Mike Dosch, right, is shown in 2010 with Omnia Audio President Frank Foti, left, and company founder Steve Church.
When people in the business talk about broadcast equipment manufacturer Telos, the name they are most likely to associate with it is that of its founder, Steve Church.
But now Church is letting go of part of his role at the company, which includes the Telos, Omnia, Axia and Linear Acoustic businesses. Mike Dosch has been named the new CEO of the Telos Alliance parent entity.
Dosch, nicknamed Catfish, joined the company about 12 years ago; his current title is president of Axia. Founder Steve Church told the company’s dealers and employees about the change in a letter also posted on its website and sent to trade publications. Prior to Telos, Dosch worked at PR&E, starting as a design engineer and rising to become its COO.
“Mike has been part of our leadership team for many years, since he joined us from PR&E in 1999,” Church wrote. “Back then, Frank [Foti] and I still managed the business personally. After 15 years of running at top speed, I felt I needed a sabbatical to refresh. But Frank was deep in the development process on what would become Omnia-6, and I couldn’t simply leave him with the burden of overseeing daily operations. So we determined that Mike would be my proxy while I travelled.”
Church said Dosch has exerted “a steady hand on the wheel” and taken the company in new directions. “We developed and launched new products, improved our systems and structure and grew the company by setting up new manufacturing operations and steering our marketing outreach.
“Mike’s next step is a natural progression: he will assume the position of chief executive officer, working with Frank, Tim [Carroll] and I in continuing to propel Telos, Omnia, Axia and Linear Acoustic forward.” Church commended Dosch for his role at the Axia division. “The growth of Axia has been stronger than anyone might have expected; that Axia has become one of the most successful startups in broadcast audio is testament to Mike’s skill.”
Church wrote that he had intended to return to his base in Cleveland but became entranced by Riga, Latvia, where he has spent much of his time over the past decade.
His announcement intimated that he will remain involved in the company’s business, though he acknowledged he is “passing the baton” and the letter has something of a valedictory tone:
“We’re more successful than I could ever have imagined while building hybrids in my Cleveland kitchen back in 1985. Telos has become such a large operation, in fact, that invention must constantly vie with business for my attention — and of the two, I prefer the former.”
Mike Dosch told Radio World that Church “has some ideas for a new product for a non-broadcast market. He’s been dreaming about this for years and the technology has finally advanced to the point at which the concept can be realized. We are figuring out now how to organize a development effort around this idea.” Church was the recipient of NAB’s Radio Engineering Achievement Award in 2010.
Read Church’s letter here (PDF).
