The American Cable Association has named Comcast Corp. veteran Robert Shema as its vice president and chief operating officer, newly created posts.
Before joining the ACA, Pittsburgh native Shema spent eight years at Comcast in various job positions. His duties included working on acquisitions, corporate affairs, regulatory issues and programming negotiations.
Most recently, Shema worked in Pittsburgh as Comcast’s regional senior director of government and community affairs.
He will report to ACA CEO Matt Polka.
“With Rob on board, I know the ACA can deliver even more value to our members as we continue to strengthen the vital role they play in the cable industry,” Polka said in a prepared statement.
Shema will focus on communications, operations and policy issues for the ACA. That will permit Polka to concentrate on key areas such as programming costs, media consolidation, retransmission consent and the 109th Congress’s possible re-examination of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
“Because of the ACA’s increasing activities and successes, we knew we had to find a person who would be able to contribute immediately,” Jim Gleason, ACA chairman and president of New Wave Communications, said in a prepared statement.
“Rob’s experience and deep knowledge of the industry will assist Matt and the rest of the ACA team as we expand the role and influence of the independent cable operator in Washington, D.C., and in the cable industry,” Gleason added.
The ACA is a lobbying group for small operators that has almost 1,100 member companies with more than 8 million subscribers.
“It will be a privilege to work with our members -- people who have built and continue to define an entire industry,” Shema said in a prepared statement.
