Cablefax The Magazine - June 2013 - 25

35 | LINKED IN
Jerry Kent
Title: Chairman/CEO, Suddenlink
Years in Cable: 30
Education: BA; MBA Washington U. (St. Louis)
Why Him? Suddenlink continues to add customers and value since its purchase late last year by
BC Partners and CPP Investment Board, which valued the company at $6.6 billion. And the numbers
just keep adding up for Suddenlink and its longtime steward Kent. The company hit 1 million highspeed
Internet customers in November, right around the time it completed its Project Imagine, which
enabled a leap in the number of HD channels from 24 to 85, with some lineups touting more than
100. The upgrade also increased the availability of DOCSIS 3.0 technology from 12% of customers
to 93%, and VOD is now available to 91% of the Suddenlink base. ■
36 | MR. FREEZE
Rocco Commisso
Title: Chairman/CEO, Mediacom
Number of Years in Cable: 35
Education: BS, Industrial Engineering, and MBA, Columbia University
Why Him? Commisso started Mediacom nearly 20 years ago to offer cable to underserved communities and
has tried heartily this year to conserve the pocketbooks of paying subscribers, even offering to freeze Mediacom's
subscription fees if its program suppliers would do the same. While he got no takers this time around,
the industry can always count on him to bring attention to important issues. He recently took outgoing FCC
chair Julius Genachowski to task for lingering on the sidelines during disputes between cable operators and
broadcasters during his tenure, which have been plentiful. In a letter to Senate Commerce Committee chair
Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), he wrote, " In the absence of pressure from the Commission, not a single programmer
took me up on my price freeze offers. " ■
37 | AMERICAN
SUCCESS STORY
John Landgraf
Title: President/GM,FX Networks
Education: BA, Pitzer College
Why Him? Landgraf's an
approachable exec who often
responds to inquiries with both
informative candor and humor.
At last winter's TCA, he knew the
names of nearly every reporter
who asked him a question, and
that attention to detail has flowed
through to every aspect of his
mission to pick, shepherd and
maintain hit shows. Asked about
CableFAX: The Magazine
with his collaborators. The coming
year will pose the biggest test
of that trust yet when Landgraf
oversees the roll out of two
spinoff networks-FXX, slated
for a September launch to reach
younger male demographic,
and movie channel FXM. He
ambitiously plans to program
his new FX triumvirate with 25
original series, a plethora of
homegrown content that would
put them on par with the output
of the major broadcast networks.
the lack of showrunner turnover
at his programs, Landgraf cited
the importance of forging trust
June 2013
Apple or Samsung? Apple
Beatles or The Rolling Stones?
Beatles
My peers would be surprised
to learn... that for the most part
I think their work is excellent.
I watch the majority of
programming on this device: A
65-inch, hi-definition, flat screen
television.
I learned from my kids... that
the news business, as currently
configured, makes children think
the world is as bad as it has ever
been and getting worse (even
though that is objectively untrue).
I wish Congress would just... put
the American people first.
Favorite business and/or
motivational book: The Road
Less Traveled ■
cablefaxmag.com
25

http://www.cablefaxmag.com

Cablefax The Magazine - June 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cablefax The Magazine - June 2013