Louisville, Colo. – Paul
Liao, CableLabs president and CEO and one-time chief technology officer for
Panasonic North America, notified the
‘
executive committee that he will not look to renew his contract as the
organization’s CEO when the contract expires this December.
An announcement on the decision Friday cited only “personal
reasons” for the decision.
The executive committee agreed to execute a succession plan and
begin the search for a new CEO immediately to ensure a smooth transition prior
to Liao’s departure.
Liao will continue as CableLabs president and CEO during the
transition.
“Although Paul has been with CableLabs for a relatively short
period of time, his contributions have been great and include establishing new
programs that are helping the industry grow its broadband and commercial
businesses, as well as drive cable’s ability to provide services to smart CE
devices using IP technology,” said Glenn Britt, Time Warner Cable chairman and
CEO and chairman of the CableLabs board. “CableLabs continues to provide the
technical expertise and support necessary to enable industry growth at a time
of rapidly changing technology. Building on its past accomplishments, CableLabs
will continue to play this critical role in our industry’s current and future
success.”
“I’ve felt truly honored to be working with a tremendous group of
people, both at CableLabs and throughout the cable industry. With new
technologies emerging every day, it is an extremely exciting time for the cable
industry and specifically for CableLabs. I remain fully committed to the team
at CableLabs and will support the efforts of the Board in its search for my successor,”
said Liao in a statement.
Liao was announced as the successor of Richard Green, who had
been CableLabs’ president and CEO since its inception in 1988, in June of 2009.
He officially started the job in January 2010.
In his 13-year role with Panasonic, Liao had worked closely with
CableLabs in implementing new cable technologies such as CableCARDs (which
evolved into Tru2way) into TV sets and set-top devices. He had recovered from a
serious illness prior to his transition to the CableLabs CEO role.
CableLabs is a non-profit research and development consortium that
works with cable telecommunications technologies to help cable operator members
integrate new technical advancements into their business objectives.
