OpenTV Confirms Ben Bennett as CEO

Had Been Acting CEO, COO Since Alan Guggenheim Resigned Last August

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/10/2008 3:10:00 PM

Set-top software supplier OpenTV announced that Ben Bennett, who has served as acting CEO and chief operating officer since Alan Guggenheim stepped down as CEO last August, was officially appointed CEO by the company's board.

Bennett has been with San Francisco-based OpenTV since March 2000, and he has served as managing director for its European operations, overseeing operations and relationships with European network operators, broadcasters and set-top-box and conditional-access manufacturers, as well as senior vice president and general manager of OpenTV's worldwide professional services, consulting and support group, managing the company's product-deployment and integration teams in the United States, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

"Since his appointment as acting chief executive officer, Ben has demonstrated strong leadership skills and has focused OpenTV on growing its core businesses of middleware and advanced advertising solutions and realigning its organization to achieve its goal of sustainable profitability," said Andre Kudelski, executive chairman of OpenTV, in a statement. "The board of directors has full confidence in Ben and believes he is the right person to lead the company forward."

OpenTV, controlled by Swiss conditional-access giant Kudelski Group , recently posted improved financial results for the fourth quarter and full 2007 fiscal year, growing Q4 revenues by 52% compared with 2006, from $25.1 million to $38.2 million, and cutting its loss for the year in half, from $10.8 million in 2006 to $5.2 million, or $0.04 per share, in 2007.

The company's software is now deployed on some 100 million set-tops and digital TVs for customers including News Corp., EchoStar Communications and Liberty Global.

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