UHDA Won't Seek Replacement for Departing President, Who Details Challenges
Mike Fidler had no “preconceptions” about how long he would stay when he became UHD Alliance president in summer 2017 and didn’t foresee then taking on “a long-term role,” he told us now. The Sony and Pioneer veteran stepped down…
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last week (see personals section, Jan. 28 issue). UHDA won’t seek a replacement, Chairman Michael Zink, Warner Bros. vice president-technology, emailed the board last Tuesday. Zink is adding the president title. Fidler thinks most of what UHDA “set out to do” under his watch, “we really met,” he told us. “We were able to complete the initiatives we put focus on, including Filmmaker Mode and the work we were doing on interoperability.” Fidler regrets that COVID-19 inhibited UHDA from “getting out in front of people," as “with something like Filmmaker Mode, it would have been advantageous to be able to really effectively promote it by seeing it, demonstrating it. That was very difficult, if not impossible." Fidler in hindsight “thought we could get more traction with manufacturers and retailers” on the Ultra HD Premium logo: “That’s a disappointment.” The group's website lists 32 current members, including Amazon and Qualcomm. Founders including Disney and Netflix are gone, while AT&T bought DirecTV and Warner after UHDA's formation and doesn't now belong to the organization.