DirecTV Inc. executive vice president of sales and marketing Bill Casamo
has resigned, the company announced Thursday. Casamo was also president of
DirecTV Merchandising.
Casamo's resignation accompanies a restructuring of DirecTV's top management
team. Larry Chapman was named acting executive vice president of marketing and
advertising. Chapman will report to Austin, who will also directly oversee the
DirecTV sales organization.
Chief financial officer Bob Meyers will serve as acting vice president of
customer satisfaction, overseeing a newly-formed customer satisfaction
organization at DirecTV. In his new role, Meyers will be responsible for
customer service operations, the company's Home Services Network installation
group and DirecTV's move to a lease model. Senior vice president of business
management Mike Palkovic has been appointed CFO.
Early last week, DirecTV acknowledged that its customer churn had risen
higher than the company had been anticipating earlier in the year.
'The competitive marketplace has changed dramatically since we launched
DirecTV seven years ago, and we face new challenges,' DirecTV chairman Eddy
Hartenstein said in a press release. 'I'm confident that our actions today will
help get us back on track and ensure our continued leadership and
competitiveness in the marketplace.' Several weeks ago, former DirecTV president
Odie Donald left the company.
In an earnings call last week, Austin said that management changes would be
imminent.
Casamo joined DirecTV in 1997, stepping into shoes filled earlier in the
DirecTV roll-out by Steve St. Marie, who oversaw advertising and marketing, and
Jim Ramo, who was responsible for sales.
Under Casamo's tenure, DirecTV's subscriber base grew
from less than three million to more than 10 million, Hartenstein said in a
press release. DirecTV is conducting a search for Casamo's replacement, a
spokesman said.
