Comcast hires for Washington office Ryan Wallach, ex-Willkie Farr, as senior deputy general counsel; and Madura Wijewardena, ex-National Urban League, as senior director-public policy … Common Sense Media hires Joni Lupovitz, ex-FTC, as vice president-policy … Univision Communications promotes Mehul Nagrani to senior vice president-digital operations, new position … Pica8 software defined networks firm elects Michael Splinter, Applied Materials, to board.
Nexstar Broadcasting promotes Eric Thomas to general manager of KLBK-TV (CBS), Lubbock, Texas, and associated digital services … to steering committee of voluntary Set-Top Box Energy Conservation Agreement: Chairman Steve Reynolds, Comcast; Secretary Jeff Dygert, AT&T; Treasurer Steve Dulac, DirecTV … Derek Chang, ex-DirecTV, named managing director of Asia Pacific operations for Scripps Networks Interactive … Resigned from Tessera Technologies board, effective March 1, John Goodrich and Kevin Rivette.
Alcatel-Lucent hires Michel Combes, ex-Vodafone, as CEO, effective April 1, and he'll join board if shareholders approve at May 7 meeting; and Jean Monty, ex-BCE and Nortel, named vice chairman … SES promotes Padraig McCarthy to chief financial officer, replacing Andrew Browne, who’s hired by … O3b as CFO … Lobbying registration: FullCircle GeoSocial Network, Whitmer & Worrall, effective Feb. 1 … Entercom promotes Sean Shannon to vice president/market manager for Sacramento, succeeding John Geary, retired.
NARUC appoints commissioners Larry Landis of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and Nikki Hall of the South Carolina Public Service Commission co-chairs of Washington Action program, replacing NARUC President Philip Jones and Commissioner Kevin Gunn of the Missouri Public Service Commission … Among new members of FirstNet Public Safety Advisory Committee are: Terry Hall, Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International; Jimmy Gianato, Governor’s Homeland Security Advisors Council; Timothy Loewenstein, National Association of Counties; Darryl Ackley, National Association of State Chief Information Officers; Richard Taylor, National Association of State 9-1-1 Administrators; Charlie Sasser, National Association of State Technology Directors; Andrew Afflerbach, NATOA; Fuzzy Fletcher, National Congress of American Indians; Michael Varney, National Council of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators; Scott Somers, National League of Cities; Douglas Aiken, National Public Safety Telecommunications Council … Xand Northeast U.S. data center company promotes Yatish Mishra to president and CEO and adds him to board.
Orrick Herrington hires Rob McKenna, ex-Washington state attorney general, as partner and co-chair-Public Policy Group … SKDKnickerbocker hires Cecelia Prewett, ex-FTC, as senior vice president … Unwired Planet CEO Michael Mulica to leave May 31, will remain on the board … In Fox Broadcasting restructuring of current programming executives, it promotes to senior vice president James Oh for current programming and Shana Waterman for event series & multi-platform programming; Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, formerly with parent company News Corp., named senior vice president for multi-platform programming … Entravision promotes to executive vice president, new positions: at national level David Burke for integrated marketing solutions (IMS); Edward Melendez, IMS-national; and Adriana Pena Ruiz, brand and sales development; and regional IMS vice presidents are Jeff Apodaca for mountain region; David Candelaria, west Texas; Karl Meyer, Western; Chris Moncayo, south Texas; and Rolo Duartes, media executive, hired for Eastern … Penthera Partners, maker of software for moving data between mobile devices and the cloud, hires Melani Griffith, ex-Insight Communications, as executive vice president-business development … Zettics big data mobile analytics firm hires: John Gillespie, ex-IBM and Netezza, as senior vice president-worldwide sales and business development; Mike Crane, ex-Guavus and Grid Net, as vice president-business development; and John Tremblay, ex-NxStage and Verizon Wireless, as vice president-product management … Time Warner promotes Kristie Moomey to TNT and TBS vice president-post production, unscripted programming and digital extensions … NBCUniversal’s mun2 cable network hires Margie Moreno, ex-Imagina US/Promofilm US, as vice president-programming, new position … Journal Communications elects Dean Blythe, ex-Harte-Hanks, to board … Lobbyist registrations: Microsoft, Penn Hill Group, effective Jan. 1 … T-Mobile USA, Shockey Scofield Solutions, effective Feb. 1 … AMC Networks, Glover Park Group, effective Jan. 22 … Sorenson Communications, Van Scoyoc Associates, effective Jan. 1.
Fletcher Heald hires telecom lawyers from Venable: James Troup, as member; and Tony Lee, as of counsel … Viacom promotes in Music and Entertainment Ad Sales group to senior vice presidents: Jeannie Scalzo for music sales, MTV, MTV2, mtvU, VH1, VH1 Classic and Palladia; and Ellen Dominus for entertainment sales, CMT, Comedy Central, Spike and TV Land … Lobbyist registration: Al Jazeera America, DLA Piper … Participant Media hires Craig Parks, ex-Independent Film Channel, as senior vice president-digital & live programming for company’s yet-to-be-named cable network targeting millennials … Aylus Networks mobile video services software provider hires Steve Ball, ex-IBM, as vice president-products … DukeNet Communications high-bandwidth connectivity company hires Mike Taylor, ex-T-Mobile, as vice president-network operations … Visionary Solutions IPTV encoder maker hires Joe Walsh, ex-Fast Forward Video, as vice president-sales.
Rogers Communications President and CEO Nadir Mohamed to retire in January … Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., won’t seek re-election next year … Infonetics Research hires Godfrey Chua, ex-Juniper Networks, as directing analyst-machine to machine and connected world.
Joining Senate Communications Subcommittee are: Democrats Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut; Brian Schatz of Hawaii; and Mo Cowan of Massachusetts; and Republicans Dan Coats of Indiana; Tim Scott of South Carolina; Ted Cruz of Texas; Deb Fischer of Nebraska; and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin … Internet Society President and CEO Lynn St. Amour to leave next February when her contract ends … Lemko Corp. mobile wireless company hires Norman Fekrat, ex-IBM, as chief strategy & revenue officer …
Sen. Mo Cowan, D-Mass., added to Senate Commerce Committee … House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., hires Aaron Cutler, ex-House Commerce Committee, as senior adviser-policy and outreach whose areas include technology policy, replacing Mike Ference … Viacom promotes Jim Kukucka to Nickelodeon Group vice president-West Coast series production … Lobbying registrations: APTS Action for public-TV station advocacy, McDonald Hopkins Government Strategies, effective Feb. 1 … Granite Telecommunications, Capitol Resources, effective Feb. 4 … Entertainment Software Association, Elmendorf Ryan, and Brocade Communications Systems, Efrus Federal Advisors, both effective Jan. 1.
Thompson Coburn hires for new Lobbying & Policy group, all ex-Dow Lohnes Government Strategies: As partners Kenneth Salomon and Christopher Murray, and as senior manager of government affairs Haley Davis; and Kit Bond and John Cullerton, current partners, become members of the group … Tom Rosch, ex-FTC commissioner, rejoins Latham & Watkins as of-counsel in Antitrust & Competition Practice Group … Veria Living hires Joseph Cho, ex-NetCommerce and DB Direct, as vice president-digital, new position … Lobbyist registration: Google’s Motorola Mobility, Mercury Strategies, effective Feb. 1.