Cox names manager of Las Vegas cable system

A former Las Vegas resident and 1980 UNLV graduate will head Prime Cable in Las Vegas when Atlanta-based Cox Communications Inc. takes it over.

Jill Campbell, 38, vice president of customer operations for Cox in Phoenix, will become vice president and general manager for Cox in Las Vegas when the $1.325 billion deal to acquire Prime Cable of Las Vegas closes. The system will then be renamed Cox Communications of Las Vegas.

A number of regulatory approvals are necessary before the Prime Cable system, presently controlled by the Greenspun family, can be turned over to Cox. In addition, a new franchise agreement is being negotiated between Cox and local governments in Clark County.

Campbell will replace Harris Bass as the top executive for the local cable company. Bass has been with Austin, Texas-based Prime for 18 years. Prime is the Greenspuns' partner in the Las Vegas system.

Bass will stay with Prime and head its operation serving Washington D.C., Northern Virginia and Montgomery County, Md.

"We're sorry to see Harris leave," said Brian Greenspun, president of the Greenspun family's holdings, which include the Las Vegas Sun and the Las Vegas 1 24-hour cable news channel. "He's been a wonderful manager of the cable system and a superb addition to the Las Vegas community. While we're disappointed to see him go, he has a wonderful opportunity at an operation Prime Cable has just recently acquired."

As for Campbell, Greenspun said her return "seems like a classic local-girl-makes-good story," and the community will benefit from her presence.

A graduate of the city's Bishop Gorman High School and UNLV, Campbell also has a masters of business administration degree from Oklahoma City University.

Her career with Cox began in 1982 in Oklahoma City, where she was customer service manager and acting general manager. She later became vice president and general manager of Cox's Bakersfield and Santa Barbara, Calif., operations.

"It was a highly competitive market in Bakersfield and my philosophy is to operate as if I'm knee-deep in competition," Campbell said. "That's how you excel in customer service. You really have to be in tune with what your customers want."

Campbell said the transition from the top position in Bakersfield to the customer operations post in the larger Phoenix market gave her the experience necessary to take charge of the 319,000-subscriber Las Vegas system.

During her career in Bakersfield and Phoenix, Campbell served on the boards of the California and Arizona Cable Television associations. She also was on the boards of the chambers of commerce of Kern County and Santa Barbara County, and Phoenix's Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Her husband, an attorney, is expected to practice law in Nevada.

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