Canoe Ventures has hired David Kelly, previously head of national accounts for A&E Television Networks, as vice president of affiliate relations.
Kelly, who will report to chief financial officer Neil Schaffer, will act as a liaison between Canoe and its owners and also between Canoe "and future distributing affiliates," the company said.
A 17-year cable industry veteran, Kelly joined A&E in 1998. He previously worked at Starz Entertainment as a district manager.
Canoe also Wednesday announced three other appointments, which were previously reported by Multichannel News. Chris Pizzurro was promoted to the newly created role as general manager of VOD solutions and Jonathan Bokor was hired as GM for interactive television solutions. Both report to chief product officer Arthur Orduña. Sanjay Patel joined Canoe as vice president of marketing, reporting to chief marketing officer Vicki Lins.
"The creation of these new roles at Canoe signals the priorities of the company as we move into an exciting new chapter," Canoe CEO Kathy Timko said in a statement. "Canoe continues to attract the most talented people in cable and media, each excited at the opportunity to help make television better for all constituencies."
New York-based Canoe is owned by the six largest U.S. cable operators: Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Cablevision Systems and Bright House Networks.
