• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, January 27, 2010

Canoe Ventures, which plans to double its staff this year, named a long-time HBO executive as senior vice president and general counsel Wednesday. John Redpath, most recently at the United States Golf Association, joins the closely watched company, which is looking to launch advanced advertising opportunities on cable networks.

Redpath worked at HBO in various capacities from 1978 through 2002, including as general counsel. He was chief legal officer at the USGA. He has also served in the top legal post at Time Inc.

Redpath will report to CEO David Verklin at Canoe. Verklin stated that Redpath "brings a wealth of experience and relationships that are critical to Canoe as we introduce new products, drive collaboration and roll out innovative technologies into the television ecosystem."

Canoe, which is owned by the six largest cable operators, is looking to expand its staff from about 70 to the 140 range in 2010, a company spokeswoman has said.

The company is aiming to take an interactive advertising product to market this spring, where it will look for cable networks to license the technology. The networks presumably would then entice advertisers with opportunities where, for example, viewers could watch a spot for a product and be able to request a coupon for it or that a free sample be sent to them, all with a few clicks of the remote.

The iTV ads would run simultaneously in homes served by those six cable operators: Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Charter, Cablevision and Bright House.