4:15 PM -- OpenTV Corp. is without a CEO -- and apparently intends to keep it that way now that the middleware and set-top apps firm has essentially become a product branch of the Kudelski Group empire. (See Kudelski Completes OpenTV Buy and Kudelski Wants Its OpenTV .)

The OpenTV Website notes that former CEO Ben Bennett held that slot through March 2010 but adds that he still serves on the company's board.

But it does look as if Bennett has moved into free agency, or will be doing so soon. Two sources say Bennett is still consulting with OpenTV for an undetermined period. An OpenTV official confirmed that Bennett had stepped down as CEO but was checking to see what role (if any) he's still playing there on a day-to-day basis.

Update: OpenTV supplied a statement from Bennett that goes into why he decided to step down as CEO, how long he'll be helping out during the transition, and what he'll be looking at next:

OpenTV did confirm that Alex Osadzinski, EVP and director of digital TV product at Kudelski, has stepped in to take over some functions previously handled by Bennett now that OpenTV has been folded into Kudelski's DTV organization.

OpenTV offered further clarification on this point, noting that the company is being integrated within Kudelski "along functional lines" that include sales, product, and legal and other aspects, and reporting to Kudelski executive managers, with Osadzinski being one of them.

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable