’s West Region, overseeing Southern California, Hawaii and Arizona. Under her leadership, Southern California became the first market to introduce the Spectrum brand post-transactions, and she successfully managed through brownouts, wildfires, hurricanes and volcanic eruptions. Prior to joining Charter, she served as senior VP of technical operations at TWC, and has held a series of senior operations and marketing leadership roles during a 35-year career in the cable and broadband industry.

Reporting to Picciolo are regional leaders Wally Bakare (Northwest) and Pete Hall (Central). A search is underway to replace Picciolo as regional VP for the West Region.

Additionally, Charter said regional VPs of field operations Paul Hanson (Florida) and Mike Matson (Texas) continue to report to Monaghan. ■

Charter Communications made some organizational changes in its sales, marketing and field operations units by expanding the responsibilities of some executives, moves it said will help position the company for future growth. 

Former EVP of MDU Markets Adam Ray has been named EVP, Sales Operations & Planning, increasing his oversight from multiple dwelling unit (MDU) Markets, to include Sales & Retention, and Sales & Marketing Analytics and Operations. Ray is a 16-year veteran of the company, joining Charter from Comcast in 2005 and serving in a number of operational roles over the years, including regional VP of Field Operations for the Florida region, group VP, Residential Direct Sales; senior director, Sales Operations in Los Angeles; and director of Sales and Marketing .

SVP of Marketing Sharon Peters will add Marketing & Creative Services, and Digital Marketing to her current responsibilities. Peters joined Charter in 2016 as Group VP of Marketing. Prior to that she spent 19 years at Cablevision Systems, ultimately serving as the lead marketing executive responsible for developing integrated digital, media and direct marketing strategies and plans for the Optimum brand.

In other moves, Tom Monaghan, SVP of Field Operations, who has been leading five of Charter’s operating regions, will take on oversight for all 11 operating regions. Both Ray and Peters will report to Jon Hargis, EVP and CMO, and Monaghan will continue to report to Tom Adams, EVP, Field Operations.  

“With Adam’s success in both executive sales and operational roles and Sharon’s track record of creative best-in-class marketing strategies, we can maximize their impact on our business by placing full ownership of Sales and Marketing under these proven leaders,” Hargis said in a press release.

Monaghan has served as SVP Field Operations since 2018 and held multiple field operations roles since joining Charter in 2014. He previously worked at Cablevision, where he served as vice president of Field Operations. He started his career as a field technician at Verizon in 1987 before rising to area operations manager.

“Tom is an expert in operations management and expanding his oversight to all of our regions best positions them for continued success in connecting and serving our growing customer base,” Adams said in the press release.

In conjunction with the changes, SVP Sales & Retention Christian Ruiz will expand his responsibilities to include all residential and small- and medium-sized business (SMB) sales and retention functions, including Direct Sales, Spectrum Stores & Retail, Sales Operations and SMB Strategic Channels. Keith Dardis, who previously led residential and SMB direct sales, will take on a broader role as SVP, Spectrum Community Solutions, focused on end-to-end product and pricing, sales, service and operations MDU market. Both will report to Ray.

“Christian, with considerably broadened oversight in Sales & Retention, and Keith, focused on seizing the sizable opportunity before Community Solutions in the MDU marketplace, are positioned to play significant roles in the continued growth of Charter,” Hargis said in the press release. .

With its $67-billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable just months away from a hoped-for regulatory approval, Comcast said it would reorganize its regional operational structure, segmenting its three core regions – Northeast, Central and West – into focused sub-sections to support its post-merger operating footprint. Kevin Casey, Bill Connors and Steve White are at the heads of the respective divisions.

In an internal announcement, Comcast EVP and chief operating officer Dave Watson said that as the company continues to prepare for the TWC closing, the spin-off of customers to GreatLand Connections and the swap and sale of customers with Charter Communications, it has also focused on its field structure and leadership teams. He added that any changes will be contingent on the closing of the TWC merger, which is expected to occur early this year.

Here's how the new structure will shake out, according to the internal announcement:

Northeast Division Reporting to Kevin Casey:

·         The Beltway Region will add a small number of systems in Maryland and Virginia from Charter and will continue to be led by Tom Coughlin. 

·         The Freedom Region – excluding North Jersey – will combine with Keystone East and will be led by Jim Samaha. 

·         The New York City Region will be formed by combining TWC systems in New York City and New Jersey with legacy North Jersey systems from the Freedom Region.  Steve Hackley will lead this Region which will be headquartered in Manhattan.

·         Keystone West will join TWC systems in Buffalo and Rochester, New York to form a new Allegheny Region.  This Region will be led by TWC’s Christine Whitaker and headquartered in Pittsburgh. 

·         The Greater Boston Region will be renamed the New England Region and will add TWC and Charter systems in eastern Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.  The Region will be led by LeAnn Talbot.  

·         The Hudson Valley Region will combine the former Western New England Region with TWC and Charter systems in Albany, Binghamton, Burlington-Plattsburgh and Syracuse, New York and Connecticut. The Region will be led by Mary McLaughlin. 

Central Division Reporting to Bill Connors:

·         The Florida Region will continue to be led by Amy Smith.

·         The Chicago Region will continue to be led by John Crowley.

·         The Big South Region has already added Little Rock, Arkansas, from the Heartland Region, and will add Charter systems in Atlanta and Macon, Georgia, as well as TWC and Charter markets in Tennessee, including Nashville, Jackson, Memphis and Knoxville.  The Region will continue to be led by Doug Guthrie. 

·         A new Carolinas Region will be led by Tim Collins and will be headquartered in Charlotte. It will combine Comcast, TWC and Charter systems in North and South Carolina, including Charleston, Columbia, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Greenville and Greensboro. Comcast’s Western Virginia and Savannah, Georgia systems will also become part of this Region. 

West Division Reporting to Steve White:

·         The Oregon/SW Washington Region will add Charter systems in Eugene, Ore., and will continue to be led by Rodrigo Lopez.

·         The Washington Region will add TWC and Charter systems in Spokane, Seattle and Yakima, Wash., and will continue to be led by Len Rozek.

·         The Texas Region will be created, combining our Houston Region with TWC and Charter systems in Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and South Texas.  Led by Kyle McSlarrow, the region will be headquartered in Dallas.   

·         The Mile High and Mountain Regions will combine and be called the Mile High Region, led by Rich Jennings. It will add Independence, Mo., from the Twin Cities Region, along with TWC systems in Kansas City, Mo.; Kansas City, Kansas; Omaha and Lincoln, Neb.; and El Paso-Las Cruces, Texas.

·         The California Region will add TWC and Charter systems in Los Angeles, Palm Springs, San Diego and Santa Barbara, California, as well as Yuma, Ariz., and will continue to be led by Hank Fore. With the addition of Southern California, we will create a Sub-Region that includes Los Angeles and will be led by Ralph Martinez, our current RSVP for Houston.

·         A new Hawaii Region will be created with TWC systems in Hawaii. It will be led by TWC’s Gregg Fujimoto.