SBCA Board of Directors

Jeffrey H. Blum is Senior Vice-President and Deputy General Counsel of DISH Network L.L.C., overseeing litigation and government affairs in Washington, DC. He has been with DISH, which has approximately 13.8 million TV subscribers, for over 10 years.

Before coming to DISH, Jeff was a partner at the Los Angeles firm of Davis Wright Tremaine, where his practice focused on copyright, First Amendment and anti-piracy litigation. At Davis Wright Tremaine, Jeff co-represented a class of songwriters and music publishers in the Grokster P2P file sharing case, which was decided by the United States Supreme Court in favor of Jeff's clients. The Grokster decision established a new basis for secondary copyright liability, called "inducement liability". Jeff was a part-time lecturer at the University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Journalism from 2003-2005, where he taught "Media Law". He currently serves as Chairman of the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA) and Co-Chairman of hte Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG). Jeff also serves on the boards of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and BUILD Metro DC.

Jeff graduated summa cum laude and first in his class at Boston University School of Law, where he was a Note Editor of the Boston University Law Review. He received his undergraduate degree from McGill University, with a B.A. in History and Classics. After law school, he clerked for Chief Judge Joseph Tauro of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts.

Stacy Fuller is VP, External Affairs for DIRECTV and manages legislative and regulatory issues for DIRECTV at the federal and state level.  Prior to this role, Stacy has worked at AT&T and DIRECTV for over 16 years focusing on video and other issues before the Federal Communications Commission.  Stacy has also worked at the FCC as the media advisor for Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, was an associate at the law firm of Skadden Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, and was Director, Legal Affairs at Discovery Communications.  Ms. Fuller  has a juris doctorate from Emory School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan.   

Hossein Memarsadeghi is the Senior Vice President of Consumer Business Management for the North American Division at Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes). In this capacity, he is responsible for ensuring the successful growth, operation, and P&L for HughesNet® broadband services, the largest satellite broadband network for consumers in the U.S. and the Americas, with over 1.5 million consumer and small business subscribers.

Mr. Memarsadeghi joined Hughes in 1993 as a college intern and has since held a variety of engineering, launch management, program management, service delivery, and business management positions throughout his 27-year career at Hughes. His primary focus in recent years has been launching broadband satellite services for consumer markets.

Mr. Memarsadeghi holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from the University of Maryland, a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Maryland.

Jason Sophinos is the Vice President and Head of the US Residential Business division of Viasat, Inc. (Viasat).  As the Head of Product, Mr. Sophinos is responsible for all products throughout the full customer lifecycle for Viasat’s 500,000+ residential subscribers.  Jason also holds responsibility for managing all of Viasat’s US residential government subsidy programs.

Mr. Sophinos holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the University of Colorado, a Juris Ductorate and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Denver.

Bill Teevens has worked in the satellite business for 22 years. His company, WIREFREE USA/Rapid Choice, provides an array of installation services: commercial, residential, MDU, L&I, security systems, sound systems, AT&T-DIRECTV, DISH, Hughes, and ViaSat.

Bill has an undergraduate degree from University of North Dakota, history and political science and

J.D. Degree from University of North Dakota. 

Bill holds dual citizenship for both the USA and Canada and works along side his business and personal partner, Sue Rutkowski. Bill has 3 children and 10 grandchildren. 

Erin McIlvain is Chief Officer, Distribution and Content Strategy for GAC Media where she oversees the company’s multi-platform distribution strategy for its flagship networks, GAC Family “Stories Well Told” and GAC Living “Life Well Lived.”  Based in GAC Media’s Denver office, McIlvain reports to Bill Abbott, president and chief executive officer of GAC Media. 

Prior to joining GAC Media, McIlvain served as Executive Vice President, Content Strategy and Distribution at Crown Media Family Networks where she was responsible for aligning business development efforts with the distribution of Crown Media’s original content across multiple platforms. Prior to that, McIlvain was Vice President of Broadcast Relations and Programming for Charter Communications where she was responsible for acquiring broadcast, network, VOD, and TVE content for the Nation’s third largest MVPD. In this role, along with other members of Charter’s content acquisition team, McIlvain negotiated numerous retransmission consent agreements and complex multi-platform distribution deals.

Prior to Charter Communications, McIlvain was the vice president of national accounts at Crown Media Family Networks. She was responsible for negotiating and securing contract renewals with all national accounts. Additional responsibilities included management of contract compliance and analysis of new revenue opportunities. McIlvain began her career at DISH Network, negotiating retransmission consent and linear cable network distribution deals. During her tenure at DISH, she received the unique opportunity to work for a start-up subsidiary for six months in Hong Kong.

McIlvain graduated from the University of Colorado with a Bachelor of Arts in History and received a Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver, School of Law. She is a member of the Colorado State Bar. McIlvain resides in Denver with her husband and daughter.

Lang W. McDonald is the Vice President of Broadband Operations and Fulfillment Services at PerfectVision, where he leads the company's Field Services Division. Lang and his team manage the day to day operations of more than 2,000 technicians across all 50 states. Lang has been at the forefront of promoting the PerfectVision message of legendary service built around the four core tenets of Quality, Value, Availability, and Compatibility. The combination of great teammates, analytics skill and his desire to empower channel partners is what enables him to succeed. Having entered our industry over 20 years ago, he has been committed to managing distribution pipelines and creating simple, costeffective solutions for partners and customers across North America. By leveraging performance metrics and continuous improvement techniques, Lang strives to exceed expectations of both his team and clients. Throughout the changes in the marketplace, Lang's greatest breakthroughs came from maintaining a delicate balance among people, product, and profit. Prior to joining PerfectVision, Lang managed Hughes Network Systems' indirect distribution partners, gaining experience in consumer broadband delivery, distributor development, and revenue augmentation. Prior to his work at Hughes, Lang founded the Evelopment Associates where he offered inhouse management consulting to wireless broadband service providers. Lang acted as a partner-in-residence offering strategic consulting on business and sales development, from ideation to execution. By the end of 2007, Lang had established an exclusive partnership with a multi-regional wireless distribution provider, ultimately leading to the acquisition of his company. Throughout his career, he has held senior positions within distribution, as a service provider, and as a retailer, which has given him a unique perspective on connectivity. While raising their twin boys, Lang and his wife Eliena have seen firsthand how important connectivity can be in such a face-paced world. They believe that with broadband connectivity, everyone has the opportunity to learn faster, communicate better, and understand one another.

Stephen Bracy is Vice President & Associate General Counsel at Asurion. Asurion is the largest tech care company in the world, providing protection, repair, installation, and expert support for the critical technology in your life. Mr. Bracy oversees regulatory compliance for Asurion’s carrier, retail, and strategic clients, and advises executives and other team members on a broad range of matters, including strategic decisions and day-to-day legal, regulatory, and operational matters.

Prior to joining Asurion, Mr. Bracy was Vice President & Associate General Counsel at Frontdoor, Inc., as well as Vice President – Legal & Compliance at Brightstar Device Protection, LLC. Mr. Bracy also spent over 15 years in private practice at the AmLaw 50 law firm Alston & Bird, LLP. He most recently served as a board member of the Service Contract Industry Council, a trade group advocating for consumer, home, and vehicle service contract providers nationwide.

Mr. Bracy earned his BSBA degree in Finance (summa cum laude) from Appalachian State University where he was a Chancellor’s Scholar, and his JD degree (cum laude) from University of Georgia School of Law, where he was on the Editorial Board for the Georgia Law Review.