Cablefax The Magazine - April 2017 - 5

Above it All
Some execs in the industry have moved into another stratosphere. While these moguls may have moved beyond The Cablefax 100 orbit, we still want to take a
moment to recognize their influence as they float " Above it All. "
Nomi Bergman (ADVANCE NEWHOUSE)
With Charter's acquisition of Bright House Networks,
Bergman's day-to-day role has changed signifi cantly.
But she still keeps a hand in cable, supporting WICT
and serving on a number of boards, including Mediamorph,
a cloud-based rights management system for
programmers and video distributors.
Jeff Bewkes (TIME WARNER)
Chairman and CEO Bewkes has
been hustling these past few
months to make the case for AT&T's acquisition of
Time Warner. The tea leaves show approval is likely,
but don't think that means he'll ride off into the
sunset. It sounds like he'll stick around for at least a
year to help guide the transition.
Charlie Ergen (DISH)
You can always count on Ergen to make things interesting.
These past 12 months have been no exception
with DISH engaged in a lengthy retransmission
dispute with Hearst in 26 markets. At the same time,
he's made headlines with an increasingly aggressive
OTT offering through Sling TV. When he says that
OTT is becoming a direct replacement for cable and
satellite, people listen.
Randy Falco (UNIVISION)
Falco's passion really shined in this past election year.
Under his governance, Univision and Fusion Media
led a successful, non-partisan voter engagement
campaign. He even penned a letter to the Electoral
Commission in September after a Spanish-language
moderator was not included in the series of presidential
debates. His guidance also resulted in Univision
Story House teaming with Netfl ix for the highly
anticipated drama series " El Chapo. "
John Hendricks (DISCOVERY/
CURIOSITYSTREAM)
We're thankful Hendricks is still
in the mix, even though he no longer serves as
chairman of Discovery Communications. A media
visionary, many are watching his play in the SVOD
space and taking notes.
Bob Iger (THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY)
The guessing game on when (if?) Bob Iger will retire
continues, with Disney's board extending his contract
through July 2, 2019. Given his strong track record,
which has included expanding Pixar holdings and
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taking on the Star Wars franchise, plenty are happy
he's sticking around.
James Cox Kennedy (COX ENTERPRISES)
Giving back is a serious matter for Kennedy and
that spirit is embodied throughout Cox companies.
His many philanthropic efforts include millions for
universities and a $10 million endowment for the Jim
Kennedy Scholarship Fund, which supports children
of Cox employees.
Greg Maffei (LIBERTY MEDIA)
Maffei is an M&A mastermind much like his partner
John Malone. His latest conquest is Alaska operator
GCI, which is expected to join the Liberty fold by early
2018. No doubt, it won't be the last complex Liberty
deal we'll see from him.
John Malone (LIBERTY MEDIA)
Everyone loves to sit back and try
to predict what Malone's big plan
is. Will Charter and GCI merge? What's the end game
with Formula One? The fact he can keep everyone
guessing is a testament to his prowess and why
almost any remark he makes becomes a headline.
Lowell McAdam (VERIZON)
Lots going on at Verizon these days, with McAdam
recently reorganizing the company to focus on three
areas: media & telematics; network & technology;
and customer & operations. With the Yahoo deal
expected to close soon, McAdam and his lieutenants
will get to work on integrating it with AOL to create
new company Oath.
Les Moonves (CBS Corp)
The chatter over a possible Viacom-CBS merger
has died down, but Moonves is still in the spotlight.
He's not always a cable friend, extracting millions in
retransmission consent revenue. But he's good at
it! CBS is on track to achieve $2.5 billion of annual
retrans and reverse comp revenue by 2020.
Rupert Murdoch (21st CENTURY FOX)
Murdoch has shown he's still very much in the thick
of things as scandals have hit Fox News. Following
Roger Ailes' resignation, the 21CF executive
chairman assumed the role of chairman and acting
CEO for Fox News. There's plenty of turbulence, but
the mogul has shown over the years he can stay on
course.
April 2017
Peter Rice (21st CENTURY FOX)
Rice has a full plate, supervising Fox Broadcasting
Company, FX Networks, as well as the Fox Sports
Media Group, and the company's 22 owned-andoperated
regional sports networks, Fox Soccer Plus,
Fox College Sports, FOX Deportes, and the BTN
(formerly Big Ten Network) joint venture with the Big
Ten Conference. He's done such a good job juggling
it all that his name is repeatedly mentioned for other
big jobs in the industry.
Brian Roberts (COMCAST)
Having worked at Comcast
since graduating from The
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in
1981, Roberts knows the company inside and out.
He's turned it into one of the nation's largest video,
high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential
customers. And he's always looking to take that
next step-whether its Comcast's entry into wireless
or increasing digital content plays.
Randall Stephenson (AT&T)
Like Jeff Bewkes, the AT&T CEO has been busy
making a case for its proposed Time Warner acquisition.
But that's not all. With DirecTV now integrated
into the company, Stephenson is busy creating the
new world order. That's included the much touted
rollout of streaming service DirecTV Now as well
as notable 4K plays. Other recent victories include
being awarded a $6.5 billion contract to build out a
dedicated network for fi rst responders.
Oprah Winfrey (OWN)
It took a little time, but OWN has turned into a
network worthy of the Oprah name. Winfrey and team
have taken the channel into the scripted realm and
found success with shows like " Greenleaf. " Having
conquered the media world, could she set her sights
on a 2020 presidential bid? Best friend Gayle King
has thrown water on the idea, but she'd surely have a
fair share of supporters.
In honor of the Cable Center's
20th Cable Hall of Fame
celebration, we're including
icons in the magazine denoting
members of the Hall of Fame.
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