The streaming joint venture between Comcast and Charter Communications — which is aiming to create a U.S.-wide aggregated streaming device platform — doesn’t have a name. But now it has a leader: The two cable operators announced Marcien Jenckes, who’s been with Comcast since 2010, will lead the JV.
In the new role, Jenckes will focus on leading the team and developing the business and monetization models, Comcast and Charter said. Jenckes has served as president of advertising for Comcast Cable since 2017. Before that, he was responsible for Comcast Cable’s residential lines of business, including video and internet.
The recently announced Comcast-Charter JV will develop and offer a next-generation streaming platform on a variety of branded 4K streaming devices and smart TVs. Comcast is licensing Flex, its aggregated streaming platform and hardware, to the joint venture and will contribute the XClass TV retail business and Xumo, the ad-supported streaming service it acquired in 2020. Charter will make an initial contribution of $900 million over multiple years. The JV is subject to customary closing conditions and will remain separate from each operator’s cable businesses.
“Marcien has been an outstanding leader within our company for over a decade,” said Dave Watson, CEO of Comcast Cable. “His blend of experience as an entrepreneur, as an expert in improving customers’ entertainment experience, and an innovator in the rapidly changing advertising environment, makes him uniquely qualified to helm this partnership with Charter.”
Tom Rutledge, Charter chairman and CEO, added that Jenckes “has a future-focused view of the landscape, understands the importance of this partnership and is a great choice to lead the joint venture.”
Jenckes has experience working with multiple cooks in the kitchen. In 2019, he led On Addressable, an initiative involving Comcast, Charter and Cox designed to bring additional scale and momentum to addressable TV advertising.
Before joining Comcast, Jenckes was president of the media and content divisions of Grab Networks, an online video syndication network; previously he was CEO of Voxant, which merged with Anystream in 2008 to form Grab Networks. Jenckes also served as SVP of messaging, community and voice at AOL, where he oversaw product lines including AIM and ICQ. He also spent several years at McKinsey and Co. as a member of the consulting firm’s media and telecommunications practice.
