Having Fun Being First
by K.C. Neel -- Multichannel News, 10/12/2008 8:00:00 PM
Richard Green is loath to take credit for making sure the cable industry is on the cutting edge of the technology curve. But industry executives believe his skills, curiosity and personality are why CableLabs has been so successful since it inception 20 years ago and why the cable industry possesses the technological leadership position it does today.
“When we were looking for someone to head up CableLabs, we wanted someone who was into video big time and Dick fit the bill perfectly,” said John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media and one of the CEOs who conceived CableLabs in the 1980s. “Dick has good political skills and that is necessary for an organization that could turn into an ego contest. He's also extremely smart and is a nice guy, too.”
Green convinced cable CEOs that it was time to grow up, Malone said, and he educated them on why that was important and crucial to the industry's overall success going forward.
“Cable had always been an insular business and if we wanted to get into other businesses we needed that mentality,” he said. “Dick doesn't get enough credit for his concern about the industry. He's a huge advocate for the cable industry. CableLabs and Dick helped create an industry out of a balkanized set of cable systems. We would not have been able to compete with ubiquitous industries like satellite or telephone without Dick and CableLabs.”
Green — who recently announced his intention to retire when his current contract expires in December 2009 — is characteristically modest about his contributions. “We took advantage of the changing technological world and built equipment development processes in such a way that assured the operators' bottom line. It took a lot of people to make that happen,” he said.
“I can't take credit for the longevity and cohesiveness of CableLabs,” he continued. “That belongs to the people who work here and the original board. They were very smart people who knew the industry and they realized there were issues that needed addressing. They gave me the blueprints and tools to address those issues. Even before I came along, they knew they had to work together. I was able to follow through with their original vision and I've gotten a lot of help along the way.”
Under Green's leadership, CableLabs has managed key technology developments that have helped the cable industry expand services to include high-speed data delivery and telephony, new business lines that generate $15 billion and $5 billion annually, respectively. The development of the Data over Cable Services Interface Specification (DOCSIS) has resulted in cable's dominance of the high-speed data market in North America and the retail availability of high-speed cable modems.
Before joining CableLabs, Green was senior vice president of broadcast operations and engineering at PBS. He also helped establish the Advanced Television Systems Committee, a multiindustry organization founded to develop national standards for advanced TV. Before that, Green was director of CBS Advanced Television Laboratory. He is currently chairman of SG9, a United Nations signatory committee (ITU-T) charged with the responsibility of recommending worldwide standards for advanced television services.
In his first year of college, Green, who grew up in Colorado Springs, Colo., took a bus to Denver and got his technical license from the Federal Communications Commission. He worked at local radio and TV stations juggling everything from reading the news to handling the music and running the camera. The experience taught him just about every aspect of the broadcasting business and launched his love for the media business that still exists today.
Still, he didn't jump into the TV business right away. After graduating college with a physics degree, Green ended up in the Army conducting classified research, including some of the first experiments with lasers. That work landed him a job at Hughes Aircraft. But his love for the entertainment business eventually led him back into TV, where he managed ABC's video tape production department in the late 1970s.
“Deep in my soul, I am a research physicist with a bent on media. I have developed a love for TV and the entertainment side of the business.”
The CableLabs opportunity was enticing, Green said, because “while I enjoyed my job at PBS. I'm an entrepreneur at heart and being an entrepreneur at PBS is like being an entrepreneur at the post office. The opportunity to work in the lab arena was interesting. But I was really drawn to CableLabs after I read the roadmap created by the cable CEOs; and when I met them, I was hooked. They were interesting, intelligent and some of the smartest technological minds around. I thought the cable plant was a diamond in the rough and where those people were going was where I wanted to be. I have been lucky to work with such a great group of CEOs, from those in the beginning to those on the board today. They knew the industry would be successful and I wanted to be part of that.”
Green is hard put to say what he is most proud of as CableLabs' CEO. “Being asked that question is like asking a parent which of his kids is his favorite,” Green said. “It's a hard, if not impossible, question to answer.”
Still, he looks at several milestones with pride including CableLabs' work to standardize high-definition television, DOCSIS, PacketCable and Tru2way.
“If you asked me what my greatest achievement would be, I would have to say the people of CableLabs,” Green said. “The staff, which have come from inside and outside the cable industry, are the best there is. I am personally quite proud of their achievements and lab results.”
While Green is proud of what CableLabs has accomplished to date, he is far from being satisfied with what the future offers. “It's important for the industry to look out to new and emerging technologies and incorporate them into our business,” Green said. “I would like to spend more time looking further out than we have in the past and develop technologies and business advantages for the industry.”
Green sees encryption and privacy as major issues moving forward, noting that the cable industry currently has a strong track record with protecting consumers' privacy. “But I would like to see us build on that. There are many Web innovations that the cable industry can build on and improve,” he said. “Of course, that's just the tip of the iceberg. I hope I get a chance to participate in what's ahead.”
Green said that's the best thing about research. “It's fun being first. The cable industry has always shown and embraced new technological developments. Many industries don't do that because of cost or disruption. I have been fortunate to be in an industry that sees that innovation is important to business plans. It's really a fun job and a very good job. I've enjoyed every minute of it.”
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