Jinni Media, an Israeli developer of search and recommendation technology for video content, has officially announced the hiring of cable technology veteran Mike Pohl as CEO.
Pohl has been Jinni's CEO since at least early August, according to a previous announcement from the company.
Previously, Pohl was vice president and general manager of on-demand systems at Arris, which acquired C-COR in 2007. Prior to C-COR, he served as president and CEO of Larry Ellison's nCube and held executive positions at SkyConnect and Douglas Communications.
Pohl, who currently serves on the boards of Ascent Media and BigBand Networks, was the recipient of the NCTA's 2008 Vanguard Awardfor associates and affiliates.
"Mike is respected for his ability to really understand the business ramifications of new technologies," Jinni co-founder and president Yosi Glick said in a statement. "We believe Jinni's holistic approach, combining semantic search, personalized recommendations, and innovative taste profiling, will redefine entertainment discovery. Mike is the perfect choice to help us bring this solution to market."
Jinni's recommendation engine analyzes video content by moods and plots, taking into consideration the "emotional aspects" of choosing a movie, according to the company. It has demonstrated its video-recommendation engine with various partners, including NDS, OpenTV and SeaChange International.
Jinni is based in Yehud, Israel, while Pohl will be based in Portland, Ore.
