Omnibus Systems doesn't create video content. But the company plays a big role in what you see on television, your mobile phone and elsewhere.

The company, which has its American headquarters in Lakewood and its corporate headquarters in the United Kingdom, uses technology to provide broadcast automation, content management and work-flow solutions for media and entertainment groups.

Mike Oldham became the company's CEO in 2003. He brought the U.S. headquarters to Denver because, he said, "talent transcends geography," and he knew the metro area had "a lot of (people) with roots in the cable business."

Oldham recently sat down at his Lakewood office with Rocky Tech editor Darrell Proctor for a conversation about Omnibus.

1 How would you describe your business?

We provide broadcasting, cable, IPTV and satellite companies with content and management solutions. We're kind of the plumbing of a broadcast operation. We're behind the scenes, providing the infrastructure to help a content provider launch a channel.

2 Where are most of your clients located?

Our customers are all over the world. We've got staff scattered around the world. We have 115 customers in 30 countries, many of them the flagship broadcasters in the country they're in. At any given time we may be launching channels anywhere from Tokyo to Sydney to Johannesburg.

3 How do you help clients reduce their costs?

We've made our name as an innovator. We build most of those components on a standard IT platform. It's much more cost-effective to launch a channel using this approach. Our iTX system is a "channel in a box." It provides the full functionality of a television station with an off-the-shelf H-P server. We allow for companies to repurpose their content on a number of different appliances, like PCs, iPods and mobile phones. The networks create the content, and we give them the tools to use that content in a variety of ways. And by doing it on standard IT platforms, we give content providers lower costs so they can afford to deploy new services or channels.

4 What specifically takes most of your time?

I spend a lot of my time traveling, meeting with customers and staff. Face-to-face communication is still the best way to get things done. My day starts at 5 a.m.; that way I have more overlap with our customers in Europe.

5 If you didn't have this job, what would you like to do?

I'd probably be a ski instructor or a mountain climbing guide. I'm a pretty avid skier and outdoorsman.