Competitive triple-play provider WOW said chief financial officer Steven Cochran is adding the title and responsibilities of chief operating officer at the 204,000-subscriber operator.
Cochran, who joined WOW in October 2002 as CFO, guided the company through its sale in May 2006 to current private equity owners Avista Capital Partners. As COO, he assumes direct responsibility for all field and call center operations, in addition to retaining his duties as CFO, continuing to report to CEO Colleen Abdoulah.
“Steven is an experienced and talented executive, who is well-respected within our company and in the industry,” Abdoulah said in a statement. “He has been an integral force behind our customer and operating strategies that has resulted in industry-leading financial performance and value creation. I am excited to continue to partner with Steven as he takes on the expanded responsibilities of his new role as COO/CFO.”
WOW said Cochran’s direct reports would include senior vice presidents and general managers Mark Dineen, Kelvin Fee and Scott Neesley of Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio, respectively, and SVP of customer care Mike Furst. Paul Casto has been promoted to SVP of finance from VP of finance and operations support, also within Cochran’s team.
General counsel Craig Martin, chief technology officer Cash Hagen, chief marketing officer Cathy Kuo and VP of human resources Janice Turner will continue to report to Abdoulah.
Cochran said in the announcement release: “WOW is a unique company, one that has proven that strategies and processes driven by a fundamental belief in delivering a positive employee and customer experience drives bottom line performance. I am excited to serve in this new role and continue to build upon our success.”
Before WOW, Cochran was SVO and CFO at Millenium Digital Media, another competitive cable operator.
