Grass Valley Appoints Mike Cronk as Senior Vice President of Marketing

	Mike Cronk, Grass Valley

Grass Valley announces the appointment of Mike Cronk as senior vice president of marketing. Effective immediately, Cronk will have overall responsibility for product roadmap and strategy. Based at the company's office in Hillsboro, Oregon, Cronk brings a wealth of industry experience to the role, and is returning to Grass Valley having spent nearly 20 years with the company between 1989 and 2008.

"As our customers revitalize their operations they are increasingly asking us to help them become more efficient and productive. We are committed to meeting their expectations, today and always, with the best solutions delivery and vision in the industry," said Tim Thorsteinson, president and CEO, Grass Valley. "Mike has the experience and the industry knowledge to enable us to set the bar for excellence and will be a valuable member of our management team. I am delighted to welcome Mike back to Grass Valley."

While previously at Grass Valley, the company says Cronk was instrumental in repositioning the company and in identifying strategic acquisitions such as Vibrint, Inc. from which Grass Valley grew within the news business.

After leaving Grass Valley in 2008, Cronk founded and served as CEO for Nmera, LLC, a lighting company which competed and won accounts from established competitors at end-users such as Google. More recently, he has served clients as owner of Streamside Consulting, LLC. Cronk holds both bachelor and master's degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"This is a dynamic and exciting time in the television industry. Now more than ever it is imperative that we at Grass Valley continue our long tradition of listening to customers to bring technically innovative solutions to market" added Cronk. "I'm thrilled to be contributing to that process again."

Current chief marketing officer Graham Sharp, will leave Grass Valley at the end of March to return to his consulting business. He will continue to work closely with Grass Valley, providing guidance on strategy and corporate development.

"I would like to extend my thanks to Graham Sharp for his contributions to developing Grass Valley's strategy and marketing over the past few years," added Thorsteinson.