34. Getting to the AdPoint

Eric Cooney
Title: President/CEO, Tandberg Television
Age: “Young.”
Years in Industry: “Too many to count.”

Why him? Until Tandberg Television acquired N2 Broadband last year, the video compression headend equipment specialist had focused on the international marketplace and was a non-entity in the U.S. cable market. What a difference an acquisition makes. Acquiring N2 gave Tandberg a new business line—open-platforms for VOD—and a hot product for this side of the Atlantic: AdPoint, a digital ad insertion platform. VOD ads had been “baked in" to each piece of content, which made them almost impossible to keep fresh or customized. AdPoint—the first product of its kind in the cable industry—dynamically places ads in VOD content in real-time. That lure landed a big fish, Comcast Spotlight, in February of this year. Credit Cooney, a former U.S. Naval officer with a Master’s in Engineering who stepped up to his present post in June 2003, with the catch. - SB

What is your favorite word? Vacation
What is your least favorite word? “Sauerkraut. Just does not seem to roll off the tongue.”
What turns you on? “A pint of Young’s double chocolate stout.”
What turns you off? “Time zones. They always put me to sleep or keep me awake.”
What sound do you love? “The silence before I sleep.”
What sound do you hate? “The annoying buzz heard over the loudspeaker before they announce my flight has been delayed.”
What profession other than yours would like to attempt? “Flying a U.S Navy Fighter Jet onto an aircraft carrier. Ever since my days with the U.S Navy, I have always had the desire to fly a high tech fighter and land it on an aircraft carrier.”
What profession would you not like to participate in? “Air traffic controller. I have to give those men and women my highest respects, as the stress must unimaginable.”
If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? “You will no longer need to worry about time zones.”

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