LG’s Noland Hailed as ‘Perfect Candidate’ to Succeed Richer as ATSC President
LG Electronics consultant Madeleine Noland, newly named to succeed Mark Richer as ATSC president, effective May 15 (see 1904040037), will relinquish her post as chair of ATSC’s Technology Group 3, the committee responsible for framing ATSC 3.0, confirmed spokesperson Dave Arland. “Identifying a replacement is in process,” emailed Arland Thursday.
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Named TG3 chair a little more than a year ago (see 1802220051), Noland used the post to defend the robustness and versatility of the 20-book suite of 3.0 standards as they were put to the test in the first market deployments in Phoenix, Dallas and elsewhere. “Given the complexity of the system, I’ve been very pleased with how well the early deployments have gone and how much we got right” in framing the 3.0 standards suite, Noland told a SMPTE webinar last month (see 1903210057).
The timing of Thursday's hiring announcement gives Noland maximum exposure at the NAB Show, where she's scheduled to take part in at least four technical sessions. Two weeks after she takes the president's helm in mid-May, ATSC members will gather at their annual Next Gen TV Broadcast Conference, where they're expected to give Richer a lavish sendoff as he heads toward retirement after a decadeslong ATSC career.
Colleagues in the mostly male ATSC establishment described Noland Thursday as the standout choice to succeed Richer because of her comprehensive 3.0 technical knowledge and passion for the 3.0 work. Several also praised her talent for distilling 3.0 techno jargon into plain English, and for doing so with clever wit. As chair of S34, the ATSC specialist group that wrote the 3.0 video and audio specs, Noland often joked about her anticipated thrill that next-generation TV’s “personalizable sound” feature would someday enable her to listen to the hometown play-by-play call of her beloved Boston Bruins during national network hockey telecasts.
An ATSC search committee picked Noland as “the perfect candidate” from a "sea of highly qualified applicants,” and the ATSC board “unanimously agreed,” said Chairman Lynn Claudy, NAB senior vice president-technology. Noland is “well-known and widely respected for her consensus-building leadership style,” said ATSC. Those traits helped her land the Bernard Lechner Outstanding Contributor Award, ATSC's highest technical honor, in 2016.
Noland’s presidency “begins during an especially important period” for ATSC and the consumer tech industry, said ATSC board member Brian Markwalter, CTA senior vice president-research and standards. "We congratulate Madeleine on her new role and look forward to her leadership," he said. “More consumers now demand anytime/anywhere access to video content, whether that’s on-the-go with smartphones, tablets and laptops or at home on 4K Ultra HD TVs.” The impending 3.0 launch “will help deliver even higher levels of video quality and interactivity,” said Markwalter.
NAB “strongly supports” Noland’s pick as ATSC president, said CEO Gordon Smith. “Her extensive hands-on technical experience coupled with her engaging management style will serve the organization well and ensure strong leadership at this important time in the deployment” of 3.0, he said.