Altice USA tapped longtime Comcast executive Dennis Mathew to take over as CEO next month, as current chief Dexter Goei transitions to a new role as Executive Chairman of the Board effective October 3.
Mathew has spent more than 17 years at Comcast, holding a range of positions including Executive Director of Xfinity Home Product Management and VP and GM of Xfinity Home. He was appointed to lead Comcast’s Western New England Region in 2019, overseeing 1,600 employees and operations across Connecticut, western Massachusetts, Vermont, Western New Hampshire and New York. Most recently, he served as SVP of Comcast’s Freedom Region, which includes about 3,000 employees and two million customers across New Jersey, northern Delaware and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
“I am honored to accept the role of CEO at this important juncture for Altice USA,” Mathew said in a statement. “As Altice USA advances its position as a converged fixed and wireless player, I see immense potential to further connect with and serve customers in new ways while elevating the company as the connectivity provider of choice."
Altice USA said in a press release it began searching for a new CEO after Goei disclosed his family’s plans to move to Europe. But Recon Analytics founder Roger Entner noted in comments to Fierce that the transition also comes amid ongoing struggles at Altice.
Goei has led Altice USA since June 2016. While he “was the vision behind putting all the assets together” from Cablevision, Suddenlink, Morris Broadband and Service Electric Cable TV in New Jersey, Entner said Altice USA has recently run into “significant problems” that Goei hasn’t been able to fix. For example, the company lost 40,000 broadband subscribers in Q2 and Goei confirmed Altice has been considering the sale of its Suddenlink assets as a means to generate value for shareholders.
“Comcast is an extremely well-run company, they’re very successful,” Entner said. “If Altice can institute best practices from Comcast then that’s a great thing.”
Asked whether Comcast should be concerned about losing Mathew, Entner said no. In fact, he tipped the transition to bring about increased cooperation between Altice USA and Comcast along the same lines as the latter’s collaborations with Charter Communications on mobile and streaming.
In a statement reflecting on his departure, Goei said “leading Altice USA has been the most rewarding experience in my career,” adding “I could not be prouder of what we have accomplished together thanks to the leadership team and the thousands of dedicated employees across the country.”