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MICHAEL POWELL, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NATIONAL CABLE & TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION

“Mediacom and Rocco are true leaders in our industry. Born out of risk-taking and entrepreneurism, Mediacom has grown into one of our fi nest multiple-system operators, providing to Americans in mid- and smaller-size markets an unsurpassed level of excellence in broadband, video, voice and business services. Rocco has been a passionate and stalwart advocate for cable, demanding that customers should come first, and that public policy should provide the incentives and the means for cable operators to innovate and serve their customers with high value offerings. On a personal note, there is no beer friend to have than Rocco, with his warm and gregarious demeanor and his undying support.”

TOM RUTLEDGE, CEO, CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS

“I have known Rocco for many years. He is a good friend and someone whose personal story would make for must see programming on many networks … not just CNBC. He is also the best thing besides money to come from the banking industry. Rocco has more belief in himself and the cable industry than anybody and his sheer will and guts created Mediacom, a great American success story.”

DAVID ZASLAV, PRESIDENT AND CEO, DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

“Rocco is a true entrepreneur and has really lived the ‘American Dream’ after arriving in America as a kid. He worked hard to earn everything he has built at Mediacom. He has been a strong partner to me for the past two decades and one of the champions who has made this industry what it is today. He is a tough and respected operator with terrific financial acumen, a fighter who believes in his company, a company that 20 years later, he still runs with the passion he had the day he founded it.”

PHILIPPE DAUMAN, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN AND CEO, VIACOM

“Rocco is one of the true entrepreneurs in the modern distribution landscape — tenacious, engaged and passionate about his system and the smaller markets it serves. He’s also a quintessential New Yorker, with a well-earned reputation for being a straight talker. Viacom and Mediacom have had great success working together to grow our businesses over the years, and I have a lot of respect for Rocco and his accomplishments.”

JERRY KENT, FORMER CEO, SUDDENLINK COMMUNCIATIONS

“Rocco is not only a friend, he is a hero to the industry. There has been no champion for midsized and smaller operators more relentless or passionate than him. I count myself fortunate to have served as a cable entrepreneur alongside him.”

PAT ESSER, PRESIDENT, COX COMMUNICATIONS

“Mediacom is a great example of the American Dream coming to life and the broadband cable industry it helped build will continue to create opportunities for future entrepreneurs and innovators. Congratulations to Rocco and his team.”

JOSH SAPAN, CEO, AMC NETWORKS

“Rocco embodies the best of what is entrepreneurial and original, qualities that have contributed to the fabric and success of cable TV. His iconoclastic nature and his path less well traveled embody the spirit that makes Mediacom a great company and makes cable a great industry.”

DENNIS WHARTON, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT MEDIA RELATIONS, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS

“Congrats to Rocco Commisso on two decades at the Mediacom helm. In exchange for modest carriage fees, broadcasters are proud to provide Mediacom customers with marquee primetime entertainment, the most popular televised sporting events, local news and emergency weather warnings that save lives. We wish Mediacom continued success.”

TierPoint, a St. Louis-based national provider of cloud, cloud, colocation and managed services, has agreed to purchase Windstream’s data center business in an all cash transaction for $575 million. 

As part of the deal, Windstream will establish an ongoing strategic partnership with TierPoint, allowing both companies to sell their respective products and services to each other’s prospective customers through referrals.  This structure will allow Windstream to focus capital on its core telecom offerings while continuing to offer traditional data center services to enterprise customers across a broader data center footprint.

"Data center services will remain an integral component of our enterprise service offering." said Windstream CEO Tony Thomas in a statement. “We expect the divested data center business to continue its significant growth under the leadership of TierPoint, and we look forward to partnering closely with them to provide advanced data center services to our enterprise customers.”

The deal is expected to close in the next two-to-four months.

TierPoint is part of Cequel Data Centers, an arm of cable veteran Jerry Kent’s Cequel III. Kent has been chairman of TierPoint since 2014 and in July was named the company‘s CEO. Kent also serves as chairman and CEO of Suddenlink Communications, a St. Louis-based cable operator with about 1.2 million customers. In May, European telecom giant Altice agreed to purchase a 70% interest in Suddenlink for $9.1 billion. That deal is expected to close before the end of the year, upon which Kent has indicated he will exit the company. 

In a statement, Kent said the Windstream data centers are a good fit. “Windstream Hosted Solutions and its employees have earned a reputation for providing excellent customer service and innovative enterprise-class solutions,” Kent said in the statement. “We value these team members as a key asset in the acquisition and their expertise adds to our strength and focus on providing a superior level of customer care. We’re also very pleased to enter into a long-term strategic partnership with Windstream, allowing both companies to leverage the expertise and respective strengths of our organizations.”

Suddenlink Communications chairman and CEO Jerry Kent told analysts Monday that the small market cable operator’s decision to replace Viacom’s networks with other, supposedly less-popular fare has been the right one both financially and from a customer standpoint.

In a conference call to discuss second quarter results, Kent said that the decision to replace Viacom’s 24 networks like MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, with the likes of Revolt TV, Comedy.TV and Sprout, has been the right one.

“The bulk of the headwinds are behind us,” Kent said on the call, adding that the decision no to carry the Viacom networks has ahad a “minimal lasting impact on the connect side of the business.”

Suddenlink lost about 29,400 basic video customers in the second quarter – 10,000 more than in the same period past year --  but attributed that mostly to  seasonality as students and residential customers disconnect service as they move to their summer homes, and the impact of a rate increase that took effect during the latter part of the first quarter and the early part of the second quarter. In the past, Suddenlink implemented its rate increases in the fourth quarter.

Suddenlink dropped the Viacom channels on Sept. 30 after the two parties could not reach a carriage renewal agreement. Suddenlink has said Viacom was demanding exorbitant price increases, while Viacom countered that it was only seeking fair value for its content.

Kent said that while some of the second quarter subscriber losses could be pegged to the Viacom dispute, he said compared to the cost of carrying the networks it is “like night and day.”

“I have no doubt that we made the right financial decision and the right customer-impacting decision,” Kent said.

Viacom declined to comment, but people familiar with the company’s thinking noted that Suddenlink has lost bout 6% of its basic video customer base since dropping the channels, which still remain the most watched basic cable family of networks.

The Cable Center president and chief executive officer Larry Satkowiak will retire at the end of the year after 12 years, the Denver-based nonprofit organization said. A former longtime teacher, he joined the center's staff in late 2003 as chief financial officer and became president and CEO in 2005 at the request of Bill Bresnan. 

Jerry Kent, chairman and CEO of Suddenlink Communications and board chairman at The Cable Center, said in a release: "Larry's contributions to The Cable Center’s success cannot be overstated. During his 12 years in cable, he has gained the respect and admiration of leaders in all sectors of the industry. The Cable Center’s research, programs and partnerships created during his tenure, will leave a legacy that will benefit the industry for a very long time.”

The Cable Center redefined its mission and core focus under Satkowiak, creating a five-year strategic plan to reorganize The Cable Center, ensuring that the center’s programs and services were cost effective, efficient and valuable to the industry, the center said. Satkowiak said in the release he was most proud of the development of the center’s programs, financial stability, the growth of the Hauser Oral History Collection and his book, published by The Cable Center, The Cable Industry: A Short History Through Three Generations. It was given as a free token to INTX convention attendees in Chicago in May. “I am confident that The Cable Center will have a very bright future,” he said in the release. “I am thankful for our amazing staff and incredible board, all of whom are the top leaders in the industry. In addition, I have been very fortunate to work with three chairs of our board whom I consider the best in the business – Bill Bresnan, Michael Willner and Jerry Kent. They have all provided leadership, vision, guidance and friendship.” 

He said he is looking forward to devoting more time to serving on nonprofit boards in the areas of science and technology education. “It is a fascinating time for the industry. The cable industry changed the world in the last three generations, and there is great potential for continued technological, social and political implications in the next 10 years. We will all be amazed at the future.”

The Cable Center is the home of the Cable Hall of Fame and of the Barco Library, the world’s largest collection of cable-related information and resources. 

PREVIOUSLY:Altice to Buy Suddenlink Stake for $9.1B

RELATED:Altice Throws Down Consolidation Gauntlet

Jerry Kent has built a reputation as one of the stand-up guys in the cable industry, fighting battles with programmers and telco and satellite competitors on the front-lines as CEO of Charter Communications and Suddenlink Communications and in Congress. But with the $9.1 billion sale of Suddenlink to Luxembourg telecom giant Altice just months away, the long-time cable executive is finally ready to step down.

“I’m an entrepreneur," Kent said in an interview of his decision to leave the company after the deal closes before the end of the year. "I really don’t have the desire to be working in a subsidiary of another company.  And, frankly, they have their own CEO.”

Kent formed Suddenlink out of the investment company he founded in 2002 – Cequel III – shortly after resigning as CEO of Charter Communications in 2001. When BC Partners and Canadian pension fund CPPIB invested about $2 billion in the company in 2012, the initial intention was to use Suddenlink to roll up smaller operators. And though the company did a handful of smaller deals, those plans were put on hold (as other potential consolidators did the same) after Charter Communications began its pursuit of Time Warner Cable in 2013.     

Suddenlink began talking to Altice in early February – one of its board members, BC Partners chairman Raymond Svider, knew Altice executives who were interested in entering the U.S. market.

“Raymond said, ‘I have an investment in Suddenlink, why don’t you take a look at it?’” Kent said.

The rest was history.

Kent added that Altice brings a strong balance sheet and a scale that Suddenlink just didn’t have.

“There was significant interest in being a consolidator,” Kent said. "We did a couple of deals, nothing really major. While we had ready access to capital, we don’t have the balance sheet that could participate in a [deal like] Time Warner Cable, for example. With fresh backing by Altice, I think the company will have a much better chance of being a significant consolidator in the industry.”

“Altice does have plans,” Kent continued. "They would like to grow in the U.S. I have no idea who or where. We just sold the company. I’m going to run this company as best I can until we close and then I’m moving on.”

Altice has been an aggressive buyer of cable and wireless properties in Europe – it has about 3.1 million cable customers but more than 20 million wireless customers. And it has equally aggressive plans for the U.S. In a conference call to announce the Suddenlink deal, Altice CEO Dexter Goei said the company expects to be a major participant in U.S. cable consolidation.

But they will have to do it without Kent at the helm. Less clear is what will happen to other Suddenlink managers.

“They will come in and talk to people and make their plans accordingly, but there have been absolutely no decisions made so far,” Kent said.

Just who Altice will try to buy is anyone’s guess. Aside from Cablevision and Time Warner Cable, two perennial takeover candidates, smaller operators like Mediacom Communications, Cable One and others would certainly attract interest.

As for Kent, he said he still has his investment company Cequel III, and while there are no restrictions on him re-entering the cable business, he expects to take it easy for at least a few months after the close.

“I have bought and sold several companies in the cable and in the broader telecommunications space,” Kent said. “I’m just going to look for the next great opportunity.”

But at least for the time being, Kent will have to sever at least some ties wth the business after the close. He is a member of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association board of directors, which requires board members to be executives at major cable operators. He also will likely have to sever relationships with CableLabs, Cable PAC and Cable Center at least for the time after the deal closes and whether he re-enters the business.

“That’s the bittersweet part,” Kent said. "I have had a lot of relationships in the industry that I have forged over the past 30-plus years and I value those relationships and have gotten to know a lot of people that I call good friends.  I guess for now, I’ll be an exiting the cable industry at least for a period of time.”

Jerry Kent, co-chair of INTX and CEO of Suddenlink, looked to get some answers from FCC commissioners at the show on whether blocking his subs' online access to online content was a network neutrality violation and, if not, why. He got an answer to at least half the question from one commissioner, while the Repbulicans who did not support net neutrality rules deffered.

At the end of Tuesday's panel session featuring four of the five FCC commissioners, "Help me out," said Kent from the audience.

In a Q&A session following the panel discussion, Kent said as far as he knew, no ISP was blocking or throttling traffic, "unless something was going on that I'm not aware of." He said that he "got" that the FCC was reclassifying ISPs under Title II common carrier regs to make sure nothing happened in the future. But he suggested there was unreasonable blocking going on now that was not being addressed.

"Today, we have programmers who block access to their websites when they have a dispute with an ISP," he said. He pointed to the major dispute he had with a "very large programmer (he did not say Viacom, but suggested everyone was aware of who he was talking about). "They are blocking access to their Web sites from any customer who has [an IP] address from Suddenlink."

Kent said that a DirecTV or Dish customer getting Internet access from Suddenlink was "theoretically paying for that content,” then asked them whether they thought it was a network neutrality violation and, if not, why not.

Republican commissioners Michael O'Rielly and Ajit Pai begged off, pointing out that they did not support the net neutrality rules. Democratic commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel agreed it was "flat out a problem" when any consumer can't access lawful content online, “which certainly sounded like network neutrality language." But she said,  "I don't think that falls squarely within our network neutrality rules." She did say she shared Kent's frustration. "I think consumers should always have access to the bounty of the Web."

Last October, when Viacom began blocking Suddenlink sub access after its failure to reach a new carriage deal, Suddenlink complained the blocking was a violation of net neutrality. Viacom countered that its content " is available through hundreds of partners, including cable, satellite and many online destinations...Suddenlink abruptly decided to end our relationship, which has resulted in the continued interruption of Viacom programming across platforms, including online, through Suddenlink.”

Suddenlink Communications lost about 6,400 basic video subscribers in the first quarter, a marked improvement over the 35,000 customers it shed in the prior period and adding to what is becoming mounting evidence that its decision to drop Viacom’s 24 youth-oriented channels last year is having a diminished effect.

“We regained our momentum,” Suddenlink CEO Jerry Kent said on a conference call to discuss results. Suddenlink is privately held but reports results publicly as part of an agreement with its bond holders.

While Suddenlink seemed to weather the storm, another cable operator that dropped the Viacom channels saw their subscriber losses rise in the first quarter. Cable One, which dropped the Viacom channels in April 2014, said it shed about 30,000 basic video customers in the period, a 7% decline, and has seen its video customer rolls dwindle about 20% since it dropped the channels.

Suddenlink decided to drop Viacom in October amid what it called unwarranted price increase demands from the home of MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, VH1 and Spike.  Suddenlink supplemented the loss of those networks by reaching deals with smaller channels that addressed the space, including PBS Sprout, Revolt TV, Byron Allen’s Comedy.TV and others.

The mid-sized cable operator shed 34,800 basic video subscribers in the fourth quarter, its first since dropping the channels. 

In the most recent period, Kent pointed out that the video subscriber decline was actually less than reported and is likely due to rate increases that were implemented in March. Suddenlink counts customers in Multiple Dwelling Units (like apartments and condominiums) using the Equivalent Basic Unit (EBU) method, which takes the revenue generated from a building and divides it by the standard basic video rate for a standalone home. Even if the bulk revenue figure stays flat, because Suddenlink began implementing rate increases in March, the denominator in some cases would be larger, resulting in about 2,200 additional losses that probably shouldn’t be counted.

Also bolstering its case – churn for the period remained flat, which means that many of those losses were due to fewer gross connects, rather than an increase in customers disconnecting service.  

The rest of the 4,200 lost video subscribers can be attributed to the Viacom dispute and rate increases.

The rest of the business appeared to be chugging along nicely. High-speed Internet additions rose by 34,500 in the period, and telephone subscribers increased by 9,600. Kent said that Operation GigaSpeed, its HSI upgrade program to raise speeds to 1 gigabit-per second, is well underway and it should begin offering is first 1 Gbps service  by the end of the year.