Networks and Stations
>KSTP (St. Paul/Minne-apolis) recently named a new news director. Christopher Berg, news director at the Fox affiliate in Albuquerque, NM, will move from the 49th DMA to the 14th DMA.
>Bostons WGBHs board of trustees has elected Charles Beard II its new chairman. Beard is a partner at the law firm of Foley Hoag LLP and is a nationally recognized expert in cable television regulation and business law. Since 1987, he has served on several WBGH boards, and has been vice chair of the board of trustees since 2001.
Service Providers
>Comcast Cable Communications has announced the promotion of Melanie Sommer to vice president, new product marketing, for the companys eastern division. In her new role, Sommer will oversee development and deployment of new products such as VOD and HDTV, as well as digital cable and high-speed Internet throughout the region.
>Stefan Sonnenfeld, president and managing director of Company 3, has signed a long-term renewal of his contract with the commercial post-production agency. Sonnenfeld, along with co-president Michael Price Pethel, founded Company 3 in 1997.
Manufacturers
>Avid has appointed John Cerquone broadcast account manager. In this position, he will be calling on a list of accounts that primarily consist of all call-letter television stations and station groups in
the Northeast. Cerquone is the founder of CER-TEC, a manufacturers representative firm specializing in the sale of broadcast and professional audio and video products to corporate, broadcast, and production accounts throughout the Northeast.
>Axon Digital Design has appointed Maarten Goossens product manager for the U.S., Canadian, and Central and South American markets. He will work closely with U.S. affiliate Axon Inc. in order to expand Axon Digital Designs presence in that market.
>Kasenna has named Robert Greiner, Jr. to lead business development efforts in its growing cable sales channel. Before joining Kasenna, Greiner spent more than 15 years as an executive in the cable industry, most recently as vice president of North American sales and vice president of business development for Diva Systems Corporation. Prior to that, he served as senior vice president of corporate development for Pico Products, Inc. He was named one of Cable Televisions Top 100 Heavy Hitters in 2000 and 2001.
>Mackie Designs has announced that Frank Loyko has been promoted to senior vice president, sales, worldwide. With this announcement, Paul Rice steps down as the companys senior vice president of international sales and business development. Loyko will assume global responsibility for sales initiatives across all Mackie Designs brands, while Mackies marketing group takes over business development initiatives.
>Sigma Electronics has named George Smith director of engineering. He will be responsible for all product design, engineering, and research. A veteran design engineer with nearly 20 years of experience in software, hardware, and networking, Smith adds even more depth of technical resources and knowledge of end-user needs to the Sigma team.
Obituaries
>J. Michael Brinkman, Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Companys vice president of strategic business development, died in mid-March. He was a 16-year Panasonic employee, and most recently was responsible for Panasonic Broadcasts strategic business development activities. He directed the companys innovative Technology Partnering Program, where he worked with more than 30 of the industrys leading manufacturers to incorporate Panasonics digital compression technologies into their products and systems.
Brinkman was a long-time member of the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE), the International Teleproduction Society (ITS), and a founding member of the Hollywood Post Alliance.
