Tom Rogers, the veteran media and technology executive, is joining Versant as senior adviser.
Rogers will provide counsel on “industry trends, new developments and competitive dynamics,” the company said.
Versant is the name of entity that will be spun off of Comcast later this year. It will include USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel, as well as Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass and SportsEngine.
He was the first president of NBC Cable, launching CNBC and MSNBC, and serving the longest tenure as CEO of TiVo, as it revolutionized TV watching with the DVR and distributed streaming services. Rogers also is a CNBC contributor and appears on MSNBC as editor at large of Newsweek.
Mark Lazarus, the CEO of Versant, said in a statement that Rogers’ “track record of anticipating and driving change in the media business is unmatched. His insights will be invaluable as we continue to build on the success of Versant’s iconic media portfolio.”
Rogers said that Versant “represents a rare opportunity to shape the future of a media company that has already begun to make progress toward the huge opportunity of expanding and developing well beyond the cable realm. Versant possesses both the ambition and agility to be a leader in today’s evolving media landscape.”
