Multiscreen video technology company Piksel said John Honeycutt, CTO of Discovery Communications, has been elected to Piksel’s board of directors.

Honeycutt joined Discovery in 2003, and was promoted to the newly created role of CTO in March 2014. Discovery rolled out its authenticated TV Everywhere service, Discovery Go, in December 2015, and sparked an initiative around virtual reality last August.

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“John is a true visionary in our industry and we are excited to welcome him to Piksel’s board of directors,” Peter Heiland, Piksel’s CEO, said in a statement. “We believe his strong experience, especially building a global business across both developed and emerging markets, will be extremely valuable as Piksel continues to grow around the world.”

Piksel’s customers include Discovery, AT&T, Sky, Channel 4, Liberty Global, Mediaset, OSN and Transavia.

RELATED: Piksel Forges New OTT Video Play

“I have always admired Piksel for its innovative products and dynamic leadership team, and I’m honored to be joining their board,” Honeycutt added. “I have tremendous respect for Peter, and the entire executive team, and I look forward to working with them.”

Piksel, the supplier of multiscreen video platforms, said it, in partnership with VISTA Worldlink, won the deal to design and implement the systems running the Western Athletic Conference’s Digital Network.

The WAC’s Digital Network, which uses Piksel’s Digital Stadium platform to manage content, offers access to the WAC’s live and archived sports coverage across the conference’s eight member schools (California State University Bakersfield, Chicago State University, Grand Canyon University, University of Missouri-Kansas City, New Mexico State, Seattle University, University of Texas–Pan American, and Utah Valley). The WAC Digital Network is offered through iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, Web browsers and Roku devices.

“It has always been one of our goals to showcase the talents of our student athletes across different sports, and with the Digital Network we can now bring our fans closer to their favorite sports, beyond the physical arena,” WAC Commissioner Jeff Hurd said, in a statement. “We are reaching new levels of exposure and giving fans the best possible experience with high quality broadcasting on a global scale.”

On the tech side, WAC content is distributed to VISTA Worldlink directly via IP, then ingested by the Piksel management/publishing platform. The WAC also lists NeuLion as a key tech partner.

Piksel initiated a relaunch earlier this year that included the introduction of a new modular OTT video platform for content owners, aggregators, and distributors. 

The saga involving Synacor and two dissident shareholders continued Wednesday, with Synacor holding that the demands of JEC Capital Partners and Ratio Capital were deemed “inappropriate” and lacked the best interest of all Synacor stockholders.

Synacor’s response comes after JEC Capital and Ratio Capital, which together hold about a 10% stake in the Buffalo, N.Y.-based maker of TV Everywhere technologies and customized Web portals, have been calling for the resignation of Synacor chairman Jordon Levy while also urging the Synacor board to seek a sale of the company.

In Synacor’s response issued on Wednesday (October 1), the company said its board of directors “attempted to engage in cooperative dialogue” with JEC Capital and Ratio Capital and ultimately offered them board representation.

“However, the Board's numerous good faith actions were each met with excessive and inappropriate demands by JEC and Ratio, lacking the best interest of all Synacor stockholders, and abruptly JEC and Ratio have abandoned discussions,” Synacor said.

Synacor added that its board “continues to have concerns regarding the motivations and actions of JEC Capital Partners,” noting its affiliation with Peter Heiland, who is a managing director at JEC and currently serves as the interim CEO of Piksel, a company with roots to once-troubled online video publishing firm KIT Digital that relaunched in August with a new modular platform targeted to content owners, aggregators and distributors.

Synacor didn’t mention Piksel by name, but noted that the company currently affiliated with Heiland has similar customers to Synacor “and may have the intent to become a potential acquirer, and as such may have motives that are not aligned with other stockholders.”

“It is disappointing that Ratio and JEC seem intent on continuing to wage their public campaign of insults and attacks in an attempt to force the Company to capitulate to their short term agenda,” Synacor said. “The Board has asked Synacor's management team to continue their focus on driving the Company's growth agenda, streamlining operations, building best-in-class products, working with customers to generate sustainable shareholder value, and to avoid the distraction of filings made by a minority group of investors that fail to benefit the full population of Synacor stockholders.”

Meanwhile, Synacor, under new CEO Himesh Bhise, has been moving ahead with a plan to streamline and return the company to profitability and growth. On Tuesday (September 30), Synacor announced that it would cut about 70 jobs, or 20% of its workforce, while reaffirming guidance for the third quarter and for the full fiscal year. The company also said it would discuss the financial impact of Tuesday’s announcement and its revised strategic plan when Synacor reports third quarter results on Thursday, Oct. 30.