• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, December 14, 2010

Landel Hobbs, an advocate for cable operators' boosting ad sales and a leader in the formation of Canoe Ventures, is stepping down as COO of Time Warner Cable. Hobbs has also overseen TWC's recent emphasis on tiering, where it tries to find ways to market differently to customers based on their usage patterns.

He will be replaced by CFO Robert Marcus, who becomes president-COO. Glenn Britt remains chairman-CEO, but the move puts Marcus in position to take over the country's second-largest cable operator when Britt retires.

Hobbs and Comcast's Steve Burke have helped move Canoe along by converting set-top-boxes in their respective systems to an EBIF-based technology. That has allowed Canoe -- owned by the six largest cable operators -- to offer cable networks the opportunity to sell interactive advertising that can run simultaneously in homes served by both TWC and Comcast.

Hobbs joined TWC in 2001, and Britt stated he has offered "leadership in operations and marketing" as TWC has faced "increased competition and technological change." Much of the competition has come from AT&T and Verizon becoming pay-TV distributors.

As for tiering, TWC recently launched a SignatureHome package targeting consumers who want multi-room DVRs and rocket-speed Internet and attentive service, while also teeing up a service that offers only selected cable channels for a discount price.

Britt said Hobbs' replacement, Marcus, has "strategic insight and clear understanding of consumers." He joined TWC in 2005 as senior executive vice president, a role that included oversight over M&A and programming.