Latest from Next TV in Telestream

Rhonda Bassett-Spiers Named New CEO at Telestream

jon.lafayette@futurenet.com (Jon Lafayette) — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 21:20:25 +0000

Telestream said it named Rhonda Bassett-Spiers as CEO, effective immediately.

Bassett-Spiers was president of iTradeNetwork. She succeeds Dan Castles, who is retiring as CEO of the video technology vendor.

Castles founded Telestream and returned to the company when his successor as CEO, Scott Puopolo, stepped down in 2020. Castles will remain with the company through April 2023 to help make a smooth transition.

“Rhonda has an excellent track record of leadership across the technology industry and pioneering innovation and driving growth. Our leadership styles are complementary and our priorities of delivering superior customer and employee experiences are consistent, which is why she is the right person to lead Telestream as the next CEO,” Castles said.

Over the last few years, Castle has grown Telestream through a series of acquisitions.

“Under Dan’s leadership and strategic foresight, he has grown Telestream to an industry-leading provider of automation tools and applications across the media supply chain,” said Eli Weiss, managing partner of Genstar Capital, which owns Telestream. “I want to thank Dan for his leadership since returning to the role of CEO in January 2020 to guide Telestream through its most recent phase of accelerated growth while positioning the company for continued success moving forward.”

Telestream said Jon Wilson, the company’s president and chief operating officer, will remain in his current role, leading operations.

“I joined Telestream because of its culture, its track record of growth and profitability, and its leadership position in the video industry,” Bassett-Spiers said. “I look forward to partnering with Jon and the great leadership team as the company begins a new chapter of providing world-class solutions across the digital media supply chain.” ■

Former Comcast Exec Joins Telestream

Jeff Baumgartner — Thu, 03 Aug 2017 15:21:00 +0000

Telestream, a maker of digital video tools and workflow solutions, said it has appointed Chris Drake as VP of business and corporate development.

Drake, who reports to Telestream CEO Dan Castles, joins the company from Comcast Technology Solutions, where he was VP of business development. He previously held exec roles at thePlatform, the online video publisher that’s now part of Comcast Technology Solutions, and RealNetworks.

RELATED: Comcast Launches New Tech Unit

Drake comes on board Telestream following its recent acquisitions of video monitoring and quality control firms Vidcheck and IneoQuest.

RELATED: Telestream Makes Play for IneoQuest

BlackArrow Expands International Targets

Jeff Baumgartner — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 16:00:00 +0000

BlackArrow, the dynamic ad insertion company being acquired by Cross MediaWorks, will look to hit more targets in Europe via a strategic partnership with Telestream, a maker of video transcoding and workflow automation platforms.

The agreement, they said, aims to simplify the process for pay TV providers and broadcasters in Europe and other international markets to monetize VOD programming. Telestream recently launched VOD producer DAI, which prepares VOD assets and metadata info, including ad-breaks. Those functions will be tied to BlackArrow’s Advanced Advertising System for pre-, post- and mid-roll VOD ad insertion.

Across the pond, BlackArrow is already working with Virgin Media, the U.K.-based operator now owned by Liberty Global. BlackArrow, which set up shop in London about a year ago, also works with Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Charter Communications, Bright House Networks, and Rogers Communications.

“There is an increasing interest from pay TV providers and broadcasters in Europe to monetize time-shifted and multiscreen content,” said Chris Hock, SVP, business development and strategic partnerships at BlackArrow, in a statement. “By connecting the BlackArrow and Telestream solutions, we are able to significantly streamline the operational processes for broadcasters to prepare VOD content and dynamically insert ads in it as it plays back on a pay TV provider’s service.”