Charlie Vogt has stepped down as Chief Executive of Imagine Communications.

Vogt, who has led the playout, ad management and distribution vendor since July 2013, has been replaced by Tom Cotney.

Cotney served as General Manager of the Communications Sector at IBM Global Services and has been a CEO and board member for a number of privately held companies. Most recently, he held the position of Chief Executive of enterprise mobile messaging software firm mBlox.

Vogt has taken a position as Senior Advisor at The Gores Group, which completed its acquisition of Imagine Communications in February 2013.

He has been tasked with continuing to drive mergers and acquisitions and business development activities at Imagine.

According to a statement, the two executives will work closely to continue the momentum and growth at Imagine Communications while also ensuring a seamless leadership transition. 

Imagine communications versio gui

Imagine Communications: Versio

“Over the past four years, Imagine has transformed the media industry by becoming the first company to deliver on its vision of an all IP/cloud network for playout and master control,” said Alec Gores, Founder, Chairman and CEO of The Gores Group.

“I want to acknowledge and personally thank Charlie for his leadership in driving this massive transformation and placing Imagine’s technology at the forefront of the industry. Sharing our vision of where the industry is heading, Tom is uniquely qualified to build on this momentum and I welcome him in his new role.”

Cotney said: “I am excited about the opportunity to lead Imagine to the next level.

Tom cotney

Tom Cotney

“Business models in transformation have become the norm in almost every company today. I can’t thank Charlie and the team enough for building Imagine into one of the market leading, long-term players in this industry.”

Vogt added: “Imagine Communications could not be better positioned than we are today to take market-share across the ad management, playout, networking and distribution markets, particularly as we continue to guide the industry transition to IP and the cloud. 

“We are pacing to have our best quarter of the year, and Friday we signed a strategic Advertising Management System contract to accelerate the emerging ATSC 3.0 multi-services market. I look forward to supporting Tom Cotney is his new role in an advisory capacity at The Gores Group and believe he will be able to fuel Imagine’s continued expansion and innovation.”