Comcast Corp. marketing executive Andy Addis has decided to leave the top U.S. MSO, effective Jan. 14, to pursue other opportunities, a company spokesperson confirmed last week.
Two current marketing executives will have increased responsibilities, and the MSO is still looking for an overall marketing chief, following executive vice president David Watson’s promotion last summer.
Addis, as senior vice president of marketing and new products, was a frequent speaker at industry conferences, spreading Comcast’s gospel of robust free video-on-demand offerings to entice and keep digital-video customers. High-definition TV, digital video recorders and other DTV services also came under his wing.
He joined Comcast in 1996, according to a conference biography.
Addis said in an e-mail message last week that “the changes at the company presented me with the opportunity to choose to either stay or pursue opportunities outside of the company. I’ve chosen to leave. While the [eight] years I’ve been with Comcast have been the most rewarding of my career, I am truly thrilled by the possibilities going forward.”
He said his “ideal situation would be to work for a start-up with a disruptive technology that creates significant value as the media industry careens towards an on-demand world.”
Terry Yu, a marketing senior vice president, will step up to manage the cable video-products business, and the role of vice president of new products marketing Page Thompson will be expanded to vice president and general manager of Comcast’s VOD business.
Comcast also wants to hire a new head of marketing across all product lines.
Last summer, Watson, who had been executive vice president of sales, marketing and customer service, was promoted to executive VP of operations at the MSO.
Asked whether he didn’t get that top marketing job, Addis said it was a “fair question” but that “it really didn’t factor into my decision.”
