Comcast, 5/2000-2/2006
VP/GM, TargetTV

Recruited from IBM to formulate and head several interactive television (iTV) initiatives, created business plans and executed the strategy of combining two heretofore independent initiatives to create an end-to-end iTV value proposition. Comcast and QVC formulated the joint venture concept that became TargetTV to provide viewership measurement, interactive advertising, and impulse commerce. Created the TargetTV's business and technology strategies. Comcast acquired the Liberty Media (QVC) share of the JV as of 1/1/2005.

• Developed strategic plans and business plans, organized cross-organizational support of initiatives, and generally evangelized enhanced audience measurement, ad & content targeting, and interactive television.
• Developed a portfolio of television commerce, advertising, audio splitting, and viewership measurement technology patents and patent applications (US and international), including authoring "System and Method for Guaranteed Anonymity of Cable Television Viewership Behavior", US application 10/628,173. Wrote Privacy patent application.
• Managed TargetTV through two periods of ownership uncertainty (Comcast acquisition of AT&T and Liberty Media acquisition of QVC), maintaining strong staff commitment and joint venture partner support. Successfully navigated a smooth transition from joint venture to Comcast sole ownership of the entity.
• Initiated deployment of TargetTV's viewership application and launcher into over 120,000 homes in three regions by November, 2002, as a technical trial. Application requires no headend hardware, and consists of sophisticated digital set top box applications and data acquisition and processing capabilities. Collected over 70 transactions/second sustained over 7x24, peaking at over 4,300 transactions in a second. Provides real-time aggregated and anonymous profiled viewership and viewership behavior in one-second intervals for all cable channels.
• Managed development of content (ad) tracking, lead generation, games, surveys, and impulse retailing applications, which, along with the viewership application, are implemented on a variety of digital television platforms, including hardware from Scientific Atlanta and Motorola, and including middleware from PowerTV, Liberate Technologies, and Microsoft. In addition to set top software, extensive backend software, including performance tracking, posting, transaction distribution, interactive offer authoring and audience measurement, has been developed. The systems are incrementally scalable, ultimately to support tens of thousands of messages per second or more.
• Developed a strategy to maintain subscriber privacy, and created the technology to ensure that privacy. Worked with legislative, regulatory, special interest group, public relations, and privacy officers to implement the strategy.
• Managed and prepared requirements definition, technical design, and presentation materials, as well as business plans and budgets. Worked with both QVC and Comcast to coordinate joint venture efforts.

Also participated in numerous QVC and Comcast partner evaluations, trials, and reviews, and served as a primary leader for iTV, enhanced TV, and TV retailing. TargetTV was shut down 2/10/06 as a result of an overall Comcast restructuring.

Click here for more (though obsolete) information about TargetTV.

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