Werner, who will stay as senior technology advisor to the CEO, is succeeded by Charlie Herrin, most recently Comcast's chief product officer.

Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor

March 25, 2021

4 Min Read
Tony Werner steps down as president of Comcast's 'TPX' team

Big changes are underway at Comcast Cable's Technology, Product and Experience (TPX) unit, with word that unit president and longtime Comcast exec Tony Werner has stepped down from that role, but will remain with the company as senior technology advisor to the CEO.

Figure 1: Tony Werner In his new role, Werner will head up cross-company technology innovation, continue to work with industry organizations such as CableLabs and SCTE/ISBE and explore new opportunities with Comcast's vendor partners. (Image source: Comcast) In his new role, Werner will head up cross-company technology innovation, continue to work with industry organizations such as CableLabs and SCTE/ISBE and explore new opportunities with Comcast's vendor partners.
(Image source: Comcast)

Charlie Herrin, most recently EVP and chief product officer at Comcast Cable, is succeeding Werner in the role of president of TPX, the company confirmed to Light Reading.

It's a huge role. Herrin will now oversee the design, development and delivery of Comcast Cable's products and services within the TPX unit, along with the cable business' customer experience, customer service and technical operations teams. TPX designs and develops the X1 entertainment operating system and second-screen apps, and leads up elements such as software development, next-gen access networks, cloud computing and R&D within Comcast.

Figure 2: Charlie Herrin Herrin, Werner's successor at Comcast's TPX unit, most recently oversaw Comcast's product and technology and customer experience teams. Herrin, Werner's successor at Comcast's TPX unit, most recently oversaw Comcast's product and technology and customer experience teams.

In his new role, Werner will no longer handle day-to-day duties for the TPX organization, but will work on cross-company technology innovation, work with industry organizations such as CableLabs and SCTE/ISBE and explore new opportunities with Comcast's vendor partners.

It's not immediately clear if Werner's move, which has him working closely with Comcast Cable CEO Dave Watson, signals Werner's eventual path to retirement. Werner, a cable industry vet and pioneer late of Liberty Global, Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI), Aurora Networks, Qwest and Rogers Communications, joined Comcast as CTO in 2006.

Since then, Werner, who was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame in 2015, has helped to spearhead most of the company's major engineering and technology efforts, including the evolution of Comcast's broadband access network and the development of X1, a cloud-powered video services platform. X1, now syndicated by operators such as Rogers and Cox Communications, has paved the way to Flex, a streaming service/platform targeted to Comcast's broadband-only customers.

Herrin, Werner's successor at TPX, joined Comcast in 1999. In his most recent role as EVP and chief product officer, Herrin oversaw Comcast's product and technology and customer experience teams, focusing on areas such as digital home, entertainment, AI and discovery. Prior to that, Herrin served as chief customer experience officer, and, before that, as SVP of product design and development, where he led the design team behind the X1 platform.

Update: According to an internal announcement from Watson obtained by Light Reading, Comcast Cable also made these additional high-level organization changes:

  • Pertaining to Comcast's consumer business, Bill Connors has been tapped to lead a new organization as president of Xfinity. In that role, Connors, a longtime division president at Comcast, will head up a team responsible for Comcast's consumer business and its customer experience, bringing together the consumer experience, care and technical operations teams led by Tom Karinshak with the existing Xfinity Consumer Services team.

    "Working side-by-side with the talented teams in TPX and the Divisions and Regions, this new operating unit will drive our competitive, growth and revenue strategy, customer journey, digital initiatives, technical fulfillment and data analytics," Watson wrote.

    Watson noted that the structural changes followed the recent appointment of Dana Strong to lead Sky. Strong joined Comcast in 2018 as president of consumer services.

  • Christine Whitaker succeeds Connors as president of Comcast's Central division, reporting to Watson. Whitaker was most recently SVP of finance and administration for Comcast's Northeast Division.

  • Loren Hudson was named SVP and chief diversity officer for Comcast Cable, a newly created role, reporting to Dalila Wilson-Scott, Comcast's corporate chief diversity officer. Hudson most recently was region VP of human resources for Comcast's Beltway and Keystone units.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Jeff Baumgartner

Senior Editor, Light Reading

Jeff Baumgartner is a Senior Editor for Light Reading and is responsible for the day-to-day news coverage and analysis of the cable and video sectors. Follow him on X and LinkedIn.

Baumgartner also served as Site Editor for Light Reading Cable from 2007-2013. In between his two stints at Light Reading, he led tech coverage for Multichannel News and was a regular contributor to Broadcasting + Cable. Baumgartner was named to the 2018 class of the Cable TV Pioneers.

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