December 1, 2008

CableFAX: 40. Cable’s Futurist: Dick Green

Dick Green
Title: CEO, CableLabs
Age: I’m trying to remember
Education: PhD, Astrophysics

Why Him? Virtually every technical innovation within cable TV, from broadband data and voice to VOD and HD, plus the emerging interactive services, can be traced to CableLabs in Louisville, CO, chiefly funded by dues from member cable operators. Green has been leading CableLabs as CEO since the whole thing began, in 1988. Along the way he has collected a 1999 Vanguard Award and was a 2008 inductee into the Cable Hall of Fame. Behind his personal warmth and ready smile, Green lives and breathes cable technology. Projects on his plate include research, testing and in some cases certification of DOCSIS cable modems, PacketCable two-way multimedia services, OpenCable plug-and-play set-tops, VOD metadata, Cable Information Services (CIS) and advanced interactive advertising. Each is critical to cable’s competitiveness.

Worth Watching: With Green’s Dec ’09 retirement, will CableLabs remain independent or merge with another organization like NCTA?

Year Ahead:
Before retirement, Green is aiming for widespread industry adoption of DOCSIS 3.0 and tru2way.

Favorite TV Show: Monk

Last Book Read: The Trouble With Physics by Lee Smolin

Fave Part of My Job: The people

Best Business Advice Received: Cable is a capital-intensive business.

KF

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