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Eric Glick
The effort to replace outgoing NCTA president-CEO Decker Anstrom officially kicked into high gear last week as the 48th National Show wound down.
Who would replace Anstrom was one of the white-hot topics attendees discussed in the hallways of the McCormick Place convention center in Chicago last week. For his part, Anstrom lay relatively low, canceling all his speaking engagements and limiting his role to near observer status.
The executive search committee met June 16 and reportedly winnowed down the list of candidates from 10 names to about five. It had been unclear up until the Chicago show which direction the committee - comprised of NCTA executive board members - wanted to go with the search. They reportedly hadn't had a full committee meeting since Anstrom announced his resignation in April because so many MSOs were focused on the National Show.
But even as cable operators streamed into the "Windy City" last week, those in the know were either tight-lipped over Anstrom's replacement or in the dark. The latter seemed to be the case in most instances.
The highly guarded list is said to hold no real surprises, containing the same names that have been circulating for the past six weeks. At the top of the list - according to industry speculation - is Robert Sachs, who was Continental Cablevision Corp.'s top legal representative before MediaOne Group Inc. absorbed the company. Sachs has been running his own consulting business of late and played a key role in the plan to combine NCTA with the smaller Cable Telecommunications Association, which is slated to take place at the end of the summer.
However, Sachs shrugged off rumors that he was a candidate, saying he hadn't been given an offer, at least as of June 15 - which was before the committee met. Sachs also took issue with reports that he's in semi-retirement, pointing out that he works five days a week, dividing his time between consulting and charity work. In fact, sources said he wants to cut back his hours.
Another name that's surfaced is Joe Waz, Comcast Corp.'s SVP-external affairs. But sources close to him quickly dismissed that rumor, saying he prefers to remain in the Philadelphia area, rather than uprooting and heading to Washington, D.C.
While the committee continues its search, certain people have reportedly let it be known that they're available to fill Decker's shoes. Among them: Mike Oxley, a Republican House member from Ohio, who's a ranking member on the House Telecommunications Subcommittee. However, he's a long shot, according to several sources, and he's not likely to appear on the short list because he's not well-known within the industry.
Another name that's cropped up is Thomas Tauke, an ex-congressman who heads up Bell Atlantic-NYNEX Corp.'s lobbying efforts within the Beltway.
Sachs and Tauke may be the most viable candidates for a couple of reasons. According to those following the proceedings, NCTA's board wants Anstrom's replacement to have solid experience lobbying members of Congress and be able to keep abreast of the myriad issues on the Hill.
Once NCTA finds a new president, one of his or her first tasks will be to hire a new EVP to replace June Travis, who departed the trade group earlier this year. Board members and other NCTA insiders say they want that person to have a good deal of cable industry experience, as Travis did.
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