CINCINNATI,March13,2019 — GatesAir, a global leader in wireless, over-the-air content delivery solutions for radio and TV broadcasters, has strengthened its North American sales team with the appointment of Charles Sotto as Regional Sales Manager for the Southeast U.S. territory, effective immediately. Covering seven states plus Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, Sotto brings three decades of industry and entrepreneurial experience to his new role, including sales and business development roles with Sony and Harris, the company from which GatesAir was born. Sotto will be based in Florida and report to Mark Goins, Senior Director, North American Sales.
Sotto joins GatesAir at a time of active business growth for the company in the United States, driven largely by the GatesAir’s market-leading share of TV spectrum repack business. Sotto sees a wealth of opportunities to help TV and radio broadcasters reduce their utility costs and maintenance activities with GatesAir’s high-efficiency transmitter designs. He is also bullish about helping GatesAir customers transition their audio contribution and distribution systems, including studio-to-transmitter links (STL), to IP as broadcasters migrate from T1 and other more expensive circuit-based links.
“The broadcast industry has made significant progress in going green and reducing its collective carbon footprint, and GatesAir has been a pioneer in this movement for transmission systems,” said Sotto. “I see tremendous opportunity to help new and current GatesAir customerstransition to our more electrically-efficient Maxiva TV and Flexiva radio transmitters, reducing operating costs and labor associated with maintaining the infrastructure. Furthermore, the Intraplex range of intelligent networking solutions has matured to serve some very diverse and interesting applications at a time when broadcasters are more comfortable using IP as a primary transport method. The innovative entrepreneurship driving GatesAir also very much strengthens the future vision of the company. It’s an exciting time to rejoin GatesAir family.”
Sotto spent several years with Harris Broadcast in the early 2000s as National Accounts Manager for Broadcast Systems and Special Markets, where he focused on complex projects for large commercial and government customers. Prior to joining Harris Broadcast, he spent 10 years at Sony as a Major Account Manager in Los Angeles focusing on studio, post-product and broadcast accounts. He was directly involved in many large-scale and technically intricate projects while at Sony, including the launch of DIRECTV as a direct-to-home satellite provider in the United States, Latin America and Japan.
“Charles brings a rare mix of customer relationship skills and technical expertise that will benefit both GatesAir and our customer base throughout his region,” said Goins. “Broadcast is a service-driven industry, and his human touch will play a big role in his success, particularly in the Southeast where we will continue to see robust and exciting business opportunities for years to come. We are proud to welcome Charles to the GatesAir team.”
About GatesAir
GatesAir, Inc., a portfolio company of The Gores Group, provides complete solutions for over-the-air radio and television broadcasting, leveraging wireless spectrum to maximize performance for multichannel, mission-critical services. Powering over-the-air networks worldwide with unparalleled reliability for nearly 100 years, GatesAir’s turnkey solutions enable broadcasters to create, transport and transmit radio and TV content. With customers in more than 185 countries, the company leads the industry in innovation and design breakthroughs, improving efficiency and reducing total cost of ownership with all products designed and assembled in the USA. Visit www.gatesair.com for more information, Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/gatesair, and follow us on Twitter at @GatesAir.
About The Gores Group
The Gores Group, founded in 1987 by Alec Gores, is a global investment firm focused on acquiring controlling interests in mature and growing businesses which can benefit from the firm's operating experience and flexible capital base. The firm combines the operational expertise and detailed due diligence capabilities of a strategic buyer with the seasoned M&A team of a traditional financial buyer. Over its 30-year history, The Gores Group has become a leading investor having demonstrated a reliable track record of creating value in its portfolio companies alongside management. Headquartered in Los Angeles, The Gores Group maintains offices in Boulder, CO, and London. For more information, please visit http://www.gores.com.
