OpenTV Goes CEO-Free
4:15 PM It looks as if Ben Bennett's a free agent UPDATED 5/5 7AM
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:
As you know, on March 26th OpenTV became a private, wholly owned subsidiary of Kudelski SA. Over the last few months we have been working to fully integrate OpenTV with its sister companies such as Nagravision. As a result of the OpenTV 'going private' transaction, we announced a new organization that is aimed at fully integrating OpenTV with Nagravision. I’m confident that this direction provides the right strategic evolution for OpenTV and successfully brings to a close an era in OpenTV’s history as a US public company.
As part of this re-organization, I have decided to step down as CEO of OpenTV. This decision was a difficult one as Andre Kudelski was very gracious in offering a number of alternative roles but after ten years with the company, I feel it is time for me to move on and explore new opportunities. My relationship with Andre Kudelski and the board remains strong and I have committed to remain with the company until October of this year to help manage the transition. After that, I suspect I will take a month or two off before I start looking for new opportunities.
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
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