In the 1970s, Dolly Parton and her band toured for weeks at a time. The schedule was grueling and had everyone living out of a bus. While it wasn’t easy, members of Parton’s band said they couldn’t have been traveling with a better person. Her former guitarist shared what it was like to tour with Parton.
Dolly Parton’s band said touring with her was very enjoyable
Parton worked with her Traveling Family Band for a time, hiring siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles to join her on the road. Not every member of her band was related to her, though. Guitarist Tom Rutledge, who was not a member of the Parton family, said he never felt like an outsider.
“eing the kind of person she is, in an effort to keep those of us who weren’t family members from feeling like we were second-class citizens, she...
Dolly Parton’s band said touring with her was very enjoyable
Parton worked with her Traveling Family Band for a time, hiring siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles to join her on the road. Not every member of her band was related to her, though. Guitarist Tom Rutledge, who was not a member of the Parton family, said he never felt like an outsider.
“eing the kind of person she is, in an effort to keep those of us who weren’t family members from feeling like we were second-class citizens, she...
- 6/7/2024
- by Emma McKee
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
When Dolly Parton played concerts in the 1970s, she won the audience over with jokes and banter that was, according to her guitarist, often pre-written. She repeated the same jokes to her band show after show. While these lines got a laugh from a fresh audience, her band members began to tire of them. Tom Rutledge, her guitarist, said he could scarcely listen back to a recording of one concert.
Dolly Parton’s guitarist cringed when he listened to one of her concerts
In between songs during her concerts, Parton chatted to her audience and band members. The jokes were often, as a New York Times critic put it, “appallingly corny.” Rutledge said they were typically only funny when they went off-script.
“One of the rare cases when I remember anything funny happening on the stage is when Randy [Parton] screwed up [a key] line,” Rutledge said in the book Dolly by Alanna Nash.
Dolly Parton’s guitarist cringed when he listened to one of her concerts
In between songs during her concerts, Parton chatted to her audience and band members. The jokes were often, as a New York Times critic put it, “appallingly corny.” Rutledge said they were typically only funny when they went off-script.
“One of the rare cases when I remember anything funny happening on the stage is when Randy [Parton] screwed up [a key] line,” Rutledge said in the book Dolly by Alanna Nash.
- 6/6/2024
- by Emma McKee
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
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Cable giant Charter Communications, in which John Malone’s Liberty Broadband owns a big stake, reported its third-quarter results Friday, including slowed broadband subscriber growth and a bigger pay TV user loss than in the year-ago period.
The company, led by chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge, lost 204,000 pay TV subscribers in its latest quarter, compared with a loss of 121,000 in the year-ago period. It ended September with a total of 15.29 million pay TV customers.
Charter’s broadband user growth in the third quarter slowed as it added 75,000 customers after gaining 265,000 in the year-ago period. It ended the third quarter with nearly 30.33 million broadband subscribers. On Thursday, Charter had reported that its broadband user base grew by 14,000 in the latest quarter.
Charter also added 396,000 mobile phone lines in the third quarter, compared with 244,000 additions in the year-ago period. It ended September with nearly 4.68 million total mobile lines.
Cable giant Charter Communications, in which John Malone’s Liberty Broadband owns a big stake, reported its third-quarter results Friday, including slowed broadband subscriber growth and a bigger pay TV user loss than in the year-ago period.
The company, led by chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge, lost 204,000 pay TV subscribers in its latest quarter, compared with a loss of 121,000 in the year-ago period. It ended September with a total of 15.29 million pay TV customers.
Charter’s broadband user growth in the third quarter slowed as it added 75,000 customers after gaining 265,000 in the year-ago period. It ended the third quarter with nearly 30.33 million broadband subscribers. On Thursday, Charter had reported that its broadband user base grew by 14,000 in the latest quarter.
Charter also added 396,000 mobile phone lines in the third quarter, compared with 244,000 additions in the year-ago period. It ended September with nearly 4.68 million total mobile lines.
- 10/28/2022
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Charter Communications followed Comcast’s uneven financial report on Thursday with its own mixed batch of results, which featured an unusual decline in broadband subscribers but also key metrics above Wall Street expectations.
Revenue increased 6 to 13.6 billion, edging Wall Street analysts’ consensus forecast of 13.4 billion. Earnings per share of 8.80 far outpaced the Street view of 6.89.
Like other pay-tv operators, the company continues to shed residential video customers, dropping 240,000 in the quarter to settle below 14.9 million. But the internet trends stood out in the quarterly report, with the number of residential customers declining by 42,000, compared with a gain of 365,000 in the year-ago quarter.
Charter said it many of the customer unpluggings stemmed from the wind-down of the Emergency Broadband Benefit program and additional requirements of the Affordable Connectivity Program. Without those factored in, the company said there had been organic growth of 38,000 customers.
Analysts zeroed in on broadband throughout the Charter...
Revenue increased 6 to 13.6 billion, edging Wall Street analysts’ consensus forecast of 13.4 billion. Earnings per share of 8.80 far outpaced the Street view of 6.89.
Like other pay-tv operators, the company continues to shed residential video customers, dropping 240,000 in the quarter to settle below 14.9 million. But the internet trends stood out in the quarterly report, with the number of residential customers declining by 42,000, compared with a gain of 365,000 in the year-ago quarter.
Charter said it many of the customer unpluggings stemmed from the wind-down of the Emergency Broadband Benefit program and additional requirements of the Affordable Connectivity Program. Without those factored in, the company said there had been organic growth of 38,000 customers.
Analysts zeroed in on broadband throughout the Charter...
- 7/29/2022
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Cable giant Charter Communications, in which John Malone’s Liberty Broadband owns a big stake, reported its second-quarter results, including latest subscriber trends, on Friday.
The company, led by chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge, lost 226,000 pay TV subscribers in its latest quarter, compared with a loss of 50,000 in the year-ago period.
Charter’s broadband user growth turned into a decline in the second quarter as it lost 21,000 customers after gaining 400,000 in the year-ago period.
Rutledge, during a morning analyst call, commented on the company navigating a recessionary threat to the domestic economy and its impact on consumer spending. “We remain well positioned, with growth driven by offering value-rich packages that differentiate us from our competition with prices that customers can afford, regardless of the economic environment,” he said.
Cable, mobile and broadband Internet providers have faced consumers and small and medium sized businesses...
Cable giant Charter Communications, in which John Malone’s Liberty Broadband owns a big stake, reported its second-quarter results, including latest subscriber trends, on Friday.
The company, led by chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge, lost 226,000 pay TV subscribers in its latest quarter, compared with a loss of 50,000 in the year-ago period.
Charter’s broadband user growth turned into a decline in the second quarter as it lost 21,000 customers after gaining 400,000 in the year-ago period.
Rutledge, during a morning analyst call, commented on the company navigating a recessionary threat to the domestic economy and its impact on consumer spending. “We remain well positioned, with growth driven by offering value-rich packages that differentiate us from our competition with prices that customers can afford, regardless of the economic environment,” he said.
Cable, mobile and broadband Internet providers have faced consumers and small and medium sized businesses...
- 7/29/2022
- by Georg Szalai and Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Charter Communications and Comcast Corporation have announced Marcien Jenckes will lead their recently announced streaming platform joint venture.
Jenckes will focus on leading the team and developing the business and monetization models, the companies said in a joint release.
“Marcien has been an outstanding leader within our company for over a decade,” Dave Watson, CEO of Comcast Cable, said in a statement. “His blend of experience as an entrepreneur, as an expert in improving customers’ entertainment experience, and an innovator in the rapidly changing advertising environment, makes him uniquely qualified to helm this partnership with Charter.”
“Marcien has emerged as a leading voice within the media industry,” Tom Rutledge, Charter Chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “He has a future-focused view of the landscape, understands the importance of this partnership and is a great choice to lead the joint venture.”
Prior to his new role, Jenckes was president of advertising for Comcast cable.
Jenckes will focus on leading the team and developing the business and monetization models, the companies said in a joint release.
“Marcien has been an outstanding leader within our company for over a decade,” Dave Watson, CEO of Comcast Cable, said in a statement. “His blend of experience as an entrepreneur, as an expert in improving customers’ entertainment experience, and an innovator in the rapidly changing advertising environment, makes him uniquely qualified to helm this partnership with Charter.”
“Marcien has emerged as a leading voice within the media industry,” Tom Rutledge, Charter Chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “He has a future-focused view of the landscape, understands the importance of this partnership and is a great choice to lead the joint venture.”
Prior to his new role, Jenckes was president of advertising for Comcast cable.
- 5/12/2022
- by Jolie Lash
- The Wrap
Charter Communications CEO Tom Rutledge sees the pay-tv bundle continuing to shrink because it has been “priced out of the market” during the streaming era. But video will remain a key part of the company’s strategy.
“Live TV will continue to be sold in a linear package for a significant period of time,” he said during an online session today at Morgan Stanley’s annual Technology, Media & Telecom conference. “There are a lot of customers and users who enjoy that experience. But it is being priced out of the market in many ways and the new streaming and on-demand products really haven’t been successful from a linear perspective yet. Obviously they’re gaining some traction in the marketplace.”
Charter bucked the trend in 2020 and actually added a small number of video customers, Rutledge noted. It has been the No. 2 U.S. cable operator after Comcast, reaching about 16 million video subscribers.
“Live TV will continue to be sold in a linear package for a significant period of time,” he said during an online session today at Morgan Stanley’s annual Technology, Media & Telecom conference. “There are a lot of customers and users who enjoy that experience. But it is being priced out of the market in many ways and the new streaming and on-demand products really haven’t been successful from a linear perspective yet. Obviously they’re gaining some traction in the marketplace.”
Charter bucked the trend in 2020 and actually added a small number of video customers, Rutledge noted. It has been the No. 2 U.S. cable operator after Comcast, reaching about 16 million video subscribers.
- 3/2/2021
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Sports fans love to turn on the TV and watch baseball, football or hockey. Now they are monitoring a game of a different sort: a marathon ping-pong between cable and satellite distributors, sports networks and big-league sports organizations over who, if anyone, should get money back when live matches have been scuttled by a global pandemic.
The issue has been bubbling for weeks, with both the NBA and NHL suspending current seasons and Major League Baseball delaying its Opening Day until – well, that’s not clear. These games command big money. A 2019 report from Kagan, a market-research firm that is part of S&p Global Market Intelligence, estimated that sports programming brought in $18.55 per cable or satellite subscriber per month in fees – 22.1% of average revenue per user .That figure has surged since 2009, when sports programming captured 14.1%, according to Kagan.
On Wednesday, the debate spilled into the public sphere, when Letitia James,...
The issue has been bubbling for weeks, with both the NBA and NHL suspending current seasons and Major League Baseball delaying its Opening Day until – well, that’s not clear. These games command big money. A 2019 report from Kagan, a market-research firm that is part of S&p Global Market Intelligence, estimated that sports programming brought in $18.55 per cable or satellite subscriber per month in fees – 22.1% of average revenue per user .That figure has surged since 2009, when sports programming captured 14.1%, according to Kagan.
On Wednesday, the debate spilled into the public sphere, when Letitia James,...
- 5/4/2020
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Don’t look for Liberty Media Chairman John Malone to add a cable company to his own portfolio. Although he believes the industry is ripe for consolidation, it’s “unlikely that we would participate in buying stakes in other cable companies other than helping Charter,” CEO Greg Maffei told analysts today. Liberty owns about 27% of Charter, and has been eyeing merger deals with companies including Time Warner Cable, Cox, and Cablevision. Maffei didn’t rule out a hostile deal, although he’d clearly prefer one to be friendly. “I don’t think we’re making a hard statement about where our future lies,” he says. “Ultimately you have to reach some kind of consensus.” He also echoed Charter CEO Tom Rutledge who said earlier today that he’s interested in a merger, but doesn’t consider it a must. A deal “may come to pass. It may not,” Maffei says.
- 8/6/2013
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor
- Deadline TV
Charter CEO Tom Rutledge indicated to analysts this morning that he’s intrigued by opportunities to consolidate. But he didn’t provide the details they wanted about what he and his largest shareholder, Liberty Media’s John Malone, are doing to make something happen with potential targets including Time Warner Cable, Cox, or Cablevision. Charter can be successful as it is, but “potentially, with the right deal, [we could] be even more successful,” Rutledge says. Charter will “continue to be disciplined about M&A opportunities when and if they arise.” Rutledge also sidestepped a question about how large Charter would have to become in order to significantly reduce outlays to cable networks, which typically offer their best rates to their biggest customers. “If you have a certain scale you have a certain leverage in programming negotiations,” Rutledge said although “how big you need to be is a difficult question to answer.” Independent...
- 8/6/2013
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor
- Deadline TV
You can’t attribute the 9.4% increase in Cablevision‘s share price today — and 23% jump over the last five days — to the day’s only solid news: Charter just closed the deal announced in February to pay $1.63B for Cablevision’s systems in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah. No, investors are more excited by new reports that the Dolan family — led by Cablevision founder Charles Dolan and his son, CEO Jim Dolan — may finally be willing to sell the company, and that Time Warner Cable as well as Charter want to kick the tires. TWC has long salivated to combine its crown jewel cable system in Manhattan with Cablevision’s franchises in New York’s outer boroughs and suburbs including Long Island. Up to now, the Dolans haven’t been interested. The family tried to take the company private in 2007, but shareholders rejected the offer. Cablevision’s stock took a roller-coaster...
- 7/1/2013
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
Charter Communications and John Malone's Liberty Media have reached a definitive agreement for the latter to acquire a stake of approximately 27.3 percent in Charter. Story: Charter Shares Up on Reports of Liberty Media's Interest The price tag amounts to $2.617 billion, or $95.50 per share, the companies said Tuesday. Liberty expects to fund the purchase of the stake in Charter, which is led by CEO Tom Rutledge, a former COO of Cablevision Systems, with a combination of cash on hand and new loans. It will acquire stock currently held by investment firms Apollo Management, Crestview Partners
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- 3/19/2013
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The cable company’s stock is up 8.4% after The Wall Street Journal said that John Malone’s Liberty Media is “nearing” a deal to pay close to $2.5B for the equity. If correct, then it would mark Malone’s return to the U.S. cable business — which he left in 1999 when he sold Tele-Communications Inc to At&T. It also may indicate that Charter CEO Tom Rutledge harbors big ambitions for the No. 8 cable company with 4M subscribers. Charter recently paid $1.63B for cable systems that Cablevision owned in several Rocky Mountain states and lately has figured in some speculation that it may try to buy Cablevision itself — where Rutledge formerly served as COO. Liberty could afford the deal “if it sold some of its non-core public equity stakes” such as stakes in Time Warner, Time Warner Cable and Viacom, Lazard Capital Markets’ Barton Crockett says. With Malone’s history...
- 3/18/2013
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
I suspect investors will be more interested today in hearing about Charter’s plans for the Rocky Mountain cable systems it’s buying from Cablevision. And that may suit management just fine: Charter reports that it had a $40M loss at year end, a 40% improvement from its loss in 2011, on revenues of $1.9B, +4.3%. Revenues were right on target with analysts’ expectations. But the loss per share, at 41 cents, was worse than the 28 cents the Street anticipated. Charter says that it had to shell out $26M more for programming than it did at the end of 2011, contributing to a 5.8% increase in costs and expenses. Outlays for property, plant and equipment also increased 37% to $449M as part of CEO Tom Rutledge’s campaign to upgrade the broadband network and customers’ set top boxes. Still, the company lost 36,000 video customers from the previous quarter, lowering the total to 3.99M. The highly lucrative Internet...
- 2/22/2013
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
Charter Communications has struck a deal to acquire Cablevision's Optimum West holdings in four Western states for $1.625 billion in cash, the companies announced Thursday. Optimum West, under the Cablevision subsidiary Bresnan Broadband Holdings, manages cable operating systems in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah, servicing 660,000 homes with 304,000 video subscribers and 366,000 customers. "These former Bresnan properties operate in growing communities, and the network, employees and customer base have been well served for many years," Tom Rutledge, Charter's President and CEO, said in a statement. "Optimum West is an ideal fit...
- 2/7/2013
- by Alexander C. Kaufman
- The Wrap
On Tuesday I told you that something big was afoot at Charter Communications. Now we know: CEO Tom Rutledge has agreed to buy a collection of Cablevision’s cable systems in the Rocky Mountain states that he used to manage when he was COO of the Long Island-based company. He left at the end of 2011. Cablevision paid $1.4B for the systems, formerly known as Bresnan Communications, in 2010. But it said in November that it was considering selling the operation. The systems in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah have 304,000 video subscribers. Rutledge calls them “some of the fastest growing cable assets in the United States.” Cablevision shares were up 5.6% today as word of a possible deal began to spread. Charter was down just 0.5%. Here’s the release: Stamford, Connecticut – February 7, 2013 – Charter Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: Chtr) (“Charter”) and Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: Cvc) announced today that they have entered into a definitive...
- 2/7/2013
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
A lot of Wall Streeters believe that something important is in the works. The cable company’s shares are up 5% in afternoon trading amid talk that it’s gearing up for a deal with a larger company — possibly either Time Warner Cable or Cox. Word has it that Charter just froze all budgets including hiring at its new headquarters in Stamford, Ct. The company won’t confirm or deny. Yesterday Charter said it hired a Wall Street vet to handle M&A: Charles Fisher is the new Svp for corporate finance. He was a Senior Managing Director with Guggenheim Securities, and led the media investment banking practice at Nomura Securities. Charter also hired former Credit Suisse analyst Stefan Anninger to be VP of investor relations. The timing seems a little odd: Former Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge became CEO just a year ago, and is in the middle of moving top...
- 2/5/2013
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
On an earnings call with analysts, Cablevision CEO James Dolan confirmed that the company is exploring a sale for Optimum West, its cable service that serves some 360,000 customers in the Western U.S. states of Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah. Optimum West is a service built from the former Bresnan Communications, which Cablevision purchased for $1.4 billion in 2010. At the time of the purchase, the acquisition signaled expanding horizons for Cablevision, which has much of its operations based in the Northeast. The acquisition of Bresnan was largely credited to ex-coo Tom Rutledge, who became CEO
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- 11/6/2012
- by Eriq Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The new sales effort puts a spotlight on Kristin Dolan, who’s Cablevision‘s senior Evp Product Management and Marketing — and also happens to be the wife of CEO Jim Dolan, and a member of the boards of Cablevision, AMC Networks, and Madison Square Garden. A long-time Cablevision employee, she formally took charge of Cablevision’s image machine last November. But analysts noted that her power at the company grew early this year as several top execs left, including COO Tom Rutledge and Marketing Evp Jonathan Hargis. (Both are now at Charter Communications.) Btig analyst Rich Greenflield said in March that Jim Dolan decided to take control of operations because he blamed the old guard for allowing the company to lose ”both its technology and marketing edge.” Marketing is especially important for Cablevision. It faces stiff competition from Verizon FiOS in many of its systems in the tri-state area around New York.
- 9/6/2012
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
Most companies help newly hired top execs to relocate themselves and their families to live near the company headquarters. But it looks like Charter Communications CEO Tom Rutledge would prefer to relocate the top echelon of the St. Louis-based company to his stomping grounds in or around New York City. The cable company said today it will open an office in the New York metro area later this year “to house a limited number of senior executives” including “some direct reports and staff of the relocated executives.” Charter says St. Louis will continue to have “most of the functions currently performed” there. And there’ll be no changes at Charter’s corporate office in Denver. Before joining Charter in February, Rutledge was an executive at Cablevision and Time Warner Cable — both based in the New York area. Also joining him in NYC will be COO John Bickham and Chief Marketing Officer Jonathan Hargis,...
- 6/4/2012
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
“Cablevision is witnessing one of the most dramatic and rapid management turnovers we have ever witnessed in our coverage of the media universe,” says Btig analyst Rich Greenfield — Wall Street’s fiercest critic of the company and its strong-willed CEO Jim Dolan. Greenfield commented after the Long Island-based cable operator announced that David Klein is leaving as head of Cablevision Media Sales, to be replaced by Gregory McCastle, who was with At&T. The move follows the exit of COO Tom Rutledge (now CEO of Charter), CFO Mike Huseby (who just became CFO of Barnes & Noble), President of Cable Operations John Bickham, Cmo Jon Hargis, Corporate Engineering Evp Jim Blackley, and Consumer Operations Evp Kip Mayo. Greenflield says that Dolan is taking control of operations because he blames the old guard for allowing the company to lose ”both its technology and marketing edge.” The problem? “We simply do not have...
- 3/20/2012
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
Cablevision CEO Jim Dolan likely will be on the hot seat today as investors look for clues about his priorities after the recent departure of COO Tom Rutledge, now CEO of Charter. But Dolan at least won’t have to apologize for his company’s Q4 results. It ended the year with net earings of $60.5M, down 46.9% — although last year included $40.2M from AMC Networks, which was spun off — on revenues of $1.69B, up 7.3%. The revenue figure is slightly ahead of the $1.68B that analysts expected. Earnings at 22 cents a share are a penny shy of the 23 cents the Street forecast. The cable company’s video unit lost 14,000 customers in the quarter, ending the year with 3.25M, which is better than some analysts forecast. But, like most cable operators, Cablevision more than compensated with a 31,000 increase in broadband customers, to nearly 3M, and 31,000 phone subscribers, to 2.36M. “We remain confident...
- 2/28/2012
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
New York - Cablevision Systems on Tuesday reported lower fourth-quarter earnings as it lost video subscribers and had a loss on a debt extinguishment. The cable operator, controlled by the Dolan family, posted a quarterly profit of $60.6 million, compared with $113.9 million in the year-ago period. The company also cited $3.7 million in executive separation costs from the fourth-quarter departures of some key executives, including former COO Tom Rutledge. The loss on extinguishment of debt was for costs related to financing transactions that successfully extended the company's debt maturities. Revenue rose 7.3
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- 2/28/2012
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It will be interesting to see whether investors cut Charter a break today as its new CEO Tom Rutledge discusses the cable company’s worse than expected Q4 earnings report. Charter reported a net loss of $67M, down from the $85M loss in the period a year ago, on revenues of $1.83B, up 2.8%. The revenue figure is exactly where the Street expected. But the adjusted net loss, at 63 cents a share, far exceeded the 32 cent loss that analysts forecast. Charter says that its programming costs rose $31M due to increased payments to the channels it already carried and the addition of HD and new services including the NFL Network. Even so, the number of video subscribers fell by 45,500 in the quarter, to about 4.1M. Charter notes that the drop is an improvement over the last three months of 2010 when it lost 62,200 video customers. And, like most cable companies, Charter’s...
- 2/27/2012
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
New York - The new CEO of Charter Communications on Monday told analysts that "this is a great company with even greater potential" as the cable operator reported a fourth-quarter loss that was virtually unchanged amid a slight revenue gain. "I'm excited about the year ahead, and I believe there is significant opportunity for growth here," said Charter's new president and CEO Tom Rutledge, the former COO of Cablevision Systems, who has been in his job for two weeks, on the firm's quarterly earnings conference call. "My focus will be on ensuring that the fundamentals of taking care of
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- 2/27/2012
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
New York - Btig analyst Richard Greenfield on Tuesday downgraded his stock rating on cable operator Cablevision Systems from "buy" to "neutral" in an acerbic note. "We screwed up sticking to our 'buy' rating, now it’s time for [CEO] Jim Dolan to fess up,” he wrote. Greenfield suggested that some conflict between Dolan and former COO Tom Rutledge, who last week announced his surprise departure and on Monday emerged as new CEO of Charter Communications, must have rattled the company. "We have long-held that the Dolans never got the respect they deserved for hiring Tom Rutledge," Greenfield wrote. "However, the
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- 12/20/2011
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cablevision Shares Plummet After COO’s Surprise Resignation That was quick. Just days after Tom Rutledge shocked the cable industry by leaving Cablevision, he has emerged as CEO of Charter. The No. 4 cable operator is still struggling to regain its momentum since 2009 when it emerged from bankruptcy protection. That’s been tough because many of Charter’s systems are in rural areas where satellite companies are popular. But Charter’s focused effort to build its broadband business, and make needed upgrades to its systems, has enabled it to outperform many of its cable industry peers. Charter shares are up 3.4% in after hours trading, recovering from the 3.3% drop during the day. Here’s the company’s release: St. Louis, Dec. 19, 2011 — Charter Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: Chtr) (“Charter” or the “Company”) today announced that its Board of Directors has concluded its previously announced CEO search process and appointed Thomas M. Rutledge as President and Chief Executive Officer.
- 12/19/2011
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
New York - Shares of Cablevision Systems took a big hit in early Friday trading after the Long Island-based cable operator announced the surprise resignation of COO Tom Rutledge late Thursday. As of 10am Et, the stock was down 13.9 percent at $11.99 after earlier hitting a 52-week low of $11.86. Over the past year, the stock has traded as high as $27.60. Miller Tabak analyst David Joyce downgraded Cablevision's stock from "buy" to "neutral" and cut his short-term price target to $15 from $22. Barclays Capital analyst James Ratcliffe called Rutledge's departure after
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- 12/16/2011
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
You can have your pick of rumors this morning about why COO Tom Rutledge suddenly decided to leave — and what it means for Cablevision’s future. Maybe he had a falling out with Charles and Jim Dolan, who control the No. 7 cable operator (including Verizon and At&T in the pack). Maybe Rutledge got a better offer to run Charter. Maybe the Dolans decided to try again to take Cablevision private — or to sell the company, logically to Time Warner Cable considering how many adjoining systems the companies have in the New York area. But since nobody really knows, investors are left to fear that the departure of one of the industry’s most respected operators means there’s trouble ahead: Cablevision shares opened down 13%. If that holds, then it would shave about $506M from the company’s market value and take the stock to its lowest point in more than two years.
- 12/16/2011
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
This is a big, big deal for Cablevision. Tom Rutledge is considered one of the best operators in the cable business — a level-headed guy and fierce competitor who’s equally comfortable handling questions about technology, finance, and marketing. Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett recently called Rutledge “arguably the most valuable executive in the cable industry.” That matters because investors also consider Rutledge to be a firewall protecting them from the craziness that always seems to surround Cablevision’s owners, the families of Charlies and Jim Dolan. The Dolans can’t afford to let investors wonder whether Cablevision’s going back to the days when it was paralyzed by family infighting and disastrous deals like the one Charles pushed to back the Voom collection of HD channels. Rutledge also is leaving just as some analysts wonder whether Cablevision’s best days are behind it: The stock price is down nearly 59% this...
- 12/15/2011
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
New York - Cablevision Systems said Thursday that COO Tom Rutledge has told the company that he will resign later this month. Cablevision said it has an experienced senior management team in place, but has commenced a search for an executive to oversee the cable operations. A former Time Warner Cable top executive, Rutledge joined Cablevision, controlled by the Dolan family, in 2002 as president of cable and communications. He became COO in 2004, assuming additional responsibilities for Cablevision’s Rainbow Media, which is now a separate public company called AMC Networks, Newsday and other businesses. “Everything I hoped for when I
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- 12/15/2011
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Update, 8:05 Am: The stock is down more than 13% in early trading, with the decline accelerating after the company’s conference call with analysts. CEO Jim Dolan acknowledged that “not all of our results in the quarter are where we want” — which he says is due in part to the decline in housing growth. But COO Tom Rutledge also said that programming is “the single biggest cost item that we have,” and the company is grappling with new retransmission consent payments to TV stations. “We’re absorbing the collapse of the broadcast industry business model,” he says. For now, the company is waiting to see whether the FCC will do something to help tame those rising costs. It’s also promoting a higher-priced video-phone-broadband package that features faster-than-average Internet speeds. Analysts for the most part see the 3Q results as a mixed bag — with lower earnings than they envisioned but also lower-than-expected subscriber losses.
- 10/28/2011
- by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor
- Deadline TV
New York – Cablevision Systems on Wednesday said it lost 35,000 basic cable subscribers in the fourth quarter due to its big program fee showdown with News Corp./Fox late last year.
However, quarterly profit jumped 45 percent amid revenue growth and a recent acquisition.
The basic subscriber losses in the latest quarter, before accounting for the addition of subscribers from the recent acquisition, were well above the loss of 2,800 recorded in the fourth quarter of 2009 and 24,500 in the third quarter. Wall Street analysts had on average looked for losses of about 11,000. "Subscriber losses of 35,000...were the worst since the launch of [Verizon's] FiOS," said Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett.
The cable operator had an intense retransmission fee showdown with News Corp. late in 2010, which led to a temporary program blackout in Cablevision homes, and the company has also faced competition from telecom video providers. “We think that almost all of the decreased sales or disconnects…...
However, quarterly profit jumped 45 percent amid revenue growth and a recent acquisition.
The basic subscriber losses in the latest quarter, before accounting for the addition of subscribers from the recent acquisition, were well above the loss of 2,800 recorded in the fourth quarter of 2009 and 24,500 in the third quarter. Wall Street analysts had on average looked for losses of about 11,000. "Subscriber losses of 35,000...were the worst since the launch of [Verizon's] FiOS," said Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett.
The cable operator had an intense retransmission fee showdown with News Corp. late in 2010, which led to a temporary program blackout in Cablevision homes, and the company has also faced competition from telecom video providers. “We think that almost all of the decreased sales or disconnects…...
- 2/16/2011
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
New York -- Cablevision Systems has agreed to acquire privately held cable operator Bresnan Communications in a deal valued at $1.365 billion, the companies said Monday.
Bresnan, majority-owned by private equity firm Providence Equity Partners with cable giant Comcast Corp. holding a 30% stake, is the nation's thirteenth-largest cable company and is focused in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah. It serves more than 300,000 basic cable subscribers and has been on the block in an auction that reportedly also drew the interest of other cable and investment firms and John Malone via media services firm Ascent Media.
Cablevision owners the Dolan family had long-running ties with Bresnan founder and cable pioneer Bill Bresnan who died in November.
Amid market chatter about Cablevision's interest, some analysts have in recent days called on the company to buy back stock rather than buying Bresnan. The Dolans have been known to make acquisitions that are unpopular with investors,...
Bresnan, majority-owned by private equity firm Providence Equity Partners with cable giant Comcast Corp. holding a 30% stake, is the nation's thirteenth-largest cable company and is focused in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah. It serves more than 300,000 basic cable subscribers and has been on the block in an auction that reportedly also drew the interest of other cable and investment firms and John Malone via media services firm Ascent Media.
Cablevision owners the Dolan family had long-running ties with Bresnan founder and cable pioneer Bill Bresnan who died in November.
Amid market chatter about Cablevision's interest, some analysts have in recent days called on the company to buy back stock rather than buying Bresnan. The Dolans have been known to make acquisitions that are unpopular with investors,...
- 6/14/2010
- by By Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
New York -- Two major U.S. cable operators on Thursday reported better first quarter-financials driven by customer gains, especially in advanced cable services, and higher advertising revenue, among other things.
Cablevision Systems posted a first-quarter profit of $74.2 million, up from $21.0 million in the year-ago period, on a 5.2% revenue gain to $1.75 billion.
Meanwhile, Charter Communications gained further momentum after emerging from bankruptcy late last year. The company swung to a $24 million profit in the first quarter from a year-ago loss of $205 million, helped particularly by lower interest expense and tax benefits. Revenue rose 4.5% to $1.74 billion.
Advertising revenue for cable operators have been on the rise this year across the board, and Thursday's results fit into the trend.
Charter reported a 9.3% ad gain, and Cablevision recorded even a 35.1% jump.
In addition, Cablevision's cable networks also brought in more advertising. AMC, We tv and IFC reported an 11.6% increase. The Rainbow programming...
Cablevision Systems posted a first-quarter profit of $74.2 million, up from $21.0 million in the year-ago period, on a 5.2% revenue gain to $1.75 billion.
Meanwhile, Charter Communications gained further momentum after emerging from bankruptcy late last year. The company swung to a $24 million profit in the first quarter from a year-ago loss of $205 million, helped particularly by lower interest expense and tax benefits. Revenue rose 4.5% to $1.74 billion.
Advertising revenue for cable operators have been on the rise this year across the board, and Thursday's results fit into the trend.
Charter reported a 9.3% ad gain, and Cablevision recorded even a 35.1% jump.
In addition, Cablevision's cable networks also brought in more advertising. AMC, We tv and IFC reported an 11.6% increase. The Rainbow programming...
- 5/6/2010
- by By Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
New York -- Cable operator Cablevision Systems swung to a fourth-quarter profit on higher revenue and lower restructuring expenses and other drags on the bottom line, including a year-ago charge at newspaper Newsday.
On a conference call, COO Tom Rutledge said Cablevision plans to start rolling out its much-discussed network DVR to all households in April and expects to stop buying physical DVRs late in the year. Studios and TV networks had opposed the network DVR.
The cable company on Thursday posted a profit of $78.6 million, compared with a loss of $332.2 million in the year-ago period. For all of 2009, Cablevision recorded a profit of $285.6 million, compared with a 2008 loss of $228.1 million.
Revenue rose 5% to $2.15 billion in the quarter and 7.5% to $7.77 billion for the year.
The cable firm lost 2,800 basic cable subscribers in the latest quarter, ending 2009 with 3.06 million, but continued to add digital video, broadband and telephony customers.
Overall, revenue...
On a conference call, COO Tom Rutledge said Cablevision plans to start rolling out its much-discussed network DVR to all households in April and expects to stop buying physical DVRs late in the year. Studios and TV networks had opposed the network DVR.
The cable company on Thursday posted a profit of $78.6 million, compared with a loss of $332.2 million in the year-ago period. For all of 2009, Cablevision recorded a profit of $285.6 million, compared with a 2008 loss of $228.1 million.
Revenue rose 5% to $2.15 billion in the quarter and 7.5% to $7.77 billion for the year.
The cable firm lost 2,800 basic cable subscribers in the latest quarter, ending 2009 with 3.06 million, but continued to add digital video, broadband and telephony customers.
Overall, revenue...
- 2/25/2010
- by By Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
New York -- Cablevision Systems has promoted company veteran Charles Schueler to the post of executive vp, communications and community relations.
Schueler, who has been at the company for more than two decades, will continue to serve as Cablevision's chief communications contact and strategist, as well as primary spokesperson. He has oversight over all communications, media relations, community affairs and philanthropic activities and reports to COO Tom Rutledge.
His previous title was senior vp, media and community relations.
Schueler, who has been at the company for more than two decades, will continue to serve as Cablevision's chief communications contact and strategist, as well as primary spokesperson. He has oversight over all communications, media relations, community affairs and philanthropic activities and reports to COO Tom Rutledge.
His previous title was senior vp, media and community relations.
- 2/2/2010
- by By Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Liberty Media's board has approved a new employment arrangement with president and CEO Greg Maffei that will keep him in the position through 2014.
"We are very pleased to have secured Greg's leadership at Liberty Media for the next five years," said chairman John Malone. "Liberty has accomplished much in the four years since Greg joined, efficiently liquidating passive investments, completing transactions that have transformed the company, setting us on a good course for the future and delivering substantial shareholder value."
Malone said that during Maffei's tenure, Liberty's stocks have "significantly outperformed the broader market and our media peers."
Said Maffei: "Liberty has tremendous brands and assets that are well positioned for the future."
Cablevision Systems on Thursday unveiled new employment agreements with president and CEO James Dolan, vice chairman Hank Ratner and COO Tom Rutledge that keep them in their posts through Dec. 31, 2014. Industry observers had speculated whether Rutledge,...
"We are very pleased to have secured Greg's leadership at Liberty Media for the next five years," said chairman John Malone. "Liberty has accomplished much in the four years since Greg joined, efficiently liquidating passive investments, completing transactions that have transformed the company, setting us on a good course for the future and delivering substantial shareholder value."
Malone said that during Maffei's tenure, Liberty's stocks have "significantly outperformed the broader market and our media peers."
Said Maffei: "Liberty has tremendous brands and assets that are well positioned for the future."
Cablevision Systems on Thursday unveiled new employment agreements with president and CEO James Dolan, vice chairman Hank Ratner and COO Tom Rutledge that keep them in their posts through Dec. 31, 2014. Industry observers had speculated whether Rutledge,...
- 12/23/2009
- by By Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
New York -- Cablevision Systems said Wednesday it has named Tad Smith president, local media, effective Sept. 1. Reed Elsevier recently announced a replacement for Smith in his most recent post as U.S. CEO of the information provider's business-to-business arm Reed Business Information.
Smith will oversee a newly created Local Media group, which Cablevision said it is establishing "to more effectively organize its local media and programming assets under one business unit."
The unit includes Newsday Media Group, News 12 Networks and other programming and interactive ventures the company said it is developing.
Smith will report to Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge.
"For the past decade, Tad has successfully transformed traditional print businesses of significant scale and complexity into high-performing new media assets," said Rutledge. "He is the ideal executive to build on Cablevision's commitment to local content as a key differentiator and value add for our customers by leading the...
Smith will oversee a newly created Local Media group, which Cablevision said it is establishing "to more effectively organize its local media and programming assets under one business unit."
The unit includes Newsday Media Group, News 12 Networks and other programming and interactive ventures the company said it is developing.
Smith will report to Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge.
"For the past decade, Tad has successfully transformed traditional print businesses of significant scale and complexity into high-performing new media assets," said Rutledge. "He is the ideal executive to build on Cablevision's commitment to local content as a key differentiator and value add for our customers by leading the...
- 8/12/2009
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cablevision has cleared the final legal hurdle in its fight to bring network DVR service to its subscriber base. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a challenge from television networks and Hollywood studios alleging the remote-storage architecture violates copyright laws.
The high court's decision to reject the complaint affirms an earlier ruling by the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that Cablevision's network DVR service, which stores captured content on servers at the head-end, is fundamentally identical to what end-users experience while using traditional set-top DVR.
Following the lead of Turner Broadcasting's CNN and Cartoon Network, a consortium of television networks and studios -- including ABC, NBC, CBS, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, Paramount and Disney -- first called for an injunction against the nDVR concept in May 2006, arguing that the service would effectively allow the Mso to rebroadcast network programming at will,...
The high court's decision to reject the complaint affirms an earlier ruling by the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that Cablevision's network DVR service, which stores captured content on servers at the head-end, is fundamentally identical to what end-users experience while using traditional set-top DVR.
Following the lead of Turner Broadcasting's CNN and Cartoon Network, a consortium of television networks and studios -- including ABC, NBC, CBS, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, Paramount and Disney -- first called for an injunction against the nDVR concept in May 2006, arguing that the service would effectively allow the Mso to rebroadcast network programming at will,...
- 6/29/2009
- by By Anthony Crupi, Mediaweek
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cablevision swung to a first-quarter profit, as the company added more digital-phone and Internet subscribers and saw a lift in ad sales dollars at its Rainbow Media programming unit.
The Bethpage, Long Island-based company, which also owns Madison Square Garden and the professional sports franchises New York Knicks and New York Rangers, reported a profit of $20.2 million, or 7 cents a share, reversing a year-earlier loss of $31.6 million, or 11 cents a share.
Revenue rose 11% to $1.9 billion, up from $1.72 billion in the first quarter of 2008.
During Thursday morning earnings call, chairman James Dolan announced that the board of directors has authorized management to explore the spin-off of the company’s Msg business, although executives declined to offer further comment on the matter.
“I’m sure you’ll understand that we will be unable to provide any additional details at this time,” Dolan said.
Cablevision’s core Mso business saw revenue increase 5.3% to $1.33 billion,...
The Bethpage, Long Island-based company, which also owns Madison Square Garden and the professional sports franchises New York Knicks and New York Rangers, reported a profit of $20.2 million, or 7 cents a share, reversing a year-earlier loss of $31.6 million, or 11 cents a share.
Revenue rose 11% to $1.9 billion, up from $1.72 billion in the first quarter of 2008.
During Thursday morning earnings call, chairman James Dolan announced that the board of directors has authorized management to explore the spin-off of the company’s Msg business, although executives declined to offer further comment on the matter.
“I’m sure you’ll understand that we will be unable to provide any additional details at this time,” Dolan said.
Cablevision’s core Mso business saw revenue increase 5.3% to $1.33 billion,...
- 5/8/2009
- by By Anthony Crupi, Mediaweek
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
New York -- Cablevision swung to a fourth-quarter loss on impairment charges but lost fewer basic cable subscribers than expected.
Management said Thursday that subscriber growth in the current first quarter so far has exceeded trends in the year-ago period despite the recession and competitive pressures, and it vowed to start charging online readers of recent newspaper acquisition Newsday.
CEO James Dolan also said that recent debt financings, strong cash flow and existing credit lines "have positioned us well from a near-term liquidity perspective." In a conference call, his team added that this will allow the company to handle debt maturing this year despite the current credit crunch.
Bethpage, N.Y.-based Cablevision posted a fourth-quarter loss of $321.4 million, compared with a year-ago profit of $6.64 million. The latest figure included impairment charges of $402 million for Long Island's Newsday and $41 million for the Voom HD business, whose domestic operations the firm recently shuttered.
Management said Thursday that subscriber growth in the current first quarter so far has exceeded trends in the year-ago period despite the recession and competitive pressures, and it vowed to start charging online readers of recent newspaper acquisition Newsday.
CEO James Dolan also said that recent debt financings, strong cash flow and existing credit lines "have positioned us well from a near-term liquidity perspective." In a conference call, his team added that this will allow the company to handle debt maturing this year despite the current credit crunch.
Bethpage, N.Y.-based Cablevision posted a fourth-quarter loss of $321.4 million, compared with a year-ago profit of $6.64 million. The latest figure included impairment charges of $402 million for Long Island's Newsday and $41 million for the Voom HD business, whose domestic operations the firm recently shuttered.
- 2/26/2009
- by By Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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