NARUC hires Holly Rachel Smith, energy lawyer, as assistant general counsel … CBS hires Marty Wilke, ex-Tribune Broadcasting, as president-general manager of WBBM-TV Chicago; succeeding Bruno Cohen, promoted to same titles for CBS Television Station group’s San Francisco and Seattle stations; Tribune promotes Steve Farber to WGN-TV Chicago acting general manager, replacing Wilke … Kevin Cuddihy, Univision, joins NAB TV board, replacing Doug Kranwinkle, from same company … Changes at CBS Sports programming: Bess Barnes, ex-ESPN, hired as vice president-college sports programming; Executive Vice President Rob Correa and Senior Vice President Dan Weinberg expand duties … Paul Quinn, president-general manager of Hearst Television’s WGAL Lancaster, Pa., retiring this year … Greater Media promotes Trip Savery to vice president-station manager, Charlotte, N.C., stations … Washington Post Co. elects Dave Goldberg, SurveyMonkey, to board … Fadi Chehadé starts as president-CEO of Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, two weeks ahead of schedule, replacing interim CEO Akram Atallah, who remains chief operating officer and expands duties to run Registry and Registrar Services; Tarek Kamel promoted to senior advisor-government affairs; Sally Costerton, ex-Hill & Knowlton Public Relations, named to lead ICANN stakeholder engagement, new position; Maguy Serad promoted to vice president-contractual compliance.
President Barack Obama to nominate Jeffrey Shell, Comcast’s NBCUniversal, as Broadcasting Board of Governors chairman … Independent Film and Television Alliance renews contracts through 2015 of CEO Jean Prewitt and Executive Vice President Jonathan Wolf … Sonus Networks promotes: Todd Abbott to executive vice president-strategy and go-to-market; and Jeffrey Snider to senior vice president, chief administrative officer and general counsel.
Discovery Communications moves Alden Mitchell Budill to vice president-domestic distribution and strategy, for its OWN and Hub joint venture networks … Univision Communications promotes Jesus Chavez to senior vice president-interactive, Univision Television Group … Seven Networks hires Martin McKendry, ex-Openwave, as senior vice president-engineering and operations … Accedian Networks hires Patrick Dolan, ex-Genband, as vice president-sales, Europe, Middle East and Asia … Lobbyist Registrations: Music Choice, Arent Fox, effective Aug. 10.
President Barack Obama plans to nominate: Joshua Wright, George Mason University School of Law, as FTC commissioner; Scott Kieff, George Washington University Law School, as International Trade Commission member … Alexander Hoehn-Saric, ex-Commerce Department, hired by FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel as policy director, responsible for media and technology issues; Holly Saurer, who was interim media adviser to Rosenworcel, returns to Media Bureau … News Corp. promotes Paul Cheesbrough to chief technology officer … Cablevision hires Andrew Ip, ex-Meridian Advisory Group, as vice president-wireless technology and operations … Entercom promotes Michael Doyle to regional president … Discovery Communications promotes Lara Richardson to Discovery Channel senior vice president, marketing-creative … RigNet managed remote communications provider to oil and gas companies hires Brad Alexander, ex-Westlake Securities, as vice president-corporate development, new position … PlayNetwork hires Nicole Rikkinen, ex-Microsoft, as vice president-marketing … WIK-Consult European telecom research firm hires Ilsa Godlovitch, ex-European Competitive Telecommunications Association, as director of new office in Brussels … Lobbyist Registrations: TrellisWare Technologies, Innovative Federal Strategies, effective Sept. 4 … Adobe Systems, Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, effective Aug. 1.
Carson Agnew, 63, former president of Progeny, died Wednesday after a long bout with cancer. He had been vice president of regulatory affairs at NextNav since last year, when Progeny merged with Commlabs to form the new company. Prior to going into the telecom industry, Agnew taught economics and telecom policy at Stanford. He’s survived by his wife and two daughters.
NARUC Executive Committee adds Jack Betkoski, Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, replacing David Coen, Vermont Public Service Board …Viacom promotes Scott Mills to executive vice president-human resources and administration, succeeding Denise White, leaving company. … Michael Willner and Sidney Knafel, ex-Insight Communications until acquired by Time Warner Cable this year, are leading Penthera Partners, selling software to move HD video between cloud and Internet Protocol-enabled phones and set-tops … Alcatel-Lucent changes, effective Jan. 1, in management simplification: Chief Financial Officer Paul Tufano also becomes chief operating officer; Robert Vrij to president-global sales & marketing; Stephen Carter named president-managed services, and executive vice president-corporate restructuring; Philippe Keryer moves to president-networks & platforms; Rajeev Singh-Molares will focus on commercial operations in China … Networks’ Sundance Channel hires Claudia Gorelick, ex-Viacom’s Logo, as senior vice president-digital media and business strategy … Mellanox Technologies, a data center interconnection provider, promotes Jacob Shulman to chief financial officer as CFO Michael Gray retires, effective Nov. 5 … Equinix hires Sara Baack, ex-Level 3, as chief marketing officer.
Rick Kaplan, former Wireless Bureau chief, who also oversaw Verizon-cable operator advanced wireless service transactions, had his last day at the FCC Friday … Christine Goepp leaving Fletcher Heald, where she’s an associate communications regulatory lawyer, to join Audio Division of FCC Media Bureau as attorney-adviser, effective Monday … Inmarsat hires Michele Franci, ex-SES, as vice president-commercial, Global Xpress satellite broadband service.
Univision Communications hires Christopher Furst, ex-NBCUniversal, as executive vice president and chief information officer, new position …Synacor hires Patrick Knorr, ex-Sunflower Broadband and American Cable Association board member, as general manager-regional accounts.
Suddenlink Communications hires Gregg Graff, ex-Insight Communications, as senior vice president of sales … NBCUniversal’s Oxygen Media hires Roger Guillen, ex-2012 London Olympics, as senior vice president, creative director … News Corp. nominates Elaine Chao, ex-U.S. labor secretary, and Álvaro Uribe, ex-president of Colombia, to join board.
Texas Association of Broadcasters President Ann Arnold, 67, died Saturday. She had leukemia. During her 25-year tenure at TAB, she became an expert on the emergency alert system, and in 2005 was president of the National Alliance of State Broadcast Associations. Arnold was the first female press secretary to a Texas governor, Mark White (D), in the 1980’s and before that was a newspaper and wire service reporter. Two sons and a sister survive.