Cablefax The Magazine - December 2010 - 12

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MSO MULTITASKER
Tom Rutledge
Title: COO, Cablevision
Years in Cable: 33
Education: BA, Economics, CA U
Why Him? What a year for Cablevision and Rutledge. The same year CableFAX: The Magazine
awards Cablevision its MSO of the Year honor, it takes on major programmer and retrans
battles while preparing the launch of innovative services, such as PC-to-TV Relay. Then there's
the Bresnan purchase, which should wrap by year's end. And Rutledge must keep everything
afl oat. Sanford Bernstein's Craig Moffett has long called Cablevision the best operator in the
business, but he notes that given its high penetration, growth is slowing. That's where valueadds,
like Cablevision's impressive (and BIG) free WiFi network, come in. Its remote-storage
DVR is expected to help, too. There's even talk of a mobile phone service that could hop from
WiFi to cellular networks. With so many new services, it should be exciting to see what Rutledge does next.
Big Sky Bound: Rutledge should be logging a lot of frequent fl yer miles to Montana in '11 as Cablevision integrates
the Bresnan systems. Things have gone swimmingly on the regulatory and franchise transfer front. Rutledge and team
are hoping for the same kind of operating excellence out West that they enjoy in NY. Expect more HD programming
and increased marketing to be near the top of his to-do list.
Year Ahead: Cablevision has completed retrans negotiations with all of the Big 4. That has to make for a strong '11.
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HAMMER'S TIME
Bonnie Hammer
Title: President, NBCU Cable Entertainment/Universal Cable Productions
Number of Years in Cable: 23
Education: BA, MA, Boston U
I Watch TV Mostly: Live
Why Her? With responsibilities including oversight of USA Network and Syfy, the incredibly down-toEarth
Hammer leads a profi table division. Very profi table. We're talking $1bln in operating profi t, highest
of any division at NBCU. It's no wonder Comcast plans to heap even more responsibility upon her
capable shoulders after it gets approval for the NBCU deal. That's when she'll become Chair, NBCU
Universal Cable Entertainment and Cable Studios.
Pulling No Punches: Hammer recently told Elle magazine she learned a lot from working with Barry
Diller on the Sci-Fi Channel (as SyFy was once known) in the late '90s. " That was a great education.
Of course, working for Barry was also insane and crazy...I took up kickboxing...with a real bag. "
Year Ahead: In a post-Comcast world, Hammer will add E! Entertainment, G4, Chiller, Sleuth,
Universal HD and Universal Cable Productions to her slate. It's signifi cantly more power. After her
undisputed success with USA and SyFy, it's signifi cantly well deserved.
On Your iPad: Books, tons of news media-everything from The NY Times to Huffi ngton
Post-and just about every available app. I love to play. But my favorite app is iAnnotate,
which allows me to make script notes and immediately send them to my team with one
touch. It lets me circle, underline, create Post-its, even draw pictures. I basically turn into a
kid with a grown up, work-related Etch-A-Sketch!
Most Creative Part of My Job: Figuring out how to effectively clear my desk and get out of
the offi ce with " job done " peace of mind, so I can spend a little time with my kid. He'll be off
to college in less than a year, so every second counts.
Favorite City for Business: LA if you live in NY. And NY if you live in LA. One is the perfect
antidote to the other.
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