The Cable Center said Tuesday (January 11) that it has named industry veteran Diane Christman president and CEO, replacing Jana Henthorn, who retired in December. 

Christman worked with Henthorn to create the organization's five-year strategic planning initiative, Vision 2025, which will shape its offerings to further support innovation and intrapreneurship, symposia and thought leadership.   

“Diane is a bold leader and born connector who will bring big ideas to her new role as president and CEO of The Cable Center,” said Michael Willner, chairman of The Cable Center board and CEO of Penthera Partners, in a press release. “She understands how to create, cultivate, and maintain strategic relationships and partnerships that allow organizations to thrive. Diane is the natural choice for this moment in the evolution of the connectivity industry and The Cable Center.” 

Christman joined The Cable Center in 2006 as VP, marketing and development. She was promoted to senior VP, programs and development in 2009 and senior vice president, development and chief program officer in 2019. Since she joined the organization, Christman has developed and implemented many of its experiential programs, academic partnerships, events, and work to curate its collection of entrepreneurial accounts and objects.

“I am energized and ready to serve as The Cable Center’s new president and CEO,” Christman said in a press release. “It’s an honor to empower our industry’s innovators through our programs and experiences and inspire their work to drive change within their organizations.”

Christman will lead an effort to advance The Cable Center in the next phase of its Vision 2025 strategic plan. “We represent and reflect an industry made up of visionaries and doers,” Christman said. “Now is the time for big ideas. In 2022, we will innovate and evolve our organization in concert with our industry with an array of compelling offerings.”

The Vision 2025 initiative includes expanding The Cable Center’s Intrapreneurship Academy and creating a vibrant community for resource and idea-sharing. As president and CEO, Christman will advance the implementation of Vision 2025 in collaboration with The Cable Center team and board after co-leading the effort in 2020 and 2021.  ■ 

The Cable Center CEO Jana Henthorn said Tuesday that she will retire at the end of the year, ending a 17-year run at the industry organization.  A replacement has not yet been named.

Henthorn joined the Cable Center in 2004 after serving as VP of affiliate sales for A+E Television Networks and earlier, as VP of operations and service fulfillment for Jones Intercable. She became CEO of The Cable Center in 2016.  During her tenure as CEO, Henthorn made strides in helping the industry think tank expand its offerings and cultivate and inspire new leaders, forming the Intrapreneurship Academy in 2017 and creating the Cable Center’s 5-year strategic plan in 2021. 

According to the Cable Center, as of July, the Intrapreneurship Academy has graduated more than 150 industry intrapreneurs from 30 different industry organizations and has expanded its curriculum into four, value-driving courses: Driving Innovation; Leading with Agility; Leading with Agility: Executive Intensive; and Leveraging Customer Experience.  

“Upon becoming CEO, Jana spearheaded the next evolution for The Cable Center, ushering in the era of intrapreneurship and innovation. Jana’s legacy will be her creative, compassionate leadership and impact on our industry’s future leaders through the Intrapreneurship Academy,” said Cable Center board chairman and CEO of Penthera Partners Michael Willner. “The Cable Center’s total assets are at the highest point in the past decade and beyond, and we are positioned for continued growth and success. It has been such a pleasure to collaborate with Jana. She is truly a trailblazer.”

During her watch, Henthorn also advanced the Center’s mission of honoring and celebrating the industry’s many entrepreneurs and founders, sharing their stories and expertise through programs like the Barco Library and Hauser Oral and Video History Project; the Cable Center Customer Centric Consortium (C5); the Edward Breen Technical Archives, and the Mavericks Lecture Series.

“The Cable Center has achieved tremendous growth and success over the last few years. I am extremely proud of all our programs, and the development and launch of our newest program, Intrapreneurship Academy,” Henthorn said in a press release. “Grit, determination, and hard work are the principles upon which our great industry was founded, and I believe that we have been entrusted with the responsibility to inspire the next era of innovation.

“I want to thank my industry colleagues, our wonderful board of directors, our esteemed honorary board of directors, our Cable Center ambassadors, our generous donors, and my many mentors and guides along the way," she continued. "I am incredibly proud of my dedicated Cable Center team of collaborators and ambassadors. We have been able to accomplish so much together due to the collective support, agility, enthusiasm, and diligence of our staff.”

Henthorn will continue as CEO of the Cable Center through the end of the year. Upon her retirement, she will remain on the board of directors as the immediate past president. The board has begun the process of naming her successor.

Feeling lonely without a National Cable Show to attend about this time of year?

Check into the "Cable Old Timers" page on Facebook, and you'll see familiar faces and convention memories without the bother of sales pitches, new product frenzy, sore feet or frazzling flights.

This online adventure in nostalgia has attracted nearly 3,000 members in the few weeks since it went sort-of-viral, said Mark Solow, who set up the page several years ago but "never did anything with it."

In late April, he and other cable veterans in the Dallas area attended the funeral of "Cable Pioneer extraordinaire Tom Soulsby" (as Solow calls the late executive from Sammons and other cable systems and a former Texas Cable TV Association president). Some friends suggested that Solow revive an old local event -- a periodic lunch of Dallas-Fort Worth cable TV personnel.

Instead, Solow went home and "stayed up until 2 in the morning" making a list of about 80 local people to join his moribund Facebook page called "Cable Old Timers."

"When I woke up the next morning, there were 200 people, and within two days, it was more than 1,000," said Solow, whose day job is vice president of Uplifttv. People invited other old colleagues, and the network effect kicked in as friends invited more friends. Within days, people from all over the country were in the group, with many listing their cable career stops and posting pictures from old conventions and their favorite keepsake souvenirs.

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

One of Solow's original requirements to join the private group was that "part of your cable career was in DFW," but he has since thrown it open to people who have 20-plus years of cable experience. Anyone meeting that criterion can ask to join the group. (Disclosure: I have resurrected a few photos from the 1970s and '80s and have invited a few geezers to join the memory-fest.)

Meaningful Careers

Cable Old Timers include a mix of operations, programming and technical/engineer experience. Many of the participants focus on the importance of cable in their lives, often citing -- with substantial passion -- how great it felt to be part of a growing business in the '70s and '80s.

In the typical, telescoped Facebook fashion of older users, they reminisce about important memories, such as:

"Cable was very exciting at that time, and I was lucky to be a part of it."

"Many friends along the way became my cable family, a wonderful career."

"Great seeing everyone else’s amazing achievements within this group!"

"I couldn’t have picked a better career... 39 years, 2 months and 27 days... the greatest times, memories and people."

"@Home, RoadRunner and HSA [High Speed Access Corp.] among others...changed the world: Broadband for the better."

"This industry's people are Awesome."

"I've made so many friends made through the years. ...I have evolved with the industry. ... I have been blessed knowing you!"

"Great career; always loved the business. Miss the people."

There is extensive photo sharing, including lots of pictures of people with '80s big hair and rakish mustaches. Many participants reminisce over memories of their entry into the cable business, drop names of influential industry executives and laud colleagues and mentors; they offer memorials to those who have died. Some of the entries offer history lessons, such as this:

"Jerrold was one of the largest MSOs ... until the operators and owners put their foot down and told the manufacturers to stop getting franchises and to just make equipment."

And there are countless references to early career stops, including long-defunct operators and networks, ranging from Teleprompter Cable, Jones Intercable and Group W Cable to Z Channel, Satellite News Channel and Graff Pay Per View, among many others.

Several participants have encouraged others to chronicle their first cable jobs, which generated an avalanche of memories and confessions:

• Installer making $4.25 per hour
• Sold cable door-to-door while in college
• Strand-mapping
• Learned how to climb poles 

Inevitably, amid all the photos from decades of NCTA conventions, Western Shows and state association conferences, many participants have called for some kind of mass reunion.

Jana Henthorn, president/CEO of The Cable Center, quickly responded.

"I've got just the place. ... We're in Denver and accessible to both coasts," she posted. "Plus, that's what the Center is here for! To be a gathering place for the cable industry. I'd love to see all my cable peeps!"

Related: Jana Henthorn Named WICT Rocky Mountain’s ‘Woman of the Year’

No concrete plans have emerged, but Solow said that he's still amazed at the intense involvement.

"I wasn't trying to do that," he told me. "I was trying to use Facebook like I do with my bicycling group," for keeping local friends in touch about local activities.

He isn't predicting what will happen next, although if the typical social media faddish cycle plays out, the current enthusiastic banter on Cable Old Timers will eventually peter out. It may be sustained by some new members, albeit the growth has diminished in the past week.

Nonetheless, the frenzy of activity underscored the enthusiasm of cable old timers -- and (since many seem to be retired) gave them something to do at this time of year when they thought they should be attending an industry convention.

The Cable Center has named Jana Henthorn, who has worked at the organization for the past 11 years, as the next president and chief executive officer. She will succeed current CEO Larry Satkowiak upon his retirement on Jan. 1, 2016. Multichannel Newshad reported a successor was likely to be named this week.

The center noted Henthorn has more than 30 years’ experience in the cable industry, working for operators, programmers and nonprofits. “Jana will bring a deep breadth of expertise to the position. She has the business acumen and the industry knowledge to strengthen The Center’s position as the go-to information resource for the industry,” Jerry Kent, chairman and CEO of Suddenlink Communications and chairman of The Cable Center’s board of directors, said in a release.

Henthorn currently serves as senior vice president of academic and industry outreach. She leads The Center’s Customer Experience Central initiatives which include the Cable Center Customer Care Committee (C5), a consortium of executives from the largest operators in North America and Europe focused on expanding industry knowledge and facilitating new approaches to customer care.

Henthorn said in the release, "The Cable Center is a solid organization and I look forward to leading the team to determine how our programs can best serve our constituents in the future.”

Before joining The Cable Center, Henthorn was vice president of affiliate sales for A+E Television Networks where she led the network sales team for 16 states and two regional offices. She also served as vice president of operations and service fulfillment for Jones Intercable. She served on the National Board and Executive Committee for Women in Cable Telecommunications from 1995 to 2000. She was inducted into the Cable TV Pioneers in 2010.