RealNetworks, Inc. has rearranged the cards in its executive hand, announcing that Senior Vice President Richard Cohen has assumed responsibility for the Company’s consumer business replacing Thomas Frank, who previously ran the consumer business as part of his role as chief operating officer. Frank stated that his decision was a personal decision.
In ancillary moves, Susan Coskey has joined the company as Vice President of Human Resources and Peter Jackson signs on as Chief Consultant for Wireless and Mobile Technology.
In his expanded role, Cohen will oversee all facets of the Company’s consumer business, including the development and distribution of RealPlayer, RealJukebox and the Company’s other consumer software products, as well as the GoldPass Internet media subscription program, the Company’s media programming and Web site properties, and related advertising sales.
Cohen joined RealNetworks in October with more than a decade of experience running large worldwide media businesses. Most recently, he spent more than six years at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he served as President of Home Entertainment and Consumer Products. Cohen also oversaw product licensing and merchandising of MGM properties, and most recently headed all of the studio’s new media initiatives. Prior to his work at MGM, Cohen spent six years with the Walt Disney Company managing its home video division and overseeing the videocassette and laser disc release of all Disney, Touchstone, and Hollywood Pictures films worldwide.
“Richard has been creating and leading innovative and world-class media businesses for years, and that’s why I was excited when he joined our team,” said Rob Glaser, CEO and founder of RealNetworks, Inc. “He is a great fit for this new role and I look forward to having him drive our consumer business. Complementing Richard in his expanded role will be Phil Barrett, our senior VP of Consumer Products, who has been at the core of the Company’s development efforts since virtually our founding in 1994.”
Susan Coskey comes to RealNetworks from the law firm of Garvey Schubert, & Barer, where she was a principal and the former chair of the Labor & Employment Practice Group. At Garvey Schubert, & Barer, Coskey worked extensively with management clients primarily in the areas of labor and employment, including advising clients on day-to-day employment matters and long-term employment strategies and practices, drafting and enforcing employment and non-competition agreements, negotiating and enforcing collective bargaining agreements and litigating employment disputes. She also regularly created and conducted management and employee training programs both locally and nationally. Coskey recently was identified as one of the “Super Lawyers 2000” by Washington Law & Politics magazine.
“We were looking for someone with insight, energy and ability to build a world-class work environment at RealNetworks and we found that person in Susan Coskey,” said Rob Glaser, CEO of RealNetworks, Inc. “Given her proven record of achievement, and the impact Susan has already made in her first days here, I have no doubt that her role in the growth of the company and its corporate culture will be invaluable.”
Coskey is currently a member of the Labor Law and Litigation Sections of the American Bar Association and the Employment Sections of the California and King County Bar Associations. Prior to joining Garvey Schubert & Barer, Coskey practiced law in Washington, D.C., both in the private sector and as counsel to the House Judiciary Subcommittee of Courts, Intellectual Property and the Administration of Justice. Coskey holds a B.A. in History from Stanford University, and a J.D. and M.B.A. from University of California at Los Angeles (Order of the Coif). She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management.
As Chief Consultant for Wireless and Mobile Technology, Peter Jack
son will work closely with Len Jordan, senior vice president and head of RealNetworks’ consumer appliances division, to deploy Internet media delivery solutions in current and next generation wireless devices.
“One of our company’s core objectives is to enable consumers to enjoy Internet media whenever and wherever they want it,” said Rob Glaser, founder and CEO, RealNetworks, Inc. “Peter’s depth of experience in wireless and mobile technology will be a great asset as RealNetworks extends its leadership into this burgeoning sector.”
Jackson joins RealNetworks from Qualcomm, where he served as Vice President of Technology and the Globalstar program. At Qualcomm, where Jackson worked for more than five years, he was responsible for the development of technologies including third generation Internet multimedia applications, advanced voice codecs, voice-over Internet protocols, and third generation satellites. Jackson also held senior management positions with DSC Communications Corporation, SBC Technology Resources Laboratories and Nortel Networks. At Bell Laboratories, where he began his career, Jackson’s studies of multi-access computer communications and data communications network designs helped lead to the design of packet networks and the Internet. Jackson holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Duke University.
Separately, RealNetworks confirmed that ScreamingMedia Under the terms of the alliance, ScreamingMedia’s newly released software SiteWareXE(TM), a fully flexible, scalable, enterprise-level version of ScreamingMedia’s content solutions technology, will be integrated into RBN’s suite of business applications for radio broadcasters. In addition, ScreamingMedia will sell packages of customized digital content, from ScreamingMedia’s digital content network of 3,000 publications from around the world, directly to the radio broadcasters in RBN. The integration of ScreamingMedia SiteWareXE will power the publication and management of this customized digital content. will deliver its end-to-end digital content solution to help enable RealNetworks’ comprehensive Internet broadcasting solution, which was announced yesterday.
