ANT CEO’s shock exit
CEO Simon Woodward has quit ANT, the Cambridge UK digital TV technology company after steering it to global success in his 14 years with the business.
It’s clearly a shock exit rather than a planned, phased departure as the London-quoted company has had to make an interim CEO appointment and call in non-executive directors to provide support.A statement issued to London Stock Exchange early this morning merely stated that Woodward “is leaving the company.” No reason was given for his departure.
FD Pauline Ingram has been appointed as interim CEO. The non-executive directors will support the management team and undertake executive duties until a new CEO is appointed, the company said – adding that “both changes will take place with immediate effect.”
Pauline Ingram was in a management meeting at the Cambridge company when Business Weekly sought an explanation for Woodward’s sudden departure.
The company statement added: “The board would like to thank Simon for his contribution and hard work over the last 14 years and wish him every success for the future,” a statement added.
Woodward has overseen considerable international success for ANT, notably with the Galio platform, and engineered a number of deals in the burgeoning Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV market.
Only recently, Woodward was announcing a landmark HbbTV deal with GlobalSat, a leading Chinese manufacturer of satellite and terrestrial products.
The company has identified the fast growing HbbTV market as a target for its next generation of connected Set-Top Boxes.
GlobalSat deploys a wide range of digital STBs to satellite, terrestrial, cable and IPTV markets. Its devices are deployed across Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, North Africa and Australia.
HbbTV is fast becoming the dominant standard for hybrid TV content in Europe. By 2014 it is estimated there will be 60 million HbbTV compliant TV sets in Western Europe alone.
ANT is a founder and steering group member of the HbbTV Consortium, and this experience combined with its proven product deployment history has given ANT invaluable knowledge of the market.
The ANT Galio HbbTV Platform has been selected and deployed by many of the industry’s leading device manufacturers and SoC (system-on-a-chip) vendors.
