Ronald Sugar, ex-Northrop Grumman, joins Apple board … QuadrantOne Web ad sales joint venture of Tribune, Gannett, Hearst and New York Times Co. promotes Mario Diez to CEO … Mallun Yen, ex-Cisco, becomes executive vice president of patent firm RPX … SkyCross names Ben Naskar, ex-Atheros Communications, CEO and chairman, succeeding Dennis McKenna, who had announced retirement plans … Wireless machine-to-machine company Digi International elects Steven Snyder, ex-Gearworks, senior vice president and chief financial officer … Also elected at NARUC: David Wright, North Carolina PSC, first vice president; Phil Jones, Washington Utilities & Transportation Commission, second vice president … Beasley Broadcast Group promotes Denyse Smith Mesnik to newly created position of vice president of corporate communications … Changes at Westwood One’s Metro Television: Fred Bennett promoted to president and general manager, replacing Jonathan Marshall, leaving to return to entertainment industry; Mike Haake upped to executive vice-president of radio and TV affiliate sales.
FCC promotes Gregory Hlibok to chief of Disability Rights Office … Corporation for Public Broadcasting election: Bruce Ramer, Gang Tyre, chairman; Former Sen. David Pryor, vice chair … Neustar board elects James Cullen as chairman and elects CEO Lisa Hook to fill board seat vacated by outgoing chairman Jeff Ganek … Gary Stone to retire as chief operating officer of Univision Radio at year-end … Cricket Communications names Alphonso King, ex-MetroPCS, vice president-Midwest sales … SeaChange accepts resignation of ReiJane Huai … CableReady promotes Tatiania Figueiredo to director of sales.
North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Tony Clark, ex-state Republican Party president, has been elected president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners at the NARUC annual meeting, replacing David Coen, Vermont Public Service Board … Barry Ohlson, ex-Wilkinson Barker, becomes Cox Enterprises chief policy counsel … CompTel names Alan Hill, ex-XO Communications, vice president-government relations … Clear Channel confirms it hired Robert Pittman, Pilot Group, as chairman of media and entertainment … Brightpoint names Larry Paulson, ex-Nokia, executive vice president-chief marketing officer … Paul Saleh, ex-Menza Partners, hired by Gannett as senior vice president and chief financial officer; Gracia Martore gives up CFO title, remains president, chief operating officer.
FCC promotes Sarah Whitesell to deputy chief, Media Bureau … Luis Silberwasser promoted to executive vice president-chief content officer, Discovery Networks International … Among the new board members at Alliance for Community Media: Mark Monk; Barry Verrill; Colin Rhinesmith; Barbara Chisholm; and Erik Mollberg … New Harmonic vice presidents, from its acquisition of Omneon: Geoff Stedman for marketing communications; David Price for business development; Mark Carrington for sales; and Ron Howe for service and support.
Phoebe Yang, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s senior advisor on broadband, to leave FCC in December to lead acquisitions strategy at The Advisory Board Company …Ian Dillner, ex-FCC Wireline Bureau and House Communications Subcommittee, becomes Verizon vice president of federal regulatory affairs … New at FCC Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau Office of Native Affairs and Policy: Deputy Chief Irene Flannery, ex-Wireline Bureau Telecommunications Access Policy Division; Senior Legal Advisor Cynthia Bryant, ex-FCC Enforcement Bureau; and Senior Advisor for Consultation Policy Dan Rumelt, ex-senior advisor for outreach in Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau … BitTorrent names Shahi Ghanem, ex-DivX, chief strategist and executive vice president of marketing … Richard Chernock, Triveni Digital, elected chairman, Advanced TV Systems Committee Technology and Standards Group, replacing John Henderson, CEA, whose term expires Dec. 31 … Comcast promotes J.T. Ramsay to chief blogger … Longtime New York State Broadcasters Association President Joseph Reilly to step down June 30 … Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing hires Mark Snow, ex-Swire Marketing, as vice president and general manager of direct marketing.
News Corp. names Joel Klein, ex-New York City Education Chancellor and Justice Department Antitrust Division chief, executive vice president-office of the chairman … Pac-West Telecom names Todd Wallace, ex-Transcomm Enhanced Services, senior vice president, engineering and network operations … Michael Solomon resigns from World Wrestling Entertainment board.
Association of Public TV Stations names Patrick Butler, ex-Washington Post Co. and chair of Maryland Public TV Foundation, president and CEO … Telcordia board member Garry McGuire moves up to chairman; Patrick Severson, Warburg Pincus, joins board … Entercom promotions: Dave Richard to vice president-programming and operations, Seattle; Dave Miller to vice president-sales, San Francisco … One Source Networks names Gina Nomellini, ex-Telstra, chief marketing officer … New at The Country Network: Chris Butterick, ex-Cumulus, president of TCN Broadcasting; Tammy Genovese, ex-CMA, president, TCN Nashville; Producer Kim Bullard, executive vice president, TCN Nashville.
Among members of revived Administrative Conference of the United States: Jodie Bernstein, Kelley Drye; David Frederick, Kellogg, Huber; Russell Frisby, Stinson Morrison; Randolph May, Free State Foundation; Michael Powell, Providence Equity Partners; Helgi Walker, Wiley Rein … Hearst Television hires Andrew Jackson, ex-BBC America, to return to KITV Honolulu as president and general manager … Cox Media Group promotes Kristin Okesson to vice president and market manager for Connecticut radio stations.
Adam Sharp, ex-aide to Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and most recently at C-SPAN, hired by Twitter as manager of government and political partnerships, a new position and the company’s first in Washington … FTC changes: Edward Felten, ex-Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy, becomes chief technologist; Eileen Harrington returns as executive director … NBC Universal promotes Alyssa Corcoran to senior vice president of communications for TV networks and digital distribution … New senior directors at Turner Sports: Dave Moll, ex-CBS College Sports, hired at NCAA Digital; Alex Vargas promoted at PGATour.com and Justin Williams promoted at Nascar.com … Discovery Communications promotes Elisa Freeman to senior vice president, global distribution and education business development … Changes at Media General: Marilyn Hammond promoted to president and market leader for North Carolina, succeeding Jim Conschafter, named president and market leader for Virginia, Tennessee, replacing James Zimmerman, retiring at year-end; Dan Bradley promoted to president and market leader for Ohio, Rhode Island … Entercom promotes Jeff Brown to vice president and co-market manager for Portland, Ore., radio stations … NBC Universal promotes Lara Spotts to Bravo vice president of East Coast development … ESPN hires Kevin Martinez, ex-KPMG, as senior director of corporate outreach.
New Advanced Television Systems Committee board members: Brett Jenkins, ION Media; Mark Eyer, Sony; and John Taylor, LG Electronics … Turner Sports promotes Mark Johnson, Tom Sahara and Pete Scott to vice presidents for NCAA digital business … Dejero 3G wireless TV company hires Dan Mance, ex-Harris Broadcast, as CEO … SBA Communications promotions: Kurt Bagwell to president-international, and Mark Ciarfella to senior vice president-operations … Women in Cable Telecommunications hires Christina Vergara, ex-NAB, as vice president of education and program development … Changes at Fisher Communications: Chief Financial Officer Joseph Lovejoy resigns effective Dec. 31; Hassan Natha promoted to replace him; George Warren to retire from board when term ends at 2011 annual meeting.