News
• Dish adds 4 HD local markets
By Traci Patterson
Dish Network has added four high-definition (HD) local markets: Cleveland/Akron (Canton), Ohio; Milwaukee, Wis.; Richmond/Petersburg, Va.; and Tampa/St. Petersburg (Sarasota), Fla.
Dish Network now offers local HD programming in 43 markets, reaching more than 58 percent of U.S. TV households.
"DISH Network's local HD market rollout continues as we charge toward our goal of reaching 100 local HD markets by the end of 2008," said Eric Sahl, SVP of programming for Dish Network. "We are excited that Dish Network customers in these new HD markets can enjoy their favorite primetime programming in stunning high-definition."
• AOL snags Sphere Source
By Traci Patterson
AOL has acquired Sphere Source – a provider of contextual-search tools, which offer related content to publishers.
Sphere uses its contextual-search platform technology to make connections between content from blogs, video, media, photos and advertisements, the company said. The contextual results are displayed in a pop-over window or an integrated widget, allowing publishers to enhance their content by incorporating related online content from archives and across the Web.
• Conexant appoints Mercer as CEO
Mike Robuck
Conexant Systems announced yesterday that board member D. Scott Mercer has been named as the company’s new CEO.
The company also announced that Christian Scherp, senior vice president of worldwide sales, was promoted to president, and that Sailesh Chittipeddi, senior vice president of global operations, was promoted to executive vice president of global operations and chief technical officer.
Mercer and Scherp replace Daniel Artusi, who had been president and chief executive officer. After roughly 10 months as CEO, Conexant said Artusi will be leaving the company to pursue outside opportunities.
“We are fortunate that an executive of Scott’s caliber and experience has chosen to become Conexant’s next chief executive officer,” said Dwight W. Decker, non-executive chairman of Conexant’s board of directors. “Scott has been a Conexant director for the past five years, so he is intimately familiar with the issues facing our company. I am confident that he will provide the strategic leadership Conexant requires to attain the next level of performance.”
Mercer, 57, will continue as a company director. He serves on the boards of Palm, Inc., Polycom, Inc., Smart Modular Technologies, Inc., and Adaptec, Inc., where he is chairman. In 2005, Mercer was named interim chief executive officer at Adaptec.
Conexant’s portfolio of semiconductor technologies includes products for Internet connectivity, digital imaging, and media processing applications.
More Broadband Direct:
• Judge rules for Comcast in spam case
• SES Americom beefs up HD lineup with Cisco encoders
• JDSU bows latest version of optical tester
• Brix Networks, ADVA Optical Networking hook up devices for Carrier Ethernet deployments
• Comcast adds six HD channels to San Francisco Bay area
