A group of six cable and connectivity trailblazers, including top programmers, cable-system operators, a high-profile business anchor and innovative technologists — one of whom is known as “the father of the cable modem” — will be honored April 18 with induction into the Cable Hall of Fame. 

That’s when the Syndeo Institute at The Cable Center will stage its 27th annual Cable Hall of Fame celebration, a red-carpet event at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in midtown Manhattan. 

The 2024 Cable Hall of Fame inductees are: 

• Liz Claman, Anchor, The Claman Countdown, Fox Business Network
• Bonnie Hammer, Vice Chairman, NBCUniversal
• Yvette Kanouff, Partner, JC2 Ventures
• Larry E. Romrell, Board Member, Liberty Media and Liberty Global
• Steven A. White, President, Special Counsel to CEO, Comcast Cable
• Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard, Founder & Board Member, YAS Foundation

They join the 159 luminaries who’ve been inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame since 1998. 

“This year’s Cable Hall of Fame honorees are some of the most accomplished leaders in the business,” The Cable Center CEO Diane Christman said. “It will be a true honor to welcome them to the Cable Hall of Fame.” 

A current Hall of Famer will be recognized again on April 18 as this year’s winner of the Bresnan Ethics in Business Award. Geraldine Laybourne, a cable entrepreneur who is now the chairman of DAY ONE Early Learning Community, is this year’s Bresnan Award winner. 

The Bresnan Award recognizes the late William J. Bresnan, founder and chairman of Bresnan Communications and longtime chairman of the Syndeo Institute at The Cable Center. 

“Gerry is a true trailblazer in the cable industry — from building Nickelodeon into a top-rated network to creating Oxygen and leading Disney/ABC, her career achievements are unrivaled,” Michael Willner, chairman and CEO of Penthera Partners and chair of the Syndeo Institute at The Cable Center’s board of directors, said. “She has tirelessly served the industry through her work on numerous boards and the thousands of women she has mentored. Her unwavering dedication to the early learning community is game-changing. It is a special honor to present my good friend with the 2024 Bresnan Ethics in Business Award.”

For more on information on The Cable Hall of Fame, including how to attend the April 18 gala, click here. 

Liz Claman
Anchor, The Claman Countdown
Fox Business Network

It seems that Liz Claman was always meant to be on the air. Her father brought home the family’s first video camera when she was in sixth grade, and she and her four siblings played with it every night. “They all wanted to pretend they were celebrities,” she recalls. “I wanted to pretend I was the person interviewing the celebrity. I wanted to be that person on the other side of the camera.”

Although she dreamed of being a reporter, Claman thought she needed to focus on a more “legitimate” path. She studied French at the University of California, Berkeley with a diplomatic career in mind, squeezing in every journalism class she could. As graduation approached, the pull was too strong. She got an internship at KCBS Los Angeles which led to a production assistant job, delivering newspapers and scripts to Ann Curry, Paula Zahn and Jim Lampley. Her first on-air job was in Columbus, Ohio, then Cleveland, and eventually she landed an anchor position with WHDH Boston, at the time that city’s NBC affiliate. 

In 1998, CNBC offered Claman a 13-week freelance gig. “There were a million reasons not to take it,” she said. “I had a staff job at NBC in Boston. I was an anchor. I had benefits. And [the CNBC job] was the stock market, about which I knew nothing. [But] I knew I had to make the jump to cable.” 

Claman inhaled financial information to prepare for the new job. “I kept telling myself sleep was overrated,” she said. “To this day, I never let myself think I know it all.” She still heeds advice from her mother, a trained Shakespearean actress, who told Claman, “Darling, never wing it.” After seven weeks in her initial freelance position, CNBC offered her a full-time job.

At CNBC Claman relished the opportunity to do in-depth reporting. “In cable, you could throw out ideas and most often they’d say, ‘Why not? Let’s try it.’ ” She created Breakfast with the CEO, featuring business luminaries in their natural work habitat. The popular series led to promotion to anchor.

After nine years at CNBC, Claman was ready to move on. She got a call from Fox, which was preparing to launch Fox Business Network. “Within 30 minutes, I thought, ‘I’ve got to work here,’” she recalled. She liked the feistiness of a startup taking on an established player. “More than that, I sensed that they understood me.”

In addition to the highly rated Claman Countdown, Claman’s work at Fox includes her Weekend With Warren special, which culminated in a high-profile interview with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. Millions follow her on TikTok. 

In her off hours, Claman skis, runs triathlons and takes bass guitar lessons. She advises those aspiring to follow her example: “You have to fight the hardest for it. You have to say yes to everything, including the stuff where you say, ‘Well, I’m a Berkeley graduate. I’m not delivering newspapers.’ Yes, you are. You don’t get here without going there.” 

Bonnie Hammer
Vice Chairman, NBCUniversal

It takes more than a sharp eye and great instincts to become one of the most powerful women in Hollywood. Bonnie Hammer has plenty of both and combined them with her deep belief in the power of collaboration to build a brilliant career. 

Her happiest childhood memories are of summer camp. “That’s where I learned true friendship,” she said. “How to be a teammate, how to collaborate, how to share.” That was also where Hammer’s lifelong passion for photography began. Later, as a photojournalism major at Boston University, she cultivated the ability to capture a story in a shot — a skill that would continue to serve her well. 

Aiming for a career as a print photojournalist, Hammer got an internship shooting still photos for a kids’ show, Infinity Factory, on WGBH, Boston’s PBS station. A couple of the show’s production assistants had been fired, and Hammer was offered a PA job. Each PA was assigned a child cast member to wrangle. As the most junior member of the team, Hammer was responsible for Winston, a sheepdog. “I had to clean up after the dog,” she recalled. “A lot of people say their job is crap, but mine really was … crap!” 

Hammer advanced in broadcast before becoming Lifetime Television’s director of programming. “Cable was still very young,” she recalled. “We made the rules. We broke the rules. We made up new rules. And there were a lot of women, partially because we couldn’t necessarily get jobs in broadcast.” 

For Hammer, cable’s limited resources were a bonus. “Because we didn’t have tons of money, there weren’t tons of employees. We all got to wear different hats. We were also forced to collaborate because that’s the only way you could get things done. It was a phenomenal learning ground.”

After joining Universal Television as a programming executive, Hammer went on to lead USA and Syfy. She presided over USA Network’s “Characters Welcome” rebrand and the network’s public-service program, “Erase the Hate,” and green-lighted hit after hit, always “in a room together with every one of my senior people when we had to make a final decision,” she said. Despite early skepticism when she was given responsibility for USA’s wrestling property, Hammer and the “ginormous” men of the WWF (now WWE) forged another hugely successful collaboration. 

Now vice chair of NBCUniversal, Hammer said her proudest accomplishment is the teams she’s built throughout her career. “My channels succeeded because of amazing people, great collaboration, and the realization that everyone had skin in the game,” she said. “We would win together, and we would lose together. That made all the difference.” 

Hammer advises those entering the industry to seek out honest mentors. “Find yourself a truth-teller,” she said. Next, “understand it’s a journey. Figure out what you love. Experiment. Don’t think growth is all vertical — a lot of it is horizontal. I’m a big believer in zigzagging.” Hammer looks forward to discovering where the next zigzag takes her. 

As for her next chapter, “I’m still not finished writing my own story,” she said.

Yvette Kanouff
Partner, JC2 Ventures

Yvette Kanouff has spent her career blazing trails, revolutionizing video and helping others along the way. As an eighth-grade student in Germany, where her military family was stationed, Kanouff discovered what would become her intellectual passion. Scolding her for goofing off, her teacher sent her to the board to solve an algebra problem. “I solved the problem, and I thought, ‘That was so easy.’ And I fell in love with math that day.”

She studied mathematics at the University of Central Florida and began her career as a radar engineer with Lockheed Martin, developing pattern recognition algorithms — now known as artificial intelligence algorithms.

A Lockheed colleague who was interviewing with Time Warner Cable encouraged her to apply. “I came into the cable industry to help them build two-way video networks — that needs computer science and mathematics, I assumed,” she said. Her ability to code, script and write significant software made her something of a unicorn. “I realized there was nobody like me in the industry, or if there was, I didn’t work with them. So I got to work on the funnest stuff.  We had to build every spec from scratch — how to encode, create metadata, store, stream, deliver, modulate, transport, build applications and more.” 

Working with Warner Bros. to put a movie onto digital media, she said, “I remember writing one command that was a page long. But all that work was the predecessor to creating the DVD. That wasn’t what we were trying to do, but we ended up creating a digital storage and playout medium for every person in their home.” 

Kanouff led the world’s first video-on-demand trial, and her work in VOD, cloud DVR, digital and on-demand advertising, streaming security and privacy changed the face of video. In 2020 she was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award in Technology and Engineering by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Often the only woman in the room, especially early in her career, Kanouff has more than her share of stories about unconscious bias, and she has skillfully overcome many barriers with confidence, competence and good humor. She prides herself on the many lifelong friends, men and women, that she has made through deep technical and industry connections.

“It’s just a tough journey for the first one,” Kanouff said, and she is committed to easing the journey for those who follow her. She founded Tech Connect, a mentoring program, and Multiplier Effect, which focuses on sponsorship. “You’ve got to open a door and pull people through. The day I don’t have to do it for women, I’ll gladly do it for somebody else who’s an underdog.”

Kanouff encourages those coming into the business to preserve its distinctive collegiality and creativity. “I’d like to see people continue to help the next generation. We need them and we have to welcome them and help them thrive,” she said. “And most important — never stop innovating!”

Larry E. Romrell
Board Member, Liberty Media and Liberty Global

Larry Romrell’s modesty belies his great success. Uncomfortable in the spotlight, he sees himself as lucky — in the right place at the right time with the right people. In fact, he helped build the cable industry.

Growing up in Idaho, Romrell’s earliest ambition was to be a pilot. He studied electronics in college but, “I didn’t finish because there was a local TV station being constructed in Pocatello, Idaho. They hired me and paid me a lot more than the graduates were making.” At Salt Lake City’s KCPX, he gained experience with microwave technology. 

Then, community antenna system owner Bob Magness offered him a job. Romrell says he’d been “indoctrinated” with broadcasters’ anti-cable viewpoint and was hesitant to work on Magness’s microwave sites in Montana and Wyoming. However, Romrell recalled, “I liked [Magness] on the phone, so I went to work [for him] right away and I was able to get things stabilized.”

Romrell became Magness’s chief engineer and then manager, traveling with his boss on acquisition trips that changed his view of cable. “I no longer felt I was a turncoat, I could see that the problem in small towns was that they had one broadcast signal or none,” he said.

Magness’s cable company grew, moved to Denver, and became Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI) in 1968. Romrell led the company’s microwave subsidiary, Western Telecommunications, which grew along with TCI, eventually stretching from Omaha to San Francisco. The Idaho country boy “waltzed into the offices of TV network executives and made proposals that (our) equipment would be a lot better for them,” he recalled. “We fed every broadcaster signals along that route.”

Romrell’s work included building the first fiber network inside NORAD in Colorado Springs. A separate contract took him to Saudi Arabia to install the microwave radios for the government across the desert from Riyadh to Jeddah. There, he and his team observed princes on a falconry hunt using a transportable microwave satellite uplink — new technology at the time. “I convinced Bob that we should buy one and use it for remote satellite uplinking,” he recalled. They went on to support uplinking for the NFL, space shuttle launches, and primetime news events. The team also did the satellite uplinking for the Olympics in 1980 and 1984.

In 1978 Western Telecommunications merged with Marcus Communications to become WestMarc, which was spun out as a separate cable company with Romrell and Jeff Marcus at the helm. TCI repurchased WestMarc a few years later and made Romrell a senior vice president. 

In 2000, Romrell achieved his childhood dream of becoming a pilot. Today, he enjoys flying and  ranching. He currently serves on the boards of Liberty Media, Liberty Global and Tripadvisor. Looking back on a remarkable career, he said: “I guess if there’s something I did right, it’s that I hired really good people. And I had the best mentors that a person could ever follow, like Bob Magness and John Malone. I didn’t do it on my own.”  

Steven A. White 
President, Special Counsel to CEO, Comcast Cable

Finding his “why” and making an impact have been lifelong pursuits for Steve White. He was inspired by Mark Twain’s observation, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” That piece of wisdom led White to live a life of purpose. 

White said his earliest influence was his single mother, who moved her “four knucklehead boys” from Florida to Indianapolis with $500 in her pocket and got a job cleaning motels. “That’s motel with an ‘M,’ not hotel with an ‘H,’ ” White emphasized. She’d take the boys to work with her where “we learned about teamwork and what you can control, which is your attitude and effort,” White recalled. 

An aspiring athlete in high school, White became the basketball manager for his school’s highly competitive team. Aiming for a career in sportscasting, he went to Indiana University as a journalism major, switching to business when he realized he was better suited to that world. 

After college, White became American Hospital Supply’s youngest-ever sales leader at age 23. It didn’t go well. “I thought my purpose was to provide a living for my family so we would never be in poverty again,” he said. “I got fired because I was so self-absorbed.” A company executive who saw White’s potential had the young man shadow him for six months to learn about leadership. “That was a major transformation,” he said. He realized that his “why” was to “create a table of prosperity for as many people as possible.”

White was leading Colgate-Palmolive’s toothbrush business when a TCI recruiter contacted him in 1996. “At the time, TCI was only offering analog video and they wanted to get into phone, get into internet.” He was sold on the prospect of leading thousands of people in a young industry.

After AT&T purchased TCI, White became senior VP of the new organization’s Atlanta cluster, but he was losing interest in the cable business. When AT&T Broadband merged with Comcast in 2002, the company’s vision for what the industry could become inspired White anew. He advanced in operations leadership to become president of Comcast’s West Division. After 18 years with the company, he was named president, special counsel to the CEO of Comcast Cable with responsibility for supporting the company’s diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives; leadership programming and development; and advancement of digital equity.

White believes his success is the result of investing in others and helping them reach their potential. He attributes much to those who gave him “a hand up, not a handout — people who allow you to put your talents fully on display,” he said. “The reason I’ve been given these opportunities is to help make a path for others to make a difference.”

Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard
Founder and Board Member, YAS Foundation

Don’t underestimate a person with a vision, especially if that visionary has the determination of Rouzbeh Yassini. Against all odds, Yassini played an outsize role in connecting the world and became known as the “father of the cable modem.”

 Arriving in the U.S. from his native Iran to attend West Virginia University in 1977, Yassini originally intended to study medicine, but pivoted to electrical engineering. “Like healthcare, communications has no boundaries. The discovery continues forever,” he said.

Yassini’s first job in 1981 was with General Electric, where he designed TV sets, cameras and videocassette recorders and got his first glimpse of how cable television worked. In 1986 he moved to New England to become director of engineering at a data-networking company, Proteon. 

Those two experiences started the wheels turning. “At GE we did video over coax for consumers, and at Proteon we did data over twisted pair for corporate users,” he recalled. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to put data and video over the same wire.’ ” 

But not everyone agreed. “The chief technical officers at Proteon told me that if it could be done, somebody would already have done it. So I quit Proteon and followed my vision to do it myself.”

Working with a hand-picked team of engineers and advisers, Yassini began deploying a first-generation cable modem for university campuses and government clients including the Rock Island Arsenal military complex, where a then-record 5,000 users were connected by a blended coax-and-data network. 

In 1990, Yassini founded LANcity Corp. to develop technology that was smaller, agile, and built for scale. A second-generation modem for institutional customers paved the way for LANcity’s  crown jewel: a powerful, affordable modem designed to integrate with residential cable networks.  

At the time, many larger cable U.S. operators remained focused on their core business of video, not data connectivity. Smaller companies, however, were more willing to experiment, and by 1992, with more than 100 operators using LANcity’s modems, larger peers began to join the parade. “The biggest challenge wasn’t inventing the technology and scaling it,” Yassini said. “It was convincing the cable industry that data over cable had business value, and that it could be the underpinning for a generational transformation.”

With the LANcity personalized cable-modem revolution accelerating in 1995 and its merger with BayNetwork, Yassini went on to work with CableLabs as executive consultant in 1997 to develop the DOCSIS standard and a companion interoperability/certification effort that would vault “cable television” into the broader realm of telecommunications. Today, DOCSIS-powered devices are just about everywhere, connecting billions of people. But Yassini said there’s still work to be done. One objective: make sure every citizen is connected to broadband. Another: help heal planet Earth. 

Pairing vast sensor networks with broadband connectivity offers enormous potential for improving environmental conditions ranging from cleaner water to reduced pollution. “Eventually, we’ll learn to use the network to improve human life and extend the planet’s survival,” Yassini said. “That’s the ultimate goal.” 

Bresnan Award Recipient
Geraldine Laybourne
Chair, DAY ONE Early Learning Community

Gerry Laybourne has spent much of her extraordinary career listening to others, and turning what she learns from them into gold. Her achievements led to her 2004 induction into the Cable Hall of Fame. Like Bill Bresnan, she has always used business as a jumping-off point to make the world a better place, and her efforts on behalf of women and children have earned her the 2024 Bresnan Ethics in Business Award.

Laybourne took over the management of Nickelodeon in 1984 and led the network to top ratings and awards over the next 16 years. She said she did it by listening. “My mentors in how to run Nickelodeon were kids and my staff,” Laybourne said. “I went to more focus groups listening to kids than probably any TV executive in the history of television.” 

Inspired by an early mentor, Bernice Coe, the founder of Women in Cable (now the WICT Network), Laybourne was determined to help women advance in the industry. “When I was president of Nickelodeon, at least ten percent of my speeches would be for women’s groups,” she recalls. As a result, “so many young women would call my office to get my advice. My assistant figured out I didn’t need any more breakfast or lunch meetings. So we invited people to walk with me around Central Park Mondays and Fridays at 7 a.m. That became the mentor’s walk.”

Laybourne founded Oxygen Media and in 2000 launched Oxygen, the first network owned and operated by women. The network was targeted to young women, and mentor’s walks became a part of its brand. Four hundred women participated in the first walk, and Oxygen took it to other cities across the U.S. Today, Laybourne is vice chairman of Vital Voices, which supports 165 annual Mentoring Walks in more than 80 countries. 

With a master’s degree in elementary education, Laybourne’s deepest commitment is to early childhood education. “There was curriculum behind everything” at Nickelodeon, she said. 

As an undergraduate at Vassar College and later as a board member, Laybourne became interested in the public school system in Vassar’s hometown of Poughkeepsie, New York. In 2020, just 48% of the city’s students were graduating from high school, and Laybourne believed it was because Poughkeepsie was a “child-care desert.” She co-founded DAY ONE, which created a community-based approach to building a skilled childcare workforce, working with teachers, children, parents, and communities. Now in its third year, the nonprofit is focused on Poughkeepsie and Dutchess County, but has already drawn wider attention. 

Laybourne serves on statewide and U.S. Senate task forces for early childhood education. “We’re in high expansion mode and it all reminds me of Nickelodeon,” she said. “[DAY ONE’s] results are better than we thought they’d be. It’s because we’re concentrating on the audience. Everything I learned in the cable industry, I’m using.” 

A quintet of cable industry leaders and an acclaimed and iconic TV comedy — HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm — will be honored in New York on April 27 as members of the 2023 Cable Hall of Fame. 

The 2023 class of honorees are among 153 luminaries who’ve been inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame since 1998 and were selected for their groundbreaking innovation and entrepreneurship in the connectivity, content and media industry. They’ll be inducted at the 26th annual Hall of Fame ceremony, set for the Ziegfeld Ballroom in midtown Manhattan. 

“The members of our 2023 Cable Hall of Fame class reflect all cornerstones of our industry and are true trailblazers in their field,” Michael Willner, president and CEO of Penthera Partners and chairman of the Syndeo Institute at The Cable Center’s executive committee, said in a statement. “I am looking forward to gathering with our industry friends again this April to welcome them to the Cable Hall of Fame.”

Added Syndeo Institute at The Cable Center president and CEO Diane Christman: “This year’s Cable Hall of Fame inductees are some of the ‘best of the best,’ and we are thrilled to honor them at our celebration at the Ziegfeld Ballroom this April.”

For more information on the 26th annual Cable Hall of Fame ceremony or to register, please click here. 

Bresnan Award Recipient
David Van Valkenburg
Former CEO/COO, Telewest PLC (U.K.)

With a lifelong dedication to serving others, David Van Valkenburg is known as a humble and ethical man and a fair, straight-shooting boss — a natural recipient of the 2023 Bresnan Ethics in Business Award. He attributes his belief in people to both his religious upbringing and to growing up as the eldest of seven sons on a family dairy farm in Michigan, where he learned the importance of treating suppliers and others fairly. He has carried those principles with him throughout his career, unfailingly treating customers and employees with respect.

Van Valkenburg began his cable career with American Television and Communications (ATC) in 1973, when he was hired as a management trainee in the company’s Moraga, California, system. He quickly became GM and regional manager and got a first-hand understanding of customers and their needs. Van Valkenburg went on to senior executive positions with ATC, United Cable, Cox Communications, Paragon Cable and MultiVision. As a senior executive, he supported annual customer satisfaction and employee opinion surveys which frequently resulted in improved customer-facing employee training and more customer-friendly practices and policies.

In 1997, he joined Telewest in the U.K. as CEO/chief operating officer, arriving when the company was in serious financial straits. Soon after he started, he had to lay off 25% of the workforce — about 2,000 people. He visited every office in England and Scotland to deliver the news, a compassionate approach that employees appreciated. Van Valkenburg instituted the integration of all service functions among video, data and voice products, and created competitively priced, customer-friendly product bundles. Within two years, Telewest was listed on the London Stock Exchange and FTSE 100 and recognized by J.D. Power for customer service.

In addition to time with his family, Van Valkenburg volunteers with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church’s World Mission Board, interviewing prospective missionaries and annually providing feedback to existing missionaries based on personal and supervisor evaluations. Over the last 12 years, he and his wife, Doris, have visited missionaries in 25 countries in South America, Africa, Europe and Asia. With his local church group, he has arranged the drilling of more than 40 wells averaging 500 feet deep in the Ghanaian bush. Access to clean water from these wells meant that people, especially the women who are traditionally responsible for the chore, no longer needed to obtain polluted water from swamps and muddy streams. 

Van Valkenburg advises the industry’s future leaders to get to know their customers and employees. “Know the people who are making the business happen every day and the customers who are paying the bill,“ he said. “Make sure employees are recognized for what they do.“ He often notes that he tries to practice the Platinum Rule: “Do unto others as they would have done unto them. Focus on those with whom you work as unique individuals.”

Tom E. Adams
Former Executive VP, Field Operations
Charter Communications

A career in cable was not on Tom Adams’s radar when he was starting out. The only child of a widowed mother with limited resources, Adams started working construction jobs in Binghamton, New York, at age 14. After earning a bachelor of science in engineering from Florida International University, he interviewed with a couple of big engineering firms. “I wasn’t really thrilled about either of them,” he recalled. 

Broke and looking for a way to “put gas in the car and go to happy hour,” Adams headed home. He ran into a cousin who worked for the local cable company, NewChannels, as it was changing out scramblers for HBO. “He offered to put in a good word for me, and they hired me to do this simple task,” Adams says.

The boss, Jim Streevy, took a liking to Adams and asked him to lead another project when the first one was done. This time, the mission was grounding cable drops. In 1977, he said, “cable was in its infancy and there were limited standards.” Adams and his crew had to check thousands of drops and get them into compliance with the National Electrical Safety Code. 

The spirit Adams found among his fellow employees was contagious. “The enjoyment you saw in their eyes when they went to work … it wasn’t work,“  he recalled. “I thought, ‘There might be a future here for me.’” After a few more technical and construction assignments, Adams entered the NewChannels management training program. System management positions followed, and he led the deployments of Primestar and home security products. 

In 1995, NewChannels merged with Time Warner Cable, which had just started to venture into broadband. Adams’s system in Elmira, New York, became a beta test market for two-way service. “We gave customers storage so they could create their own websites, and people went gaga,” he recalls. Despite some dismay that the first content his customers created was naked photos of themselves, he says introducing broadband was one of the highlights of his career.

Adams rose to executive leadership positions at TWC, moving his family around the country as he progressed. “They made a lot of sacrifices,” he says. He was regional VP of operations serving more than 550,000 Wisconsin customers when former colleagues Tom Rutledge and John Bickham asked him in 2012 to help grow Charter Communications into a great company.  

When Charter merged with TWC and Bright House Networks in 2016, Adams became deeply involved in the largest U.S. cable systems integration in history. He went on to lead field operations for Charter before retiring at the end of 2022. 

He takes special pride in the role he played in developing people and their potential. “Cable is the greatest industry in the world, and it’s going to continue to thrive,” he said. “To do that it’ll take a lot of talented people. You have to invest in people and training.”

Italia Commisso Weinand
Executive VP, Programming and Human Resources
Mediacom Communications 

After a seasick voyage from Italy on the Cristoforo Colombo, 8-year-old Italia Commisso Weinand arrived in New York with her family. Although she didn’t speak a word of English, she made friends quickly and was fluent in her new language within six months. Her parents kept close tabs on their outgoing daughter, so when she was 11, she jumped at the chance to work at her eldest brother’s pizzeria. “That was freedom,” she recalls. She has been enthusiastic about work and helping others ever since.

Commisso Weinand hoped to become a clothing designer. Although she was accepted at the Fashion Institute of Technology, her parents wouldn’t allow her to commute from the Bronx to Manhattan’s Garment District. She managed to feed her interest in fashion with a job at Gimbels department store where she discovered her talent for sales and customer service. “At 18, working three hours a day, I was making better money than the full-time ladies,” she says. 

Raised in a Catholic home, she attended Fordham University, where her social consciousness was elevated as she assisted a group of Jesuit priests educating minorities in the South Bronx. Commisso Weinand fully embraced the Jesuit philosophy that education is a force for social change. Her father, Giuseppe, had instilled a similar philosophy. Having lost her dad at the age of 17, she found him again in these men of the cloth who dreamed of a better world. She calls this her “finishing school.”

After Fordham, Commisso Weinand landed a customer service job at Manhattan Cable. There she fell in love with the young industry, learning the business from the ground up. She rose through the ranks over 19 years with Time Warner, Times Mirror Cable, TCI, and Comcast, where she turned around a struggling New Jersey system. 

In 1995, her brother, Rocco Commisso, then chief financial officer of Cablevision Industries, planned to start a new cable company. He needed an operations expert and convinced his sister to join him as co-founder and operations VP of Mediacom Communications. The plan was for Commisso Weinand to work from home three days a week — an appealing proposition for a mother of a 3-year-old son who was deaf. Before long, part-time work became more than full-time, with regular flights from New York to Mediacom’s first cable system in Ridgecrest, California, on top of demanding family obligations. “I got tested a lot,” she said.

Commisso Weinand has said her superpower is empathy. That compassion inspires loyalty from Mediacom employees — she makes a point of spending time with those dealing with significant personal challenges. As an active member of WICT, she has worked to build pay parity for employees and instituted a long-standing commitment to diversity. 

 She advises future industry leaders to focus on the people who work for them. An avid gardener, Commisso Weinand said: “If I don’t pay attention to my garden, it goes haywire. Life is a garden and people are the fruits of that labor.”

‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’
HBO

“Imitation isn’t the sincerest form of flattery; jealousy is,” according to Jeff Schaffer, producer and showrunner of Curb Your Enthusiasm. For more than 20 years, Larry David’s creation has been making entertainment professionals jealous with its uniquely skewed view of the daily annoyances of everyday social life.

Fresh from the nine-season run of his hit Seinfeld on NBC, David recalled: “I had an office at Castle Rock [Entertainment], who were the producers of Seinfeld, and Jeff Garlin was next door. Jeff said to me, ’What are you gonna do now?’ And I said, ‘You know, I'm thinking about going back to standup. I haven't done it in 10 years.’ And he said, ‘You should film it.’ ” David proposed a mockumentary-style special for HBO combining his standup performance with invented background scenes of the routine hassles involved in preparing for the show. The “day in the life” material became the focus of the 1999 special and then the basis for Curb Your Enthusiasm, which debuted in 2000.

Curb could only have come into being on premium cable. The show is a hybrid of carefully constructed plot and almost completely improvised dialogue — an approach unheard of on network television. “Larry wanted to do all the stories he couldn’t do on NBC,” Schaffer said. “HBO gave him the freedom to do what he wanted. They do a great job of letting the artist achieve his vision.” 

The show presents a fictionalized version of the curmudgeonly David’s day-to-day life in Los Angeles at home, at work and around town, where he regularly runs afoul of conventional social norms and falls victim to elaborate misunderstandings. 

“The show’s a hybrid,” Schaffer said. “It’s structure, structure, structure, then improv on top. We tell the actors, ‘You can’t make a mistake. We’re gonna play with the scene until we like it.’ The improv feels real because people are really listening to each other. They don’t know what the other person’s going to say. And you get all this great stuff that you weren’t expecting.” The approach works as effectively with regular cast members Garlin, Cheryl Hines, Susie Essman, and J.B. Smoove as it does with a virtual Who’s Who of celebrity guest stars.

Schaffer believes audiences love the wish-fulfillment they find in Curb Your Enthusiasm — its characters’ ability to say things they imagine saying in similar infuriating situations. He said that goes for David as well. “If real Larry said all the things TV Larry does, real Larry would be in jail,“ Schaffer said. “He aptly said this year, ‘I’m coming back because I’ve realized it’s much more fun to play Larry David than it is to be Larry David.’ ” 

Schaffer said he and David aren’t inclined to think about legacy. “We never sit back and reflect,” he says. With a new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm in production, he said, “I’m very proud of how funny it is, that it still manages to shock and surprise people, be culturally relevant, say things about right now, and say things that are universal.”

Douglas V. Holloway
President, Homewood Media

Growing up in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Doug Holloway remembers good friends and a large, close-knit family. In 1964, Holloway and his friends were bused from their Black neighborhood to school in an upper-middle-class white part of town. “The kids were pretty accepting of us,” he recalled, but faculty and administrators were another story. “We had to eat lunch in a dingy room next to the school’s boiler room. When we went outside for recess, we weren’t allowed to interact with the local kids.” High school was worse, and the kids were violent. Nevertheless, he said, “we endured, and we prevailed.”

Holloway got the television bug at age 4, when he appeared on Romper Room, a local children’s show. He studied journalism at Northeastern University and then transferred to Emerson College’s television production program. At a news-writing job with a Boston radio station, the Black general manager advised him to create a 20-year career plan. (He later shared that advice with his two sons, who followed his path into the entertainment business.) 

Holloway’s long-term goal was to run a television company. After earning an MBA in finance and marketing from Columbia and a marketing job with General Foods, he joined the strategic planning group at CBS in 1979. Each member of the group had to pick an area of focus. “I was the least senior person in the room, so I got stuck with new technology — cable, subscription TV, satellite delivery.” That led to work as part of the four-person affiliate relations team who launched CBS Cable. Holloway spent weeks on the road visiting cable systems in more than 30 states. He found cable “new and exciting. The [broadcast] network was stodgy and stuck in the old ways — a very closed old boys’ club.” Although CBS offered him a job with the network when CBS Cable was shuttered, he stuck to his plan. Along the way, he co-founded the organization now known as the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications.

In 1983 Kay Koplovitz hired him to help create USA Network’s affiliate-relations department. Over the next 21 years, Holloway helped USA become a cable success story. He was also deeply involved with the industry’s marketing organization, CTAM, serving as board chair and becoming its longest-tenured board member. Holloway was named USA’s president of affiliate relations in 2004, achieving the goal of his original 20-year plan. Still in his 40s, his new plan “was to diversify my skill set and join more boards of companies.”

When NBC purchased USA Networks in 2004, Holloway was named president of cable investments, managing joint venture companies. Sitting on the boards of these companies fit right into his new plan. In 2011, he became president of multichannel distribution at ION Media Networks.

Holloway’s current venture, Homewood Media, is named to pay homage to the community that shaped him. The organization created two urban-focused, multicultural services, URBN-TV and UKW Media, that stream on Roku and Vizio smart TVs, with plans to expand to more platforms. 

Julie M. Laulis
Chair of the Board, President and CEO
Cable One

When Tom Might first asked her to succeed him as CEO of CableOne in 2017, Julie Laulis said no. Although she had been successfully running operations as president and chief operating officer for several years, she had never envisioned herself focusing externally on investors and bankers more than on running the business. “I was afraid I wouldn’t live up to the position,” she said. She talked to her husband, John, who told her she had to take the job to set an example for their daughter. Then she talked to her team. “I said, ‘I’m going to do this because I think it’s best for all of us to have someone you know rather than an outside hire, but we have to understand that we’re all in this together.” Laulis then steeped herself in other companies’ annual reports and cold-called CEOs she admired to ask for guidance.

Laulis’s strong sense of responsibility goes way back. The eldest child of a nurse and an army colonel at the Pentagon, she was a latch-key kid in charge of her three younger brothers — one of whom was blind and mentally disabled — when her parents were at work. As a business student at Indiana University, she switched from microeconomics to a telecom program with a cable television focus that appealed to her. “It was a new industry, so I figured a woman would have a chance,” she recalls. When she graduated, the marketing VP of Arlington Cable Partners offered her a $4.25/hour job as a CSR. Within a week, she was promoted to CSR supervisor. 

From there, she went on to increasingly responsible marketing positions with Jones Intercable. At the company’s Alexandria, Virginia, system in the 1990s, she was instrumental in early forays into telephone and internet service and responded to an overbuild threat from Bell Atlantic.

When Jones Intercable was sold in 1999, Laulis moved to Phoenix with her young family to lead marketing for Cable One’s Norwest division. She was promoted to division VP of operations after a year, and CEO Might offered to send her to Harvard for an Executive MBA. With a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old to raise, her husband offered to put his growing career on pause so she could pursue the 10-week program. “I couldn’t do what I’m doing if John wasn’t doing what he does.” Today, she said, both her daughter and son “believe they can do anything.”

Whenever she can, Laulis still tries to spend time in the field with Cable One associates, encouraging them to think big. “If a CSR can become CEO, you can do whatever you want,” she tells them. “I’ve gotten more opportunities than a person should ever expect. I’ve been exposed to some of the greatest role models. Talent is everywhere, but opportunities — not necessarily. How can we create more opportunities where people can display their talent?”

Wonya Lucas
President and CEO
Hallmark Media

A friend once told Wonya Lucas that data is her love language. The characterization tickles her, and she doesn’t dispute it. Her impressive cable programming career is a testament to the value of understanding and acting on the data about your audience and what they care about.

As a child, Lucas enjoyed performing, but liked the sense of discovery she found in science. Growing up in a baseball-loving family — her father, Bill Lucas, was general manager of the Atlanta Braves, and her uncle was the legendary Hank Aaron — she enjoyed discussing the Braves lineup and player strengths and weaknesses with her dad. Those conversations contributed greatly to her belief in the importance of being a team player.

With a bachelor of sciene in industrial and systems engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, she worked as a sales engineer with Westinghouse for several years before deciding to pursue an MBA. While studying finance and marketing at Wharton, Lucas became intrigued with the entertainment industry. “I didn’t know you could be in the entertainment business until I went to Wharton,” she said. After an internship with Turner Broadcasting, she went to Los Angeles to find a job. Two attractive offers came her way: one from Clorox and the other from an entertainment company. “The people at Clorox said, ‘Come here and get good brand management experience. You can go into entertainment later, but what you can’t do is go into entertainment and then come back to a place like this,’ ”Lucas recalled. “I went to Clorox and they were right.”

A brand management job at Coca-Cola followed, and then Lucas contacted Julia Sprunt, her former boss at Turner, to see about returning. “I was an anomaly,” she says. “Julia set up 37 first interviews for me, and nobody would hire me because I was this MBA working at Coca-Cola.” Then-Turner CEO Terry McGuirk and Sprunt created a corporate marketing manager position for Lucas. Later, as a VP of marketing at TNT, writing a strategic plan for every department earned her a seat at the Turner leadership table. Named senior of marketing and research at CNN, she focused intently on listening to consumers, giving some employees T-shirts that said, “You are not the target audience.”

After that, Lucas’s star kept rising at The Weather Channel, Discovery Communications, TV One and in public broadcasting. Throughout her career, work-life balance and time with her daughters was non-negotiable. “I always made sure I worked for family-friendly bosses who knew my family was a priority,“ she said. 

In 2020, she was offered the top job at Crown Media Family Networks — now Hallmark Media — overseeing the company’s portfolio of entertainment brands. She is building on Hallmark’s strong emotional connection with consumers through more diverse, authentic storytelling. “Pitch a bigger tent,” she advises aspiring leaders. “Lean into the fandom! Lead with the core audience, and balance that with the opportunity audience. The key is to create content that resonates with both.”

NEW YORK — Six cable industry veterans are set to be recognized September 15 when The Cable Center’s 2022 Cable Hall of Fame returns as a live, red-carpet event at New York’s Ziegfeld Ballroom. 

It’s the first time the celebration will be staged in person since 2019, as the 2020-21 event was held virtually. 

The honorees profiled on the following pages were selected for their groundbreaking leadership and entrepreneurship. They include cable operators, technologists, programmers and public policy advocates. 

“Our 2022 Cable Hall of Fame class represents the ‘best of the best’ of our industry,” Michael Willner, chairman of The Cable Center board of directors and CEO of Penthera Partners, said. “We are also thrilled to welcome everyone back to the red carpet for our Cable Hall of Fame celebration this fall in New York.”

The six new Hall of Famers will be honored alongside a pair of former cable executives — the late Bill Daniels and recently retired Cox Communications CEO Patrick Esser — as the 2021 and 2022 recipients, respectively, of the Bresnan Ethics in Business Award. 

Daniels, who died in 2000, was a pioneering cable operator who later became one of the industry’s most influential cable brokers, facilitating many industry-shaping deals. He was also an active philanthropist and a substantial donor to the University of Denver’s business school, now the Daniels College of Business. He spent his final years laying plans for the Daniels Fund, now one of the largest foundations in the Rocky Mountain region. 

Esser retired in 2021 after 15 years as CEO of Cox Communications and 42 years with the Atlanta-based operator. During his tenure as CEO, Cox earned many accolades for celebrating its diverse people, suppliers, communities, products and the characteristics that make each one unique.

The Bresnan Award recognizes the late William J. Bresnan, founder of Bresnan Communications and a longtime chairman of The Cable Center. 

“Bill and Pat’s commitment to the creation and growth of the cable industry, as well as their history of supporting innumerable philanthropic endeavors is truly inspirational,” The Cable Center president and CEO Diane Christman said in a press release. “We are delighted to honor them with the Bresnan Award.”

Once again, the honoree profiles were reported and written by Erica Stull for The Cable Center. For more on the Hall of Fame gala, go to cablehalloffame.com. 

Patricia Jo Boyers 
President/CEO & Co-Founder, Boycom Cablevision
Chairman of the Board of Directors, ACA Connects 

Patty Boyers has always been the kind of person who sees what needs to be done, and does it. Raised on a row-crop farm in Southeastern Missouri, she grew up accustomed to hard work and self-reliance. Her parents, she said, “knew how to do so much with so little, they could do anything with nothing at all.” She still uses her mother’s hoe and her father’s sharpening file in her large home garden. Boyers was studying journalism at the University of Missouri when her father fell ill, requiring multiple bypass surgeries. She returned home to the farm to help out.

Boyers was in love with a local plumber who “had big dreams about not being a plumber.” Steve Boyers had a small trencher and loved machinery — the bigger the better. The couple married and got into cable construction and custom road boring. They worked together — he as an equipment operator, she as a swamper and bookkeeper for Boyers Communications, contracting with telecom companies. 

In the early 1990s, the Boyerses decided they wanted cable TV at home. The nearest cable operator wasn’t interested in crossing a national forest and dealing with the U.S. Forestry Service, which would have been necessary to deliver service to their area. The couple counted up neighbors, figured there were enough to support a small operation and Boycom Cablevision was born. The process of obtaining that U.S. Forestry permit launched Boyers’s interest in the legislative process. “We learned real quick that you have to be politically active if you’re ever going to get a bureaucracy to do anything,” she said.

Boyers doesn’t see herself as a visionary entrepreneur, but as a practical one who turns big ideas into reality. “I have learned that the harder you work, the luckier you seem,” she said. 

Kevin Casey
President, Northeast Division
Comcast Cable 

Kevin Casey recalls the early days of the modern internet as “one of the most fun and entrepreneurial periods of my life.” Running engineering for Continental Cable at the time and representing the company with CableLabs, he was well-positioned to help nurture the commercial deployment of the internet as it moved beyond academia and the Department of Defense’s research agency. That work would help revolutionize an industry, and, Casey said, “our industry has changed the world.”

Today, as president of Comcast’s Northeast Division, Casey is at the forefront of broadband development, leading an operation serving millions of customers across 14 Northeastern states from Maine through Virginia and the District of Columbia.

The journey began in Long Island, New York. Casey had decided to become a U.S. Secret Service agent, inspired by a football coach who had served there. While in college, Casey got a summer job with the local cable company, climbing poles and running cable. “It gave me the bug,” he said. He later joined Cablevision Systems full-time to build one of the country’s first urban cable systems, in Boston.

He got a business science degree in electronic technology while also working and learning the cable industry. Cablevision led to Continental and then to MediaOne, where he moved into operations. He was executive VP of operations for AT&T Broadband before joining Comcast in 2002.

Chris Lammers 
COO Emeritus and Senior Executive Adviser
CableLabs 

Doctor, lawyer, CableLabs chief: Chris Lammers’s love of learning has led him to varied educational and career pursuits, culminating in 25 years with the industry’s innovation and research and development lab as chief operating officer.

Growing up in California’s San Fernando Valley, Lammers set his sights on medical school, but decided partway through his undergrad education that business was more appealing than a medical career. With a B.S. in psychology from Stanford University and extensive coursework in economics, he attended the University of Chicago’s JD-MBA program. “My objective was to use law school as the foundation for a career in business, gain experience across a number of different industries, find what I liked and what challenged me, and get into that business,” he said.   

Landing at law firm Cooper, White & Cooper in San Francisco, he became lead attorney for Western Communications, the cable division of the firm’s client, Chronicle Publishing Company. He was a junior partner at the law firm when Ed Allen, Western’s CEO, offered him a job. Lammers went on to become CEO.

He joined CableLabs as chief operating officer in 1997 — the year the organization introduced DOCSIS 1.0 and, with it, the dawn of the broadband revolution. Now “semi-retired”, he continues to handle special projects as COO emeritus, with primary focus on supporting SCTE and its integration into CableLabs.

Tina Perry 
President
OWN TV Network & OTT Streaming 

Tina Perry was enthusiastic about the entertainment industry long before she knew it was a business she could be a part of. When she started college at Stanford, she said she had no idea how television was made; she just loved to consume it. 

Perry’s father owned Black barbershops in Oklahoma City, which inspired
her own entrepreneurial urge. She decided to pursue a career on the business side of entertainment and media. A mentor advised her that law school would be a good way to prepare. “Technically, the whole [entertainment] industry is a negotiation,” she was told. She attended law school at Harvard.

With no show business connections and college debt to pay off, Perry joined a
New York law firm immediately after graduation, working on IPOs and governance matters for corporate clients. She kept networking and educating herself on the ins and outs of the entertainment industry. 

Her patience was rewarded when she was hired to work in the legal department at VH1. She later transferred to MTV in Los Angeles.

Perry heard that Oprah Winfrey was hiring for a planned cable network, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. She joined OWN as VP of business and legal affairs in 2009. The network launched two years later. 

In 2019, Perry was named president of OWN, with responsibility for all operational and creative areas of the network, and now also oversees OWN’s digital division. 

John Porter 
CEO
Telenet Group Holding 

A world traveler since childhood, John Porter has always had a spirit of adventure. His father was in advertising and moved the family to London in the early days of commercial television. Porter became interested in world history and geography as he grew up, and lived in the former Yugoslavia for two years before returning to the United States as a young adult.

After receiving a history degree from Kenyon College, Porter was living in New York with four roommates. Porter thought he saw potential in cable TV. He started knocking on cable company doors, and found a receptive ear at TelePrompTer, soon to become Group W Cable. His boss-to-be said, “if you speak Croatian, you’re smart enough to join our management development program.” 

He moved up quickly at Group W, Warner Cable and then Time Warner Cable. He was looking for an international opportunity when one arose to build a new cable company in Australia. He started AUSTAR, a Liberty Global company, and led it from 1995-2012, when it was acquired. Porter remembers the ’90s at AUSTAR as the most fun times of his career. 

In 2013, Porter became CEO of Telenet, Belgium’s leading telecom and entertainment provider. Under his leadership, Telenet has diversified its portfolio, built the largest 1 Gigabit-per-second broadband network in Europe, made moves in entertainment and is generally seen as a trailblazer in European telecom and entertainment. 

The Hon. Michael K. Powell 
President & CEO, NCTA–The Internet & Television Association
Former Chairman, FCC

Michael Powell’s path toward positions at the top of the U.S. communications landscape led from Vietnam, where he was born while his father, future Secretary of State Colin Powell, was serving there. Powell grew up in the military and attended William & Mary on an ROTC scholarship. At 24, while on a training mission with the U.S. Army’s 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Germany, a catastrophic jeep accident set him in a new direction away from a planned military career.

Powell went to work at the Department of Defense, and to law school at Georgetown. He served as a clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and at a private law firm, and then joined the Department of Justice as chief of staff with the Antitrust Division.

He had a long-standing fascination with communications technology, and in 1997 President Bill Clinton nominated Powell for an open seat on the Federal Communications Commission. In 2001, President George W. Bush named him chairman.

At the FCC, Powell developed a special appreciation for the cable industry. Five years after he left the commission, NCTA approached him with its top job. As its leading spokesperson, Powell said, “There’s a great deal of integrity, a sense of history, and pragmatism in the industry that allows us to represent members in an honest, forthright way. … They’re also shockingly innovative.” ▪️

The Cable Center said Tuesday that it has named industry veteran Camilla Formica as its new chief program officer, a role where she will work alongside CEO Diane Christman to accelerate the next phase of the organization’s Vision 2025 strategic plan.

Formica has more than 33 years of experience in the cable industry and most recently served as chief revenue officer at NCTI. As chief program officer at The Cable Center, Formica will focus on the continued expansion of its Intrapreneurship Academy as well as other programs including its C5 consumer experience initiative and its Crosscut webinar series. 

Formica has a long track record in the industry, joining NCTI in 2010 after serving as International Fiber Communications’ corporate VP, sales. She also held leadership roles at Metromedia/Worldcom and ICG. She began her career at Metromedia Communications in Southern California.  

In May, she was recognized by The WICT Network-Rocky Mountain with the Mentor of the Year award and in September will be inducted into the 56th class of Cable TV Pioneers.

“Camilla is a respected leader and recognized mentor in our industry who brings the experience, relationships, and drive to move The Cable Center forward,” Christman said in a press release. “Working with Camilla, our team will deliver on our mandate to evolve The Cable Center by supporting leaders who are defining a new era for our industry.”

The Cable Center unveiled the Vision 2025 initiative in January 2021, a five-year plan to expand programs and bolster the organization’s brand and role as its members transform into connectivity companies. Vision 2025 will culminate with the Cable Center’s 40th anniversary.

Being a part of that strategy and its evolution and the chance to work with Christman and the rest of the Cable Center team — which she called a “once-in-a lifetime opportunity” — was one of the key reasons Formica was drawn to the job.   

“To me this is the opportunity to have an impact on leaders, and to have an impact on a grander scale, the industry,” Formica said in an interview. “It was such a great opportunity as well as to lead what is really a once-in-a-lifetime mission, the Vision 2025 strategy. … I think we’re really just scratching the surface on Vision 2025 on the things that are to come with the Cable Center." 

While the center’s Intrapreneurship Academy is a cornerstone, Formica added that other programs like the Cable Center Hall of Fame, C5 customer experience initiative and other programs will be important as well. 

“On top of that we’re really building out more programming to look at beyond Intrapreneurship Academy, things like our Crosscut webinar series, our symposium that is coming up, so as we continue to evolve as the thought leaders in the industry and really looking at innovation and big thinking and agility and all of the really big foundational learnings we’re looking at and introducing to the industry, from the Cable Center side, that’s what we’re going to be focusing on at least through 2025.”

Customer service is another area that is likely to see a boost, as cable operators shift toward a self-install model and other industries build fiber and, in some cases, like electric companies, begin to offer in-home broadband for the first time. 

“People are going into a customer’s home for the first time in the history of their company,” Formica said. “They have no idea what customer service is. There is such a strong need to have customer experience training, education and all of that in our industry. I think we’re really well-suited to provide a really excellent program at C5 and we’re got the right team there within our internal C5 team running the program. I think you’re going to see a real evolution there as well in the next couple of years.” 

While there are no plans to beef up staffing at the Cable Center programs in the near term, Formica said that continued participation from members and the industry will be key to its success.

“We would love for people to reach out to us that are interested; if it’s operators, if it’s whatever,” Formica said. “If they want to host some of this training at their organization, we would love for people to step up and do that.” ■

 The Cable Center said Wednesday that it has named two former cable executives — the late Bill Daniels and retired Cox Communications CEO Patrick Esser — as recipients of its 2021 and 2022 Bresnan Ethics in Business Award.

The award recognizes the late William J. Bresnan, founder and chairman of Bresnan Communications and longtime chairman of the board of The Cable Center. The award will be presented at the 25th annual Cable Hall of Fame celebration, September 15 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York.

"Bill and Pat’s commitment to the creation and growth of the cable industry, as well as their history of supporting innumerable philanthropic endeavors is truly inspirational," The Cable Center president and CEO Diane Christman said in a press release. "We are delighted to honor them with the Bresnan Award."

Daniels, who died in 2000, is the 2020 Bresnan awardee and was an early pioneer in the cable industry. He started out building cable systems in the western part of the country, later forming Daniels & Associates, which became the consummate cable broker, facilitating many deals that shaped the cable business. He also was an active philanthropist,  providing significant support to innovative education efforts. He founded Young Americans Bank in 1987, the world's only bank exclusively for kids, and made substantial donations to the University of Denver to incorporate ethics, values, and personal integrity into the business school curriculum. The business school was later renamed the Daniels College of Business in his honor.

Daniels spent his final years laying plans for the Daniels Fund, which is now one of the largest foundations in the Rocky Mountain region, continuing his legacy of compassion and generosity across Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming through grants, scholarships, and an ethics initiative.

"On behalf of the Daniels Fund, I am honored to accept this award for Bill Daniels," Daniels Fund president and CEO Hanna Skandera said in a press release. "He would have been extremely proud to receive this recognition along with Pat. He dedicated his life to the cable industry and to giving back to his community. His commitment to ethics and to being a steward of the next generation of leaders was unrivaled and we continue to see the impact of that commitment today."

Esser retired in 2021 after 15 years as CEO of Cox. A 42-year veteran of the company — he joined Cox in 1979 — during his tenure as CEO, Cox earned many accolades for celebrating its diverse people, suppliers, communities, products and the characteristics that make each one unique. Esser has personally been recognized with several industry awards including the Cable Advertising Bureau’s President’s Award, NCTA’s Vanguard Award for Leadership, Multichannel News’ Executive of the Year, NAMIC’s Living Legend Award and Hall of Fame inductions by both The Cable Center and Broadcasting+Cable

Also: Cable Industry Execs Salute Cox’s Patrick Esser

Esser currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of C-SPAN as well as a national Trustee and member of the Board of Governors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. He also served many years on both the board of CableLabs and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.

“I am thrilled to accept the Bresnan Award,” Esser said in a press release. “Bill Bresnan was not only a mentor, but also a friend, and I greatly admired his passion for our industry and to doing what is right in today’s business world. I am humbled to be named this year’s award recipient and I am thrilled to be recognized alongside Bill Daniels.”

The Bresnan Ethics in Business Award was created to honor outstanding men and women in the cable industry who best exemplify Bill Bresnan’s long-standing commitment to ethics in business, and demonstrating societal, community, and philanthropic engagement.

“Bill and Pat have been two of the most passionate and innovative members of our industry. Their dedication to people and philanthropy exemplifies what the Bresnan Award is all about,” Michael Willner, chairman and CEO of Penthera Partners and chairman of The Cable Center’s board of directors, said in a press release. “Pat has shown outstanding leadership at the helm of Cox Communications and his dedication to our industry and to supporting his community is extraordinary. Bill helped found the cable industry and his entrepreneurial spirit was at the core of its growth and success. We are honored to recognize both Bill and Pat.” ▪️

The Cable Center said Tuesday (January 11) that it has named industry veteran Diane Christman president and CEO, replacing Jana Henthorn, who retired in December. 

Christman worked with Henthorn to create the organization's five-year strategic planning initiative, Vision 2025, which will shape its offerings to further support innovation and intrapreneurship, symposia and thought leadership.   

“Diane is a bold leader and born connector who will bring big ideas to her new role as president and CEO of The Cable Center,” said Michael Willner, chairman of The Cable Center board and CEO of Penthera Partners, in a press release. “She understands how to create, cultivate, and maintain strategic relationships and partnerships that allow organizations to thrive. Diane is the natural choice for this moment in the evolution of the connectivity industry and The Cable Center.” 

Christman joined The Cable Center in 2006 as VP, marketing and development. She was promoted to senior VP, programs and development in 2009 and senior vice president, development and chief program officer in 2019. Since she joined the organization, Christman has developed and implemented many of its experiential programs, academic partnerships, events, and work to curate its collection of entrepreneurial accounts and objects.

“I am energized and ready to serve as The Cable Center’s new president and CEO,” Christman said in a press release. “It’s an honor to empower our industry’s innovators through our programs and experiences and inspire their work to drive change within their organizations.”

Christman will lead an effort to advance The Cable Center in the next phase of its Vision 2025 strategic plan. “We represent and reflect an industry made up of visionaries and doers,” Christman said. “Now is the time for big ideas. In 2022, we will innovate and evolve our organization in concert with our industry with an array of compelling offerings.”

The Vision 2025 initiative includes expanding The Cable Center’s Intrapreneurship Academy and creating a vibrant community for resource and idea-sharing. As president and CEO, Christman will advance the implementation of Vision 2025 in collaboration with The Cable Center team and board after co-leading the effort in 2020 and 2021.  ■ 

The Cable Center said Tuesday that it has elected four new members to its board of directors -- National Cable Television Cooperative CEO Lou Borrelli, NCTA -- The Internet & Television Association chief of staff Nilda Gumbs; Curiosity president and CEO Clint Stinchcomb and Comcast Central Division president Christine Whitaker. Each of the new board members will serve a two-year term. 

“The opportunity to collaborate with such distinguished leaders on our Cable Center Board is an honor and a privilege," The Cable Center board chair and CEO of Penthera Partners Michael Willner said in a press release. "Their inspiring leadership, business acumen, and unmatched industry expertise will support The Cable Center as we advance innovation and intrapreneurship to help grow our thriving and expanding connectivity industry.”

Borrelli was named CEO of the NCTC in May, and has spent more than four decades as a media executive, entrepreneur, investor and advisor. As CEO of the NCTC, Borrelli represents more than 700 broadband and cable operators operating in all 50 states and the U.S. territories, serving 40 million video and broadband connections.

A seasoned government affairs and communications professional with more than 25 years experience, Gumbs joined the NCTA in 1994, and before being named chief of staff, most recently served as VP of external affairs where she was an integral part of the state government relations team responsible for working with state and local legislators and various intergovernmental groups on policy issues.

Another 25-year-plus industry veteran, Stinchcomb joined Curiosity in 2017 as chief distribution officer, becoming CEO in 2018. A long-time Discovery Inc. executive, where he worked closely with Discovery and Curiosity founder John Hendricks, Stinchcomb oversees Curiosity’s flagship CuriosityStream streaming service, its linear Curiosity Channel, Curiosity Studios original programming, and One Day University. 

As  president of Comcast’s Central Division, Whitaker manages about 27,000 Comcast employees with more than 12.7 million customer relationships throughout 15 states. She most recently served as senior VP of finance and administration for Comcast's Northeast Division, where she was responsible for overseeing all customer experience and financial aspects of the business for the division, which served about 10.1 million customers.

“The Cable Center Board of Directors and I are honored to welcome our four newest Board Members,” said The Cable Center president and CEO Jana Henthorn in a press release. "Our board members’ incredible collective industry wisdom, experience, insight, and knowledge are instrumental to The Cable Center’s success. We look forward to continuing our work to create an inspiring and innovative future through The Cable Center’s mission and programs.” Henthorn, who is retiring at the end of 2021 after 17 years leading the nonprofit, will remain on the board of directors as the immediate past president. ■

 The pandemic has changed everything — the way we socialize, celebrate, communicate and how we work. 

In the content and connectivity industry, the challenge was twofold: to quickly equip a remote workforce and ensure that people worldwide stayed connected. Proudly, the industry rose to the challenge, exhibiting agility and innovation in a time of crisis. But now that seas are starting to calm, what will organizations continue to do to ride the wave of change?

I talked to industry learning and development experts Diana Monk, VP of learning solutions at Charter Communications; Martha Soehren, former chief talent development officer at Comcast and current executive development adviser and coach; and Allyson Crawford, VP of talent management at WOW! Internet, Cable & Phone, so they could share their thoughts on how the pandemic has changed workplace practices, behaviors and culture. 

Spoiler alert: Even change caused by a global crisis can create opportunities for the future.

Trust, Freedom Speed Innovation  

While most organizations like to say they grant their employees the freedom to innovate, this principle wasn’t really tested until the pandemic caused a sudden and dramatic shift in the way people work. Leaders had no choice but to allow people at all levels to do what they needed to do to get their work done. 

Rather than the feared outcome of remote workers becoming disengaged and unproductive, the new flexibility increased engagement and productivity. “There were a couple of factors that felt very prominent during the pandemic, and one of those was how we built a trust factor that people would get the work done, that they would do what they needed to do,” Soehren said. “And the second of those was that we gave people the freedom to create a new way of working, a new way of being productive, a new way of interacting and I think that those capabilities will help us immensely moving forward in a more intrapreneurial world.”

The Need for Agility Activated Culture Change  

Large industry organizations tend to have bureaucratic cultures, which means big change happens slowly. At the start of the pandemic, organizations needed to adapt extremely quickly, so decision hierarchies and lengthy processes were thrown to the wind — with surprising results.

“It’s amazing to reflect on how quickly we were able to move some employees — for example, our call center agents to their homes,” Monk said. “I was talking with some members of our IT team, and they said, ‘If someone had put a project plan in front of us and said how long will it take you to move your call centers to 50% at home and 50% in the office, the answer would’ve been somewhere around nine months.’ We did it in less than two weeks because we had to. The lesson on the need for agility there is pretty strong.”  

Empowered, Engaged Employees

If employees are given the freedom to try new things without fear of reprisal, the result is greater engagement. Some organizations have realized the benefits of this shift and are planning to build greater agility into their cultural touchstones moving forward. 

“We’re making decisions more quickly,” Crawford said. “It’s exciting. We’re seeing engagement increasing. We’re empowering our employees, our leaders, to make decisions at a different level.” Added Crawford, “I think the real gift of the pandemic is we’re seeing a lot more generation of ideas by even our frontline employees because we’re asking for more opinions.” 

Cultivating leaders from within and engaging high performers are essential to holding on to top talent. Engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave their organization, and this is especially important in the new competitive employment market.

The pandemic has been a crash course in the need for organizations to demonstrate agility and empower employees. Now, our job is to take what we’ve learned and use it to ride the wave of change — lest we risk going under. 

The Cable Center CEO Jana Henthorn said Tuesday that she will retire at the end of the year, ending a 17-year run at the industry organization.  A replacement has not yet been named.

Henthorn joined the Cable Center in 2004 after serving as VP of affiliate sales for A+E Television Networks and earlier, as VP of operations and service fulfillment for Jones Intercable. She became CEO of The Cable Center in 2016.  During her tenure as CEO, Henthorn made strides in helping the industry think tank expand its offerings and cultivate and inspire new leaders, forming the Intrapreneurship Academy in 2017 and creating the Cable Center’s 5-year strategic plan in 2021. 

According to the Cable Center, as of July, the Intrapreneurship Academy has graduated more than 150 industry intrapreneurs from 30 different industry organizations and has expanded its curriculum into four, value-driving courses: Driving Innovation; Leading with Agility; Leading with Agility: Executive Intensive; and Leveraging Customer Experience.  

“Upon becoming CEO, Jana spearheaded the next evolution for The Cable Center, ushering in the era of intrapreneurship and innovation. Jana’s legacy will be her creative, compassionate leadership and impact on our industry’s future leaders through the Intrapreneurship Academy,” said Cable Center board chairman and CEO of Penthera Partners Michael Willner. “The Cable Center’s total assets are at the highest point in the past decade and beyond, and we are positioned for continued growth and success. It has been such a pleasure to collaborate with Jana. She is truly a trailblazer.”

During her watch, Henthorn also advanced the Center’s mission of honoring and celebrating the industry’s many entrepreneurs and founders, sharing their stories and expertise through programs like the Barco Library and Hauser Oral and Video History Project; the Cable Center Customer Centric Consortium (C5); the Edward Breen Technical Archives, and the Mavericks Lecture Series.

“The Cable Center has achieved tremendous growth and success over the last few years. I am extremely proud of all our programs, and the development and launch of our newest program, Intrapreneurship Academy,” Henthorn said in a press release. “Grit, determination, and hard work are the principles upon which our great industry was founded, and I believe that we have been entrusted with the responsibility to inspire the next era of innovation.

“I want to thank my industry colleagues, our wonderful board of directors, our esteemed honorary board of directors, our Cable Center ambassadors, our generous donors, and my many mentors and guides along the way," she continued. "I am incredibly proud of my dedicated Cable Center team of collaborators and ambassadors. We have been able to accomplish so much together due to the collective support, agility, enthusiasm, and diligence of our staff.”

Henthorn will continue as CEO of the Cable Center through the end of the year. Upon her retirement, she will remain on the board of directors as the immediate past president. The board has begun the process of naming her successor.

The Cable Center said Tuesday that its 23rd annual Cable Hall of Fame celebration, slated for Oct. 20, will be held virtually.

“After much thought and consideration, The Cable Center decided that it was best to host our Cable Hall of Fame event virtually at this time,” The Cable Center president and CEO Jana Henthorn said in a press release. “We are eager to gather in spirit with the industry on October 20, and finally have the opportunity to celebrate our honorees.”

The celebration will air on C-SPAN 3 at 8p.m. ET and be available for view simultaneously on C-SPAN.org. The program will also be featured in the C-SPAN Video Library and available for on demand viewing immediately following the event.

The Cable Center had hoped to hold part of the celebration at its regular venue -- The Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City -- allowing those that couldn’t make the trip to participate virtually. Now it appears that the entire offering will be held online. 

The Cable Hall of Fame selected seven industry leaders in March 2020 for this year’s class:  Baker Media CEO Bridget Baker; former Charter Communications EVP IT and Engineering Jim Blackley; Urban One founder and chairwoman Cathy Hughes; TV One chairman and CEO and Urban One CEO Alfred C. Liggins III; Cable Pioneer Jeff Marcus; Comcast Cable president and CEO Dave Watson; and WarnerMedia News & Sports president and president CNN Worldwide Jeff Zucker.

The Bresnan Ethics in Business Award will also be presented to Ted Turner, Environmentalist and Philanthropist, during the Cable Hall of Fame celebration.

“This year has proven that our industry is extremely resilient and creative, and the Cable Hall of Fame will be no different,” Michael Willner, president and CEO of Penthera Partners and chairman of The Cable Center’s Board of Directors, said in a press release. “We have some fun surprises in store as we roll out the red carpet virtually for our honorees and we are thrilled that C-SPAN has agreed to air this engaging celebration. We can’t wait to induct our 2020 class and hope that everyone will support this must-see event by not only viewing but also through our unique sponsorship opportunities.”

The Cable Center is still confirming its plans for 2021 honorees. For more information on the celebration, visit www.cablehalloffame.com.

The Cable Center unveiled its five-year plan Jan. 19, including the expansion of its Intrapreneurship Academy, in an effort to bolster its brand and role as members evolve into connectivity companies.  

The Cable Center said its team has been working for the past year with 34 industry leaders and experts on all facets of its business plan -- from brand to finance to program development -- and now is focused on implementation, including continuing to host industry conferences, panel discussions, events like the Cable Hall of Fame and maintaining a strong link with academia.

“Through this detailed work, we know affinity for The Cable Center runs deep among cable veterans and there is continued desire to modernize and advance our industry innovation story,” The Cable Center CEO Jana Henthorn said in a press release. “We take our responsibility to uphold and preserve our industry’s legacy seriously. By drawing on our depth of knowledge around the achievements of the original entrepreneurs, we enable and inspire a new generation of connectivity industry innovators.”

The Cable Center is addressing that shift toward connectivity, especially amid the COVID-19 crisis, through the expansion of the Intrapreneurship Academy. Citing a 2020 McKinsey Survey of corporate executives, where 85% of those asked said they were concerned that the pandemic would have a lasting impact on customer needs, but only 21% had the expertise, resources, and commitment to successfully pursue new growth -- the Center believes a beefed up academy can help.

The Cable Center said it will relaunch the Intrapreneurship Academy brand and its website, while also expanding its course offerings. The Center also will provide a community to share resources and ideas, publish data and information on intrapreneurship, agility, and the customer experience (CX); and tap top industry leaders as course speakers and mentors.

“The connectivity industry is ever-expanding. As our industry evolves, so does The Cable Center,” said Chris Lammers, chief operating officer of CableLabs and member for The Cable Center Board of Directors Executive Committee, in a press release. “They are making the right choices to keep pace with change and to develop our greatest source of innovation – our people.”

Formerly known as one stand-alone course, Intrapreneurship Academy now includes two courses, with more on the horizon. According to The Cable Center, 164 leaders have graduated from the flagship course Driving Intrapreneurship (formerly known as Intrapreneurship Academy) and this spring will launch Leading With Agility, a course designed to help seasoned and emerging leaders develop skills during a period of unplanned change and unexpected opportunity. Their premier CX course is also scheduled to launch in late 2021.

Liberty Global has been an enthusiastic backer of the Intrapreneurship program and also helped shape the Center’s five-year plan. In a press release, Liberty Global SVP and chief people officer Amy Blair, also a member of the Center’s board of directors, said the company has invested in the Academy since its inception in 2017, and looks forward to the future.  

“We have seen firsthand the extraordinary benefits of Intrapreneurship Academy for our participants and how the approach complements what we do at Liberty Global,” Blair said in the release. “Our people have honed their skills to think more innovatively and to contribute in new ways. We are excited to continue our partnership.”

The Cable Center said Tuesday that it has named cable icon Ted Turner as the recipient of the 2020 Bresnan Ethics in Business Award. The award will be presented at the Center’s 23rd annual Cable Hall of Fame celebration, scheduled for April 29, 2021, at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York.

An entrepreneur, philanthropist, sportsman, and environmentalist, Turner founded CNN, the first 24-hour cable news channel and TBS, the nation’s first “superstation” using satellite technology to carry its signal nationwide. Through Turner Broadcasting, he also purchased the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball team (now owned by Liberty Media) and the Atlanta Hawks professional basketball team (now owned by Apollo Global Management co-founder Tony Wessler). Throughout his career, Turner also launched Cartoon Network, TNT, Turner Classic Movies and served as vice chairman of AOL Time Warner.

“Ted is a true industry trailblazer and his commitment to humanitarian, conservation and environmental causes is incomparable,” The Cable Center CEO Jana Henthorn said in a press release. “We are delighted to honor him with this year’s Bresnan Award.”

A noted philanthropist, Turner has given to many causes but is probably best known for his $1 billion donation to establish the United Nations Foundation to support humanitarian work around the world. He also created the Nuclear Threat Initiative, which sought to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction, and has provided extensive funding to conservation efforts through his Turner Foundation. He launched the charitable Goodwill Games and also signed The Giving Pledge, committing more than half his wealth to good deeds.

“Ted’s passion for the cable industry and his commitment to philanthropy is at the core of the Bresnan Award,” said Michael Willner president and CEO of Penthera Partners and chairman of The Cable Center’s Board of Directors in a press release. “His entrepreneurial aptitude helped to form our industry and his dedication and support of numerous philanthropic and environmental causes is extraordinarily generous and unprecedented. We are honored to recognize him with this year’s Bresnan Award.”

The Bresnan Ethics in Business award was created in 2011 to honor outstanding men and women in the cable industry who best exemplify Bresnan Communications founder and longtime Cable Center chairman Bill Bresnan’s longstanding commitment to ethics in business. Awardees represent the ideals upheld by Bill Bresnan, including continually demonstrating ethical leadership qualities, doing what’s right in the face of adversity, even when it is unpopular, incorporating doing what’s right in everyday life, and demonstrating societal, community, and philanthropic engagement.

“It is an incredible honor to be recognized for accomplishments that were considered by many as genius and maybe a bit outrageous. Creating CNN, pretty much against all odds and with the support of my fellow cable pioneers, was a mission of pure joy and determination, surpassed only by my work and dedication to conservation and the environment,” Turner said in a press release. “Bill was a good guy, and I admired him for his integrity and good works that he upheld through every aspect of his life. My time in the cable industry was a big adventure and I treasure the lifelong friendships I made. I am humbled to receive this year’s Bresnan Award.” 

Turner was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame in 1999, the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2007 and has received a Peabody Award and the Bower Award for Business Leadership from the Franklin Institute. An endowed professorship at the George Washington University’s (GW) School of Media and Public Affairs is also being established in his honor, as well as the creation of the Ted Turner Exhibition Hall and Legacy Gallery at the University of Georgia.

Past recipients include former Continental Cablevision founder Amos B. Hostetter, Jr., former National Cable & Telecommunications CEO and Landmark Communications president Decker Anstrom; former CableVision Industries chief Alan Gerry; C-SPAN founder Brian  Lamb and NCTA executive June Travis. Last year’s winner was the late James Robbins, former CEO of Cox Communications. 

In December, WarnerMedia (which owns CNN) dedicated the news network’s Techwood Campus in Georgia to Turner, who a year prior told 60 Minutes he was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. 

The Cable Center said that due to developments tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is rescheduling its annual Cable Center Hall of Fame dinner to April 29, 2021 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York.

The dinner was originally scheduled for April 30 in New York, but in March said it would be postponed until the fall because of the pandemic. Now that date has been pushed to next year. The Cable Center said more details will follow.

The event will honor seven new inductees -- CEO of Baker Media and co-founder of CNBC Bridget Baker; former Charter Communications EVP of IT Jim Blackley; Urban One founder and chairwoman Cathy Hughes; Urban One CEO and TV One chairman and CEO Alfred Liggins III; Marcus Cable founder and cable pioneer Jeff Marcus; Comcast Cable CEO Dave Watson; and WarnerMedia News & Sports chairman and CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker.

 “We look forward to celebrating our 2020 Cable Hall of Fame class next April,” said Michael Willner, president and CEO of Penthera Partners and chairman of The Cable Center’s Board of Directors in a press release. “The health and safety of our Cable Hall of Fame attendees, honorees, and community has always been our highest priority and we look forward to welcoming everyone to the red carpet for the Cable Hall of Fame celebration next spring at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York.”

Cable Center CEO Jana Henthorn said the organization has been closely monitoring COVID-19 news and guidelines, which helped it make the decision to postpone the event to next year.   

“We are eager to celebrate our 2020 honorees and gather with the industry on April 29, 2021,” Henthorn said in a press release.

The Cable Center named seven industry luminaries to its 2020 Cable Hall of Fame class, tapping a wide range of industry executives who will be feted at an April 30 red carpet event at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York.

The honorees were chosen for leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation in the cable industry. Since 1998, 140 individuals have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“The 2020 Cable Hall of Fame class represents every facet of our industry,” Michael Willner, Penthera CEO and chairman of The Cable Center’s board of directors, said in a statement. “They have helped to change the entertainment world we now live in and continue to create new and innovative video consumption models.”

The 2020 class members are:

Bridget Baker, CEO, Baker Media, and co-founder of CNBC

Jim Blackley, adviser to the CEO and former EVP of IT and engineering, Charter Communications;

Cathy Hughes, founder and chairwoman, Urban One;

Alfred C. Liggins III, CEO of Urban One and chairman and CEO of TV One;

Jeff Marcus, Cable pioneer and founder of Marcus Cable;

Dave Watson, president and CEO, Comcast Cable;

Jeff Zucker, chairman WarnerMedia News & Sports, and president, CNN Worldwide.

“Our industry would not be the same without the significant contributions of the 2020 Cable Hall of Fame honorees,” The Cable Center CEO Jana Henthorn said in a statement. “What an honor it will be to recognize them at our Cable Hall of Fame celebration on April 30.”

In addition to the class of 2020, the ceremony will also recognize this year’s winner of the Bresnan Ethics in Business Award, who had yet to be announced at press time.

Profiles were written by Erica Stull.

For more information on the celebration, visit cablehalloffame.com.

Growing up in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., Dave Watson thought his future would be in soccer. He played for the University of Richmond and even got a U.S. Soccer coaching license. Although he didn’t continue in sports, building and coaching strong teams has always been important to him.

The son of an attorney, Watson thought he might pursue law while studying political science. Instead, he got into the wireless phone business. It was 1984, and the recent breakup of AT&T had made new spectrum available. He opened a Washington, D.C., sales office for Bell Atlantic Mobile, and then moved two years later to Metrophone, a privately owned mobile company, where he handled marketing and sales. By 1991, Metrophone’s owners were entertaining a number of offers to buy the company. Comcast wasn’t among the likely suitors, but was interested in getting into the mobile business. Comcast even recruited Watson for a senior marketing job in Philadelphia, which he declined.

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A few weeks after Watson turned down the offer, Metrophone announced it would, in fact, be sold to Comcast. Assuming he was already out of favor with the new owner, Watson figured he’d soon be out of a job. When a group of Comcast executives arrived at the office, he was ready for the axe to fall and was surprised when CEO and founder Ralph Roberts asked to meet with him privately. “My stomach dropped,” he recalled. “Not only did I think I was about to be fired, but by the founder himself.”

However, he said, “Ralph sat me down and, instead of sending me packing, he laid out his vision and asked me to stay.” Watson remembers this pivotal moment in his career as a “remarkable gesture that, I learned, was very much in character for Ralph.”

Watson joined Comcast Cellular Communications and led the company until its sale in 1999, when he transitioned to Comcast Cable as executive VP of marketing and customer service. “It was an exciting time for the industry, and cable had incredible potential,” he remembered. “Our entire organization was thinking ahead and working to build a next-generation network that today, two decades later, continues to power our technologies and innovation.”

Following Comcast’s 2004 acquisition and integration of AT&T Broadband, Watson was elevated to executive VP of operations, becoming chief operating officer in 2010, and then CEO of Comcast Cable in 2017. He has been responsible for driving Comcast Cable’s operating strategy and execution, leading its emergence as the nation’s largest gigabit speed internet provider and pay TV service and creating a business services organization that is the company’s largest contributor to revenue growth.

Far removed from the soccer field, Watson remains focused on his team. “If you’re part of a team, your job is to make the team successful,” he said. “If you’re leading a team, make sure the members of the team are great. And when you find opportunities, do something about them.”

In 1964, after his parents dropped him off at the University of California at Berkeley, freshman economics student Jeff Marcus wandered over to Sproul Plaza, where “a scraggly-looking guy was giving a speech.” The speaker was Mario Savio, a riot ensued, and Marcus witnessed the start of the year-long student protest that came to be known as the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, a landmark in the civil liberties efforts of the ’60s. He described the experience as “a Forrest Gump moment.”

Like the Tom Hanks character, Marcus has been part of remarkable change. Unlike Forrest, his involvement was far from accidental.

In his junior year, Marcus worked as a garbage truck driver from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. Meanwhile, “my roommate would leave for work at five in the afternoon and be home by nine,” he said. “He was selling cable door to door, and I figured he had a better job and was making twice what I was.” Marcus followed his roommate’s lead and made six sales during his first night in cable.

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After college, Marcus went on to sales and marketing jobs at companies including Sammons Communications, and then started a successful cable brokerage in 1976. But he soon began thinking about becoming a cable operator. “I realized it was better to own the asset than to be the asset,” he said.

Marcus bought a 2,000-subscriber system in Wisconsin. When TCI’s John Malone skeptically asked, “what do you know about operating a cable system?” Marcus replied, “Well, you do it — how hard could it be?” TCI became his partner, and the young entrepreneur started Marcus Communications in 1982 with 9,400 subscribers. The company merged with Western Tele-Communications in 1987 to become WestMarc Communications, with Marcus as CEO. In 1990, he founded Marcus Cable, which ultimately served more than 1.25 million customers in 17 states.

“What attracted me the most was giving people a service they were happy to pay for,” he said. “When your name is on the door, you want to be proud of what you’re offering.”

Marcus Cable was the largest privately-owned MSO when it was sold to Paul Allen’s Charter Communications in 1998. The sale was bittersweet for Marcus. Although he missed running the company, he had been “dedicated to making sure that the people who were involved in the effort had a stake in the outcome. [The sale] made more money for so many people than they could ever have imagined. That was sweet.”

Marcus became president and CEO of AMFM Inc., the nation’s second-largest radio company, and then joined private-equity firm Crestview Partners in 2004, leading investments in OneLink Communications, Insight Communications, the restructuring of Charter Communications and Wide Open West. He retired from Crestview at the end of 2018. He now serves as chairman of WideOpenWest.

Marcus remains bullish on the industry he helped build and grateful for his 52-year career. “It’s been a great ride,” he said.

Cathy Hughes was supposed to follow her mother into music. Her mom played in an all-women’s swing orchestra, the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, and “she was determined that I would be Beyoncé,” her daughter said. Instead, Hughes got into media, where she has been breaking ground for 40 years.

Married and a mother at 17, Hughes began her media career in her hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, where she worked at KOWH, an African American-owned AM radio station. In 1973, the then-single mom moved with her son, Alfred, to Washington, D.C., where she lectured at Howard University’s School of Communications and worked as sales manager for the university’s radio station, WHUR. There, she created the distinctive “Quiet Storm” format that revolutionized urban radio. She would become Washington radio’s first female general manager.

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In 1980, Hughes purchased her first radio station, WOL Washington, applying to 32 banks before finding a lender to help finance the deal. At the AM station, she introduced another new format to the nation’s capital, “Talk from a Black Perspective.” Unable to afford to hire talk-show talent, she became the station’s morning show host. Five years later, Hughes’s son, Alfred Liggins, joined WOL as an account manager. WOL turned its first profit in 1986, and the next year, Hughes bought FM station WMMJ, also in Washington. Her company, Radio One, became an urban radio market leader with stations in multiple formats across the country.

Liggins took on more responsibility as Radio One grew, and in 1994 he took over day-to-day operations, with Hughes as CEO. Hughes said it was a smart move to make the transition when she did, instead of waiting until she was ready to retire, as many heads of family-owned businesses tend to do. “Parents wait too long to let go,” Hughes said. “It’s so hard to give the combination to the vault to the same child who would lose the keys to the front door.” The mother-son business partnership has endured and thrived. Liggins became CEO in 1997; Hughes is chair.

Radio One made its IPO in 1999, and Hughes became the first African-American woman to chair a publicly traded company. Hughes entered the cable industry in 2004 with the launch of TV One, in partnership with Comcast. The new cable channel was just the second entry into the African-American market. By 2006, TV One was available in more than 33 million households. Radio One was renamed Urban One in 2017, and is today a multimedia enterprise with radio stations, cable networks, syndicated programs, websites and marketing properties under its umbrella.

Hughes was inducted into the Black History Hall of Fame in 2000 and has received many awards and honors over the course of her career. In 2016, Howard University announced the naming of the Cathy Hughes School of Communications.

“My goal was always to be of service to my community,” she said.

Alfred Liggins literally grew up in the media business. He was 7 when he and his mother, Cathy Hughes, moved to Washington, D.C. Hughes worked as sales manager at WHUR, Howard University’s commercial radio station, and Liggins would head there every day after school to do his homework.

After high school, Liggins moved to Los Angeles to work in the music business while attending night classes at UCLA. He got a job at Light Records, a gospel music company, but had his eye on secular music. Thinking he had a job lined up at Motown, he quit Light Records. That’s when he learned “my first lesson of employment: never quit the job you have until you are absolutely certain of the job you think you’re going to get,” he said. The Motown job fell through, and Liggins was unemployed.

Hughes convinced her son to return to D.C. to work for her company, Radio One, which consisted of one station, WOL-AM. He joined Radio One as WOL’s account manager. Two years later, Hughes acquired a second station, WMMJ, and kept looking for acquisitions. Liggins worked his way up to president and treasurer as the company grew to three stations. As business partners, Liggins and Hughes made an excellent team. He was the financial expert, while she was the creator of programming that served listeners’ interests.

Before turning over control of Radio One’s operations, Hughes insisted that Liggins get an MBA. He graduated from the Wharton School of Business in 1995. On graduation day, Liggins told his mother that he planned to take Radio One public to enable larger-scale expansion. He was named CEO in 1997, with Hughes as board chair. Radio One went public in 1999, and the IPO made it possible for the company to grow quickly. Today, the Radio One network comprises stations in 16 urban markets.

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The strategy of buying small, underperforming urban stations and refocusing them to serve their communities’ demographics worked well. But Liggins also credits federal diversity and minority broadcast ownership policies for helping Radio One succeed. “I’d like to say that all of our success has been because we’re brilliant operators,” he said. “But no matter how smart you are, if you don’t get an opportunity to perform, you can’t win.”

Cable came into the picture for Liggins in 2004 with the launch of TV One, in partnership with Comcast. The cable channel was just the second to offer African- American entertainment, launching with 2.2 million households. TV One was designed to serve African-American adults who wanted an alternative to BET. Today, TV One serves 59 million households, offering “original programming, classic series, movies and music to its diverse audience of adult black viewers.”

Under Liggins’ leadership, Radio One continued to expand. In 2017, it was renamed Urban One and now comprises cable, radio, syndication, web and marketing properties, the largest U.S. multimedia company dedicated primarily to serving African-American, urban audiences.

The Cable Center named seven industry luminaries for its 2020 Cable Hall of Fame, tapping a wide range of industry executives who will be feted at its red carpet event on April 30 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York.

The honorees were chosen for the leadership, entrepreneurship, and innovation in the cable media industry. Since 1998, 140 leaders have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. The 2020 inductees are:

• Bridget Baker, CEO, Baker Media Inc. and co-founder of CNBC
• Jim Blackley, advisor to the CEO at Charter Communications and former EVP of IT and Engineering;
• Cathy Hughes, founder and chairwoman of Urban One
• Alfred C. Liggins III, CEO of Urban One and chairman and CEO of TV One;
• Jeff Marcus, Cable pioneer and founder of Marcus Cable
• Dave Watson, president and CEO,Comcast Cable
• Jeff Zucker, chairman WarnerMedia News & Sports and president, CNN Worldwide.

“The 2020 Cable Hall of Fame class represents every facet of our industry. They have helped to change the entertainment world we now live in and continue to create new and innovative video consumption models,” said Penthera CEO and chairman of The Cable Center’s board of directors Michael Willner, in a press release.

“Our industry would not be the same without the significant contributions of the 2020 Cable Hall of Fame honorees. What an honor it will be to recognize them at our Cable Hall of Fame celebration on April 30,” said The Cable Center CEO Jana Henthorn in a press release.

For more information on the celebration and to secure sponsorships, visit www.cablehalloffame.com, or call 720-502-7513.

As the director of the field support center for Mediacom Communications, the fifth-largest cable operator in the U.S., I was approached by my boss to participate in a leadership training program with a colleague. I immediately jumped onto my computer to learn more about The Cable Center's Intrapreneurship Academy — also known as “IA” — to see what I was getting myself into.

To my surprise, the educational program was designed to provide mid-tier cable-industry executives with the leadership skills and mindset to become intrapreneurs — to envision and affect change and to innovate within their own organization. Recently, I had been battling an “if It ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality with some colleagues, so the timing could not have been better.

Embracing Change

Hearing phrases like this inside an organization can create a culture that makes many individuals fearful of change. Some of my own team members were reluctant to express their ideas or make recommendations for improvement. Through an ideation session facilitated by IA and our class curriculum, I was able to immediately improve communications with my own team and reduce the negativity that was discouraging innovation. During our ideation session, one associate that doesn’t normally express her opinions proved it was her day to shine and opened up to us. I was so pleased that IA had enabled me to create a forum for our team where she was comfortable enough to share her ideas.

By working with the dean and other participants, I learned to push myself to think more broadly, which opened my eyes to other perspectives. I gained more confidence and mastered negotiation tips to go back to the drawing board and confront the people that were resistant to the “transformation” I envisioned and wanted to see implemented.

My goal for my IA class project was to demonstrate how I could maximize manpower. I needed to ensure all our customers were getting the help, problem-solving and courteous service each and every time they asked for support. That meant my entire team had to be available whenever and wherever — even if budgets were tight or not available. 

”I no longer wanted to work in just my silo; I was inspired to connect.” 

Life after the program also changed for me, as I became more aware of the needs and challenges of other departments within my organization. I no longer wanted to work in just my silo; I was inspired to connect. I reached out to the training department and was simply blown away that by having a better understanding of what they were doing — and why — equipped me to position my Workforce Management solution in a whole new light.

Expecting the Unexpected

Based on my findings, I was able to work through and present a budget strategy. It wasn’t rocket science, but it made all the difference in the world. I requested a budget for the unexpected, like the field work that comes due to weather, or other delays that could be estimated based on historical data. Thanks to IA, I successfully changed the way budgets were allocated to cover field work for “pinches” that arose from delays and increased the number of satisfied Mediacom customers.

The advice I would give to other intrapreneurs is to trust yourself, open your eyes, listen to those around you and keep pushing for what you believe in. If you’re looking for a worthwhile training program, and an amazing support system, I highly recommend the Intrapreneurship Academy.

Lagwana Tyler is director, field support center at Mediacom Communications and a participant in The Cable Center’s Intrapreneurship Academy, which consists of two days of on-site training at The Cable Center in Denver, followed by six weeks of online classroom instruction, and concluding with a two-day capstone back at The Cable Center. Classes are held throughout the year. For more information and to register, visitwww.intrapreneurshipacademy.org.

The Cable Center has announced its Hall of Fame class of 2019, an eclectic list of men and women who have made their respective marks on the cable industry over the past several years. The honorees will be inducted during the 22nd annual Cable Hall of Fame celebration, held on May 2 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City.

The honorees were chosen for their leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation in media. Since 1998, 133 leaders have been inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame. The 2019 honorees are:

• Leslie Ellis, president, Ellis Edits Inc. and longtime technology contributor for Multichannel News.
• Phil Kent, former chairman and CEO, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
• Kyle McSlarrow, SVP, customer experience, Comcast.
• Steve Miron, CEO, Advance/Newhouse.
• MTV, Founding Creators.
• Susan Swain and Rob Kennedy, president and co-CEOs, C-SPAN.

“The 2019 Cable Hall of Fame class represents leaders from some of the industry’s most innovative and groundbreaking companies and includes our first cable TV network, MTV. As a cultural icon whose impact on music and cable is unrivaled, it will be our pleasure to honor MTV’s founding creators,” said Penthera Partners president and CEO and Cable Center board chairman Michael Willner in a statement. “The red carpet will shine bright for this year’s Cable Hall of Fame celebration at the extraordinary Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York.”

The Ziegfeld Ballroom is home to the Cable Hall of Fame through at least 2020.

“The members of this year’s Cable Hall of Fame class have all had an immeasurable impact on the cable industry. We are thrilled to be returning to the Ziegfeld Ballroom and New York City for the Cable Hall of Fame celebration and are looking forward to recognizing all of our new honorees on May 2,” said The Cable Center CEO Jana Henthorn in a statement.

For more information on the celebration and to secure sponsorships, visit www.cablehalloffame.com, or call 720-502-7513.

Leslie “Les” H. Read, an important fixture at cable events for years, and the well-loved and respected “voice” for the Cable Pioneers, died June 28 while recovering from a recent heart attack. He was 82 years old.

Anyone who has made the cable circuit over the past several decades has likely run into Read, a personable, knowledgeable and respected champion of the industry.

In a career that began in 1958 as a page at NBC in New York, Read retired from the cable business in 2001, but kept strong ties to the industry. He served as executive director of the Cable Pioneers, stepping down from that position in 2016 after being named executive director emeritus. He was succeeded as executive director by Jim Faircloth, but remained the “voice” of the Pioneers, serving as master of ceremonies at the organization’s annual banquet and welcoming each new member with his unique baritone. Read also served as board member of The Cable Center, a member of CTAM: The Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, and was a past president of the New York Cable TV Association.

“It is my sad duty to share the devastating news that our friend and colleague, Les Read, known to so many as ‘Mr. HBO’ who was loved by all in our industry, passed away last evening at 7:15 p.m. EDT on Long Island, NY, following treatment for a cardiac condition since last weekend,” Faircloth said in a statement. “You cannot even think of the Cable Pioneers without thinking of Les. Les’ rich baritone has been silenced, but for our memories and the recordings that will always be treasured. There will never be another like Les. We share our most heartfelt condolences and prayers with Les’ wife, Anne, and his entire family.”

Raised in Great Neck, Long Island, Read lived in Port Washington, N.Y. with his wife Anne. Information on services is pending.

Industry executives were quick to offer their reminiscences.

“Throughout his career – and even after he retired – Les Read was an ambassador who drew attention to everything that is good about our industry," said SCTE-ISBE president and CEO Mark Dzuban in a statement. "From his earliest days with TelePrompter and HBO to his work with CTAM, the Cable TV Pioneers and the Cable Center, Les devoted his energy to the advancement of cable and everybody with whom he worked.”

At The Cable Center, president and CEO Jana Henthorn offered her condolences to the Read family.

"Les made us all smile. He was immensely proud of the cable industry and his role in it," Henthorn said in a statement. "He knew everyone, had more stories than Mark Twain, and a great love for The Cable Center. Not only was he our official Ambassador, he was one of our great champions. Our sincerest condolences to Anne and the family.”

The Cable Center senior vice president of programs and development Diane Christman, remembered Read as a mentor and friend. 

“He’s the only person who still called me Kiddo!," Christman said in a statement. "Les was the first person I called when I started working at The Cable Center. He was an incredible guide and mentor. We would make the rounds at industry events together, and he introduced me to everyone and really helped me get my feet wet. He was funny, charismatic, larger than life. A true friend and mentor to me and so many others. My heart is broken, and I offer my condolences and love to Anne, the kids, and grandkids.”

After obtaining a business degree from Nichols College in Dudley, Mass., and a degree in speech/radio and television from Syracuse University, Read started his broadcast and cable career with  NBC in New York as a page. He later joined TelePrompter, serving with that company for 15 years selling services and in 1972 becoming vice president of TelePrompter’s CATV division, where he built and operated cable systems in Elmira, N.Y., Great Falls, Mont., and Farmington, N.M. He later developed new franchise areas as director of operations.

Read joined Home Box Office in February 1974 as manager, affiliate development and was later named director, Northeast region and then director, national accounts. In 1984, he became director, affiliate special projects and in 1998, he was promoted to vice president and remained in that role until his retirement in December 2001. Read worked with HBO's affiliate cable systems on special marketing campaigns and also served as an announcer during on-air promotions. 

Feeling lonely without a National Cable Show to attend about this time of year?

Check into the "Cable Old Timers" page on Facebook, and you'll see familiar faces and convention memories without the bother of sales pitches, new product frenzy, sore feet or frazzling flights.

This online adventure in nostalgia has attracted nearly 3,000 members in the few weeks since it went sort-of-viral, said Mark Solow, who set up the page several years ago but "never did anything with it."

In late April, he and other cable veterans in the Dallas area attended the funeral of "Cable Pioneer extraordinaire Tom Soulsby" (as Solow calls the late executive from Sammons and other cable systems and a former Texas Cable TV Association president). Some friends suggested that Solow revive an old local event -- a periodic lunch of Dallas-Fort Worth cable TV personnel.

Instead, Solow went home and "stayed up until 2 in the morning" making a list of about 80 local people to join his moribund Facebook page called "Cable Old Timers."

"When I woke up the next morning, there were 200 people, and within two days, it was more than 1,000," said Solow, whose day job is vice president of Uplifttv. People invited other old colleagues, and the network effect kicked in as friends invited more friends. Within days, people from all over the country were in the group, with many listing their cable career stops and posting pictures from old conventions and their favorite keepsake souvenirs.

READ MORE:Fifty Years of Cable Camaraderie | Big Names Head 50th Class of Cable TV Pioneers | Cable Pioneers: 50 Facts for 50 Years | The Legend of 'Cable TV Pioneer' George Spelvin

One of Solow's original requirements to join the private group was that "part of your cable career was in DFW," but he has since thrown it open to people who have 20-plus years of cable experience. Anyone meeting that criterion can ask to join the group. (Disclosure: I have resurrected a few photos from the 1970s and '80s and have invited a few geezers to join the memory-fest.)

Meaningful Careers

Cable Old Timers include a mix of operations, programming and technical/engineer experience. Many of the participants focus on the importance of cable in their lives, often citing -- with substantial passion -- how great it felt to be part of a growing business in the '70s and '80s.

In the typical, telescoped Facebook fashion of older users, they reminisce about important memories, such as:

"Cable was very exciting at that time, and I was lucky to be a part of it."

"Many friends along the way became my cable family, a wonderful career."

"Great seeing everyone else’s amazing achievements within this group!"

"I couldn’t have picked a better career... 39 years, 2 months and 27 days... the greatest times, memories and people."

"@Home, RoadRunner and HSA [High Speed Access Corp.] among others...changed the world: Broadband for the better."

"This industry's people are Awesome."

"I've made so many friends made through the years. ...I have evolved with the industry. ... I have been blessed knowing you!"

"Great career; always loved the business. Miss the people."

There is extensive photo sharing, including lots of pictures of people with '80s big hair and rakish mustaches. Many participants reminisce over memories of their entry into the cable business, drop names of influential industry executives and laud colleagues and mentors; they offer memorials to those who have died. Some of the entries offer history lessons, such as this:

"Jerrold was one of the largest MSOs ... until the operators and owners put their foot down and told the manufacturers to stop getting franchises and to just make equipment."

And there are countless references to early career stops, including long-defunct operators and networks, ranging from Teleprompter Cable, Jones Intercable and Group W Cable to Z Channel, Satellite News Channel and Graff Pay Per View, among many others.

Several participants have encouraged others to chronicle their first cable jobs, which generated an avalanche of memories and confessions:

• Installer making $4.25 per hour
• Sold cable door-to-door while in college
• Strand-mapping
• Learned how to climb poles 

Inevitably, amid all the photos from decades of NCTA conventions, Western Shows and state association conferences, many participants have called for some kind of mass reunion.

Jana Henthorn, president/CEO of The Cable Center, quickly responded.

"I've got just the place. ... We're in Denver and accessible to both coasts," she posted. "Plus, that's what the Center is here for! To be a gathering place for the cable industry. I'd love to see all my cable peeps!"

Related: Jana Henthorn Named WICT Rocky Mountain’s ‘Woman of the Year’

No concrete plans have emerged, but Solow said that he's still amazed at the intense involvement.

"I wasn't trying to do that," he told me. "I was trying to use Facebook like I do with my bicycling group," for keeping local friends in touch about local activities.

He isn't predicting what will happen next, although if the typical social media faddish cycle plays out, the current enthusiastic banter on Cable Old Timers will eventually peter out. It may be sustained by some new members, albeit the growth has diminished in the past week.

Nonetheless, the frenzy of activity underscored the enthusiasm of cable old timers -- and (since many seem to be retired) gave them something to do at this time of year when they thought they should be attending an industry convention.

The Cable Center said Carla Hall, co-host of syndicated lifestyle series The Chew, will emcee the 21st annual Cable Hall of Fame ceremony on Wednesday, April 4, at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City.

In addition to The Chew, where she is seated alongside restaurateur and Iron Chef America star Michael Symon, and entertaining expert Clinton Kelly, Hall is best known as a competitor on Bravo’s Top Chef and Top Chef: All Stars, where she won over audiences with her fun catch phrase, “Hootie Hoo!” and her philosophy to always cook with love. Hall’s approach to cooking blends her classic French training and Southern upbringing for a twist on traditional favorites.

RELATED: Cable Center announces 2018 Hall of Fame class

“We love watching Carla on The Chew and are absolutely thrilled to welcome her as our master of ceremonies for the Cable Hall of Fame celebration,” Jana L. Henthorn, CEO of The Cable Center, said in a release. “From our six incredible honorees to our thoughtfully curated ‘cable-to-table’ event menu, this really is the industry event you don’t want to miss. We can’t wait to welcome our industry friends and associates to the red carpet in NYC!”

The Cable Hall of Fame celebration will begin with a cocktail reception, followed by dinner and the induction ceremony honoring: Breaking Bad, Vince Gilligan, creator, AMC; Nomi Bergman, president, Advance/Newhouse; John Bickham, president and COO, Charter Communications; Balan Nair, president and CEO, Liberty Latin America; Richard Plepler, chairman and CEO, HBO; and Neil Smit, vice chairman, Comcast Corp. The event program will also include the presentation of the Bresnan Ethics in Business Award to June Travis. A festive after-party concludes the evening’s activities.

READ MORE: Stephanie Ruhle to Host the 2018 WICT Signature Luncheon

The Cable Center has named June Travis, former executive VP and chief operating officer of the National Cable Television Association, the 2018 Bresnan Ethics in Business Award recipient. The award honors the late William J. Bresnan, founder and chairman of Bresnan Communications and longtime chairman of the board of The Cable Center. Travis will be presented the industry accolade at the 21st annual Cable Hall of Fame celebration, April 4 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City, the Cable Center noted in a release.

“I am honored to be recognized as this year’s Bresnan Ethics in Business Award recipient,” Travis said in the release. “Bill was a friend and colleague whom I admired greatly. He displayed integrity and high ethics in every aspect of his life, and I am humbled to be named this year’s award recipient.”

“June has helped to shape the cable television industry with her vision and guidance,” Frank Drendel, chair of the board and founder of CommScope, chairman of the Bresnan Award selection committee and past Bresnan Award recipient, added. “She demonstrated ethics in every aspect of her career, and we are thrilled to present her this year’s Bresnan Ethics in Business Award.”

READ MORE: Cable Center rounds out 2018 Cable Hall of Fame class

Travis was EVP and COO of NCTA from 1994 until she retired from the cable television industry in 1999. Earlier she had been president and COO of Rifkin & Associates, a Denver-based cable company. She had also served in executive positions at American Television and Communications Corporation, the predecessor to Time Warner Cable. 

She has served as an officer and board member for CommScope, NCTA, C-SPAN, Cable in the Classroom, TechCorps and Women in Cable Telecommunications, and chaired the industry’s political action committee, CablePAC, for nine years, the Cable Center said. 

“June’s involvement through boards and organizations in both the cable industry and in her community has been phenomenal, and she has provided thought leadership in so many areas of our industry,” Jana L. Henthorn, president and CEO, The Cable Center, said. “We are delighted to honor her as this year’s Bresnan Ethics in Business Award honoree.”

The Bresnan Ethics in Business award was created to honor outstanding men and women in the cable industry who best exemplify Bill Bresnan’s longstanding commitment to ethics in business. Awardees represent the ideals upheld by Bill Bresnan, including continually demonstrating ethical leadership qualities, doing what’s right in the face of adversity, even when it is unpopular, incorporating doing what’s right in everyday life, and demonstrating societal, community and philanthropic engagement.

The 21st annual Cable Hall of Fame will be held on April 4, 2018 in New York City at the Ziegfeld Ballroom. Since 1998, 127 leaders have been inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame. For more, see www.cablehalloffame.com or call 720-502-7513. 

The Cable Center has introduced the Community of Innovators, a new program to be piloted in Denver that aims to “connect cable’s trailblazers and top executives” with a new wave of leaders who will help define the industry’s future.”

The Cable Center said the Community of Innovators will be made up of four primary components:

-Innovation Laureates: Made up of industry trailblazers and key influencers, this group will mentor, teach, and motivate the next generation of cable industry leaders. This year’s laureates include: Bridget Baker, founder and CEO, Baker Media Inc.; Julian Brodsky, co-founder and retired vice chairman, Comcast Corp.; Leo J. Hindery, Jr., founder and managing partner, InterMedia Partners, LP; Phil McKinney, president and CEO, CableLabs; Josh Sapan, president and CEO, AMC Networks; Quentin Schaffer, EVP, Corporate Communications, HBO; David Zaslav, president and CEO, Discovery Communications; and Jeff Zucker, president, CNN Worldwide.

-Intrapreneurship Academy: A 10-week pilot program will provide 20 emerging leaders with both in-person and online learning opportunities to gain knowledge and skills they can apply to self-selected projects.

-Startup Week Partnerships: The Community of Innovators will participate in Startup Weeks across the country, tapping into the network of emerging innovators and creating opportunities for local entrepreneurs to connect with cable industry leaders. During the 2017 pilot, the program will co-sponsor Denver Startup Week’s Pitch Challenge.

-Mavericks Lecture Series: The Cable Center is reviving its Mavericks Lecture Series, with the Center’s Innovation Laureates to be invited to serve as lecturers for the inaugural year.

“The Cable Center tells the story of the dynamic cable industry. But the story is not just about the past. The Community of Innovators program allows us to focus on the exciting future of the industry, while also celebrating its innovative legacy,” Jana Henthorn, The Cable Center’s president and CEO, said in a statement.

RELATED: Blazing an Entrepreneurial Trail (subscription required)

“For any industry to thrive, organizations need to foster a culture of innovation. The Community of Innovators is a vital step in support of the industry’s efforts on this journey,” added Michael Willner, chairman of The Cable Center’s board of directors and CEO of Penthera Partners.

Washington — There will be a lot of new wrinkles surrounding the Cable Hall of Fame’s 2017 induction ceremony, set for Washington, D.C.’s Grand Hyatt on April 26.

For one thing, the 20th annual ceremony will no longer coincide with INTX, the annual convention of NCTA-The Internet & Television Association, which had also been set for the nation’s capital before the trade group opted to “sunset” the event last year. For another, The Cable Center for the first time this year will honor a television series — HBO’s groundbreaking 1999-2007 mob-and-family drama The Sopranos — as a member of its class of enshrinees. Accepting will be the show’s creator, David Chase.

Other inductees are: Steve Burke, CEO of NBCUniversal; Jill Campbell, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Cox Communications; Michael T. Fries, CEO of Liberty Global; Ken Lowe, chairman, president and CEO, Scripps Networks Interactive; and David Zaslav, president and CEO, Discovery Communications. Honorees were chosen for their leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation in media.

Andrea Mitchell, chief foreign correspondent for NBC News and host of MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, will serve as master of ceremonies.

“This year’s Cable Hall of Fame honorees are truly the best of the best,” Michael Willner, president and CEO of Penthera Partners and chairman of The Cable Center’s board of directors, said in a statement. “They are leaders of some of the most influential companies in the world, and have shaped the industry’s operations, programming and our society. We are thrilled to induct our first series into the Cable Hall of Fame as well. The Sopranos was the seminal series that proved television was more than the broadcasting networks alone, and we are excited to pay tribute to the impact it had on the growth and success of our industry.”

Also to be honored in Washington is CommScope founder Frank Drendel, the 2017 recipient of the Bresnan Ethics in Business Award.

Since 1998, 121 men and women have been inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame, the Denver-based Cable Center said.

“It is an honor to welcome these individuals into the Cable Hall of Fame, and to recognize our first television program,” Cable Center CEO Jana Henthorn said in a statement. “The passion, drive and thought leadership displayed by all of the honorees has steered our industry into the international powerhouse it is today, and we look forward to celebrating their achievements at the Cable Hall of Fame celebration.”

Profiles provided courtesy of The Cable Center.

Steve Burke
CEO, NBCUniversal

As the son of broadcasting mogul Dan Burke, and brother to Bill Burke, co-founder of Argos Pictures, you could say that Steve Burke has the media business in his DNA. In fact, Burke has credited his father as one of his greatest influences

“He taught me, by example, you can have a successful career without sacrificing your family life,” Burke said.

Burke knows about success. A career trajectory beginning with 12 years at The Walt Disney Co., where he advanced to president and chief operating officer of Euro Disney; and culminating with chief operating officer of Comcast, gave him the necessary skills to take the helm as CEO of NBCUniversal when Comcast acquired it in 2011. He has innumerable accomplishments overseeing the film, television and theme park companies that comprise NBCUniversal. The NBCU portfolio carries some of the most popular programs on television today. On the theme park side, Burke has fans of the Harry Potter franchise under his spell with attractions in Orlando, Fla.; Los Angeles; and Japan.

Burke credits this success in part to NBCUniversal’s culture, which he fostered. “We have some of the best people in the industry working at NBC, our cable channels, Universal film, our theme parks and more. We also have a culture where people genuinely feel like they are part of a team.”

Burke’s management philosophy? Think like an owner, not a renter.

“When you have a company as big as ours, you need to have talented executives who treat their part of the company as if it was their own,” he said. “We allow them to confront problems and make decisions that are at times unpopular, but are for the long term good of the business.”

He learned this from his other mentor, Comcast founder Ralph Roberts. “He was someone who built for the long-term. He was a wonderful man who made every room he was in more productive because of his presence.”

Throughout Burke’s long career, his family has anchored him. “The most important thing in my life by far is my wife and five children. They have given me the greatest joy and they are good at putting me in my place when I deserve it.”

Jill Campbell
Executive VP and chief operating officer, Cox Communications

Early in Jill Campbell’s career at Cox, she took some advice from Curt Hockemeier, her boss at the time, to get an MBA and move into an operations role. Although there were a growing number of women in marketing, communications and finance, there weren’t many women in operations.

Campbell earned her MBA in 15 months while simultaneously working full-time and raising her family. Gradually, she started taking on more operations work. When Hockemeier left to get his MBA, he appointed her as acting general manager, a path she continued on that led to her becoming the highest-ranking woman in cable operations today.

Campbell has been at Cox for 35 years and acknowledges that staying with one company for an entire career is unusual these days. “But it’s not unusual at Cox,” Campbell said. “I know many Cox employees who’ve spent 20, 30, 40 years at Cox.” She credits this phenomenon to the company’s culture.

“It started with founder Gov. James Cox, whose philosophy was to treat employees well and with respect. At Cox we believe that focusing on employee engagement creates happy and productive employees, who then go on to serve our customers well. This approach is in our DNA.”

Campbell’s career ascent was comprised of a series of moves — six in 10 years. “At the time, it was considered a requirement to have field GM experience in order to advance, she said. “Looking back, I’m not sure all the moves were necessary, but I learned a lot from each one, so I have no regrets.”

Campbell also credits her success to a network of supportive mentors including Pat Esser, John Dyer and Claus Kroeger, who gave advice and provided opportunities. As a result, Campbell is passionate about promoting the careers of others, especially women, minorities and those in the LGBTQ community. “As you get up higher in the ranks, I feel it’s important to reach down that ladder and pull people up with you.”

Campbell’s leadership philosophy is all about surrounding herself with really smart people and giving them the opportunity to do the things they love. “For me, the best solutions come from brainstorming with my team. If we’re talking legacy, I’d like to think that cultivating exceptional talent at Cox would be mine.”

‘The Sopranos’
Television drama series,
HBO David Chase, creator

For 20 years, The Cable Hall of Fame has celebrated the contributions of more than 120 cable-industry innovators, but before this year, it has never recognized a television series. This year, HBO’s The Sopranos and its creator, David Chase, are honored as a show that more than revolutionized the cable scripted drama, but changed the way which such series are both created and watched.

Many people have written about the series, but none more prolifically than TV critic Alan Sepinwall, whose books The Revolution Was Televised and TV (The Book), co-written with Matt Zoller Seitz, dedicate considerable ink to The Sopranos. In an interview with The Cable Center, Sepinwall said, “The Sopranos was the Big Bang of the cable drama explosion that led to TV’s golden age.

“Before The Sopranos, cable television didn’t get any respect. Along comes The Sopranos, which inspires other cable networks — FX, Showtime, AMC — to introduce exceptional original programming, and flips the paradigm on its head so that cable is no longer a sideshow but the main attraction.”

The Sopranos , which centered around New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and his family and associates, flaunted television convention in previously unthinkable ways. There was no hero, and in fact, few truly likable characters. Nevertheless, the characters’ depth, nuance and preoccupation with everyday problems — often with grim humor — made them relatable, and had viewers rooting for a sociopathic antihero.

“Chase worked on some of the best shows ever made [his prior credits included The Rockford Files and Northern Exposure], but those were never enough for him. He really wanted to make movies,” Sepinwall said. “He assumed the pilot would be turned down and he would turn it into a movie. When it was picked up, he was insistent on pushing the limits and creating the show on his own terms.”

Many in the industry believe the post-Sopranos wave of antihero-driven series such as Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Walking Dead, The Americans and more, would not have been possible before Chase changed the rules.

Moreover, Chase kept changing the rules up to the series’s last second — with a finale that refused to tie everything into a neat bow. Ten years later, fans are still talking about the mid-scene, mid-song cut to black.

Sepinwall, who secured the sole post-finale interview, got few answers from Chase. “When it cut to black, I laughed out loud. The ending was so David — defiantly anti-climactic. The one thing he said to me was ‘It’s all there.’ You can make of that what you will.”

What we make of it is that since The Sopranos, television has never been the same.

Michael T. Fries
CEO, Liberty Global

As Michael (Mike) Fries tells it, “We started this company with $20 million and a good idea. People outside of the U.S. wanted CNN and MTV and nobody was bringing it to them.”

Nearly three decades later, Liberty Global has become the largest international TV and broadband company in the world, with operations in 30 countries, 40,000 employees and 75 million video, broadband, voice and mobile subscribers.

Fries was employee number five at what became UnitedGlobalCom and ran business development, then Asia-Pacific operations, through most of the ’90s. He returned to Denver as president and chief operating officer just before the dotcom bubble burst, leading the company through several transactions with longtime investor Liberty Media, resulting in the formation of Liberty Global in 2005 with Fries as CEO.

Liberty Global has played an integral role in globalizing the cable industry, something Fries said “is important now more than ever, when you look at our competitors.” By bringing content to international markets, launching DOCSIS around the world and collaborating with the Reference Design Kit (RDK) consortium on advanced video, the U.S. cable industry finally has a chance at global scale, thanks to Fries and Liberty Global.

It was Fries and Liberty Global that coined the term “triple play” in an annual report nearly 20 years ago. Since then, they’ve led the industry on broadband speeds and adding mobile to that product bundle.

Fries has only worked for two people, UGC founder Gene Schneider and Liberty Media founder John Malone, and he has high praise for both. “Gene Schneider was one of the original cable pioneers — tough as nails but a true gentleman. I learned a lot from him.” As for Malone, Fries said: “No one sees all the moving pieces like John Malone. He’s really a scientist masquerading as a media mogul.”

Giving back is important to Fries. As lead vocalist of a rock cover band comprised of CEOs, he has found an enjoyable way to help raise millions for charitable organizations in the Denver area. “It’s all about having a good time, for a good cause.” Fries also chairs Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art and was an early investor in the city’s charter school programs.

Fries is extremely proud to be part of the cable industry and he makes sure his international team understands their role in this legacy. “I remind them that we may have been pioneers outside the U.S., but we stand on the shoulders of giants’ right here in America.”

Ken Lowe
Chairman, President and CEO, Scripps Networks Interactive

Ken Lowe grew up in rural North Carolina where he was hooked on radio at a young age. Building a radio station in a shed on his family farm at age 10, he practiced not just the art of radio broadcasting, but also started his first entrepreneurial enterprise, bringing in a DJ (the kid who had the records) and a sales person.

Radio continued to open many doors for Lowe. He worked at a radio station through college, Harte-Hanks Broadcasting through the 1970s and eventually joined E. W. Scripps in 1980 as general manager of its radio properties. Additionally, Lowe was fascinated by architecture. “I worked for my uncle who was a contractor and almost changed my major to architecture.”

Lowe also made documentary films in college. “While I could tell stories on the radio, I loved the visual storytelling aspect,” he said. It was this confluence of interests that eventually led Lowe to connect the dots and create HGTV.

In 1994, Lowe pitched E.W. Scripps on the idea he’d been ruminating on for years — a network focused on the home, targeted toward women, whom he believed were underserved in media. Lowe secured the necessary funding after a dramatic presentation to Scripps’ newspaper-based board by correlating sections of the newspaper with corresponding networks (front page as CNN; sports page as ESPN), illustrating the lack of an analogous network for the home and garden section. Right away, HGTV attracted a loyal audience that extended beyond women, creating a robust lifestyle category which expanded to brands including Food Network, Travel Channel and DIY Network.

“Though initially focusing on women, one of the ironies is we’ve gotten more men into the kitchen and more women into home remodeling,” Lowe said. “This was not the case 20 years ago.”

The Scripps networks launched the careers of primarily unknown talent. “I was not looking for stars. I wanted people who knew their craft — where it’s their passion and they’d be doing it even if they weren’t on TV. This authenticity is one of the reasons we’ve succeeded.” Scripps Networks Interactive continues to build its brands around the world, with international revenues representing around 20% of the business.

“I felt all along that the categories we were in were not isolated to America,” Lowe said. “People care about their homes, love food and are interested in travel no matter where they’re from.”

David Zaslav
President and CEO, Discovery Communications

David Zaslav’s cable career all started with a blind cover letter. At the time, Zaslav was working as a corporate attorney, where his clients included then-fledgling cable programmer Discovery Communications.

Zaslav was quickly smitten with the business: “Seeing John Hendricks’s vision for Discovery and the future of cable was a huge moment for me,” he recalls. So, when a Multichannel News story with the headline “NBC Wants to Get Into Cable” hit the press, Zaslav didn’t waste time, sending a blind cover letter to legendary NBC boss Bob Wright.

“I told Wright, if you are serious about launching CNBC and your cable business, I’m all in,” Zaslav recalled. “I joined NBC and never looked back.”

As one of the first hires at NBC cable, Zaslav built a suite of networks including CNBC from the ground up, rising in the ranks to lead the business over the course of two decades. Then came another call from Discovery — this time to become its CEO. Joining in 2007, Zaslav quickly moved to boost Discovery’s performance, paving the path for its IPO one year later and expanding globally with new channels and brands.

Under Zaslav’s watch, Discovery launched some of its most successful and fastest-growing networks, including Investigation Discovery, Velocity and OWN, a joint venture with Oprah Winfrey. Zaslav also led Discovery’s acquisition of Eurosport and rights to the Olympics, which will air on Eurosport and its digital properties for the next decade beginning with the 2018 Winter Games.

Today, much of Zaslav’s focus is on reaching Discovery’s more than 3 billion global viewers at a time when technology is changing how they consume content. “Reaching every person on every screen and platform is a top priority for us,” Zaslav said. To do so, Discovery is fast expanding how its fans stay connected to its content, from TV everywhere to virtual reality, shortform video and partnerships with leading streaming and SVOD services.

After three decades in the business, Zaslav is also finding ways to give back, using Discovery’s brands to raise awareness and take action against wildlife extinction and other environmental issues. In 2016, Zaslav spearheaded the launch of “Project C.A.T.: Conserving Acres for Tigers,” a historic partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to restore the wild tiger population through protected sites.

“For more than 30 years, Discovery has documented the natural world and its wonders across our channels,” Zaslav said. This is just one way we can give something back.”

Frank M. Drendel
Bresnan Ethics in Business Award Recipient

Frank M. Drendel is chairman of the board and founder of CommScope. He served as its CEO from its founding in Hickory, N.C., in 1976 until its acquisition by The Carlyle Group in January 2011, which took the company private.

He has served as chairman since 1997, when CommScope was spun off from General Instrument as independent, publicly-traded company on the New York Stock Exchange.

Drendel’s entrepreneurial drive and business vision led to his acquiring a struggling cable product line called Comm/Scope from his then-employer, Superior Continental, and launching a standalone company in 1976. This same drive and vision has guided CommScope for nearly four decades — under Drendel’s leadership, CommScope has grown into a multibillion dollar global leader in infrastructure solutions for communications networks, with a who’s who roster of customers that spans the globe.

Through organic growth and the acquisitions of Avaya Connectivity Solutions in 2004, Andrew Corp. in 2007 and TE Broadband Network Solutions in 2015, CommScope established leadership positions in key markets — wireless, business enterprise, telecom and cable television/ residential broadband — that continue today.

While at CommScope, Drendel also served as a director of GI Delaware, a subsidiary of General Instrument, and its predecessors from 1987 to 1992, a director of General Instrument from 1992 until 1997, and a director of NextLevel Systems from 1997 until January 2000. Prior to his founding of the company, Drendel held various positions within the Comm/Scope division of Superior Continental from 1971 to 1976.

Drendel is a director of the NCTA-The Internet & Television Association, and the SCTE Executive Council. Drendel previously served as a director of Sprint Nextel Corporation from 2005 to 2008 and as a director of Nextel Communications from 1997 to 2005. He also served on the board of directors for Tyco International, The Cable Center and C-SPAN.

An active member of several National Cable & Telecommunications Association committees, Drendel has been a recipient of various NCTA awards, including the Challenger Award, Associates Award and the President’s Award. He has also received several honors for his contributions to the industry, including:
● Induction into the Cable Hall of Fame in 2002.
● An Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Development in 1985 for his and M/A-Com’s contribution to anti-pirating satellite TV encryption and scrambling technology.
● The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian award given by the State of North Carolina, in 1999.
● The 2013 North Carolina Technology Association Outstanding Achievement Award.

Robert Hughes, the former CEO of Prime Cable and a pioneer in the cable television industry, died Feb. 28. He was 81 years old.

Hughes got his start in the cable industry in 1968 while he worked for venture capital firm Texas Capital. It was while there that he decided to join Jack Crosby and Fred Lieberman in their new cable venture, Communications Properties. By 1974 Hughes was president of the firm, helping to build it into the seventh largest cable operator in the country before it was sold to Times Mirror in 1979.

Hughes started Prime Cable shortly after and by 1995 it was the eighth largest cable operator in the U.S. with more than 1 million subscribers in six states. The company began dismantling itself in 1997 and by 2000 had sold its last system.

Hughes remained active in the business community and served on the boards of directors of several companies including Tichenor Inc./Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation(Univision), Hawaiian Wireless Inc., and Aloha Partners. While in the cable business Bob was an active member in the National Cable Television Association, serving as Chairman in 1978 and 1979. In 2009, he was inducted into The Cable Center's Cable Television Hall of Fame.

He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Gail Anderson Hughes; sons Kyle and Craig (wife Molly); five grandchildren Kelsey Hughes (husband Grant Wilson), Preston Hughes, Will Hughes, Jackson Hughes and Sam Hughes; mother-in-law Wanda Anderson; daughters-in-law Roe Sharon Hughes and Carrie Frugé Walker; nieces Lori Markes (husband Chris), Allison Eve, and Rita Scranton; great nieces Grace Markes, Laurel Eve, and Andra Eve; great nephew Christian Markes (wife Grace); cousin Patricia Hughes; and many other nieces, nephews, and cousins. He is preceded in death by his parents Bill and Virginia Hughes, brother Larry Hughes, stepson Lee Walker, father-in-law A.R. Anderson, and brother-in-law Doyce Anderson.

A memorial service was held March 6 at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, followed by a reception at Westwood Country Club.

The family requests memorial donations be made to The Darrell K. Royal Research Fund for Alzheimer's Disease, P.O. Box 5839, Austin, TX 78763, The Alzheimer's Association Capital of Texas Chapter, 3429 Executive Center Drive, Suite 100, Austin, Texas 78731, or a charity of your choice.

The Cable Center said that Frank M. Drendel, chair of the board and founder of CommScope Inc., has been named the 2017 Bresnan Ethics in Business Award recipient. The award honors the late William J. Bresnan, founder and chairman of Bresnan Communications and longtime chairman of the board of The Cable Center. Drendel will be presented the industry accolade at the 20th annual Cable Hall of Fame celebration on April 26 at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C.

“It is a true honor to be named this year’s Bresnan Ethics in Business Award recipient,” Drendel said in a release. “Bill served as the best example of what ethics in business should be, and it is with great appreciation that I am being recognized with this award in his honor.”

“Frank has spent his entire career as a visionary leader and mentor in the cable television industry,” Nick Davatzes, chief executive officer emeritus, A+E Networks, and chairman of the Bresnan Award selection committee, said in the release. “He exemplifies ethics in business, and we are thrilled to present him this year’s Bresnan Ethics in Business Award.”

Drendel served as CommScope’s chief executive officer from his founding of the company in 1976 until its acquisition by The Carlyle Group in January 2011. He has served as chairman since 2011. While at CommScope, Drendel also served as a director of GI Delaware, a subsidiary of General Instrument Corp. and its predecessors from 1987 to 1992, a director of General Instrument Corp. from 1992 until 1997, and a director of NextLevel Systems Inc. (which was renamed General Instrument) from 1997 until January 2000. Before founding of the company, Drendel held various positions within the Comm/Scope division of Superior Continental from 1971 to 1976.

Drendel is a director of the Internet and Television Association (NCTA) and the SCTE Executive Council. He previously served on the board of Sprint Nextel Corporation, Nextel Communications, Inc., Tyco International Ltd., The Cable Center and C-SPAN.

Drendel has previously been inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame; won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Development and received various NCTA awards. Other accolades include the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian award given by the State of North Carolina; and the 2013 North Carolina Technology Association Outstanding Achievement Award. He graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing.

“Frank served as an invaluable member of our board and served as vice chairman for seven years. We are so pleased to honor him as this year’s Bresnan Ethics in Business Award honoree,” Jana L. Henthorn, president and CEO, The Cable Center, said in the release. “His dedication and steady guidance over the years has been instrumental to The Cable Center and to our entire industry.”

The Bresnan Ethics in Business award was created to honor outstanding men and women in the cable industry who best exemplify Bill Bresnan’s longstanding commitment to ethics in business. Previous recipients can be found at this link.

The Cable Center has named the 2017 class of the Cable Hall of Fame, to be inducted in Washington, D.C., on April 26. For the first time, the class includes a TV show.

The inductees are: Steve Burke, CEO of NBCUniversal; Jill Campbell, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Cox Communications; Michael T. Fries, CEO of Liberty Global; Ken Lowe, chairman, president and CEO, Scripps Networks Interactive; The Sopranos, the HBO series, with the induction accepted by David Chase, the show's creator, and David Zaslav, president and CEO, Discovery Communications.

The 20th annual ceremony will be held during the time when the NCTA had planned to hold its former annual convention in D.C. before opting to "sunset" the convention. The Cable Center had previously said it was keeping the date in D.C. for the Hall of Fame event. The Cable Center has not named the specific venue in D.C. for the ceremony yet. The event's web site is www.cablehalloffame.com.

In a release, the Cable Center said the honorees were chosen based on their leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation in media. As for including a TV show for the first time, the center said The Sopranos and its creator, Chase, "will be acknowledged for the impact the program had by catapulting HBO and the entire cable community into groundbreaking scripted storytelling."

“This year’s Cable Hall of Fame honorees are truly the best of the best,” Michael Willner, president and CEO of Penthera Partners and chairman of The Cable Center’s board of directors, said in the release. “They are leaders of some of the most influential companies in the world, and have shaped the industry’s operations, programming and our society. We are thrilled to induct our first series into the Cable Hall of Fame as well. The Sopranos was the seminal series that proved television was more than the broadcasting networks alone, and we are excited to pay tribute to the impact it had on the growth and success of our industry.”

“It is an honor to welcome these individuals into the Cable Hall of Fame, and to recognize our first television program,” Cable Center CEO Jana Henthorn said in the release. “The passion, drive and thought leadership displayed by all of the honorees has steered our industry into the international powerhouse it is today, and we look forward to celebrating their achievements at the Cable Hall of Fame celebration."

Since 1998, 121 men and women have been inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame, the Denver-based Cable Center said.

READ MORE:Big Names Head 50th Class of Cable TV Pioneers | Cable Pioneers: 50 Facts for 50 Years | The Legend of 'Cable TV Pioneer' George Spelvin

It started out in 1966 over a nice dinner at the Americana Hotel in Miami Beach, Fla., celebrating 21 of the cable industry’s most influential members.

This year, the Cable TV Pioneers hosted more than 550 people at its annual dinner gala on May 15 in Boston.

Along the way, it helped create and sustain what is now The Cable Center, the cable industry ’s historical and educational hub, in Denver.

Not bad for an organization that will induct 14 new members to its impressive rolls this year. They are, alphabetically: Jeff Bewkes of Time Warner Inc.; Charles David Cerullo of INSP; Glenn Duval of Challenger Cable Sales; Leslie Ellis of Ellis Edits Inc.; Marwan Fawaz of Sarepta Partners; John Gibbs of Comcast; Steve Goldmintz of Marcum Search; John E. Heslip of Comcast; Yvette Kanouff of Cisco Systems; Peter Kiley of C-SPAN Networks; Mark Lieberman of Viamedia Inc.; Mike Mason of Comcast; John Arthur Ogren of Speed Connect and Brian Roberts of Comcast.

After that first dinner, Fred Stevenson, who ran Rogers TV Cable in Rogers, Ark., sent an enthusiastic letter to all the original pioneers, asking whether any of them would be willing shell out $5 for a color photo of the group taken at the dinner.

‘JUST KEEP BREATHING’

A couple of weeks later, after hearing from only a couple of pioneers, Stevenson sent out a tongue-in-cheek press release announcing that an organizational meeting of the Pioneers Club had taken place in Stevenson’s office. “Only Mr. Stevenson was present at this organizational meeting and, being eminently qualified for the job, especially because of his age, he was nominated (by Stevenson ), seconded (by Stevenson) and subsequently elected by acclimation (by Stevenson ) to be the new executive chairman or this illustrious new club.”

“When asked what the purpose and goals of the club would be, [Stevenson] replied, ‘No purpose, no goals, no nothing. Just keep breathing.’”

Eventually Stevenson exited the group and Ben Conroy, who started Uvalde Television Cable in Uvalde, Texas, took over. Others who joined in to take leadership roles included Ed Adler of Weston Cable Television Corp.; Sandford Randolph, who built the cable system in Clarksburg, Va.; and Les Read, the HBO executive who has been the group’s executive director since 1996 (and a Pioneer since 1977).

“Les is really the keeper of the flame,” Susan Bitter Smith, the Pioneers board chair and executive director of the Southwest Cable Communications Association, said. “No one can duplicate his knowledge of the history of the Pioneers, the industry, and our members.

“Les knows and keeps track of every member and he has been invaluable not only for those amazing connections, but also for that incredible voice that guides us through the induction dinner every year.”

The Cable Pioneers has always focused on camaraderie, community, friendship and a little networking. The dinners are traditionally formal affairs and held at the same time as the NCTA convention (now known as INTX).

EMBRACING A CAUSE

In 1983, the executive committee decided the group needed a higher calling. Talks took place with Penn State University to form a cable-television museum and learning center at the university.

The museum opened in 1985 with $20,000 in seed money. The Pioneers later undertook a campaign that raised $2 million to provide an endowment for operations and to fund a chair at Penn State.

When the museum moved to University of Denver in 1997, the Pioneers again stepped in to help fund the operations of the Cable Center and expand the Hauser Oral History Project. While the organizations have two distinct boards and responsibilities, the Cable Center board and Cable TV Pioneers board work closely to advance the mission of the Cable Center.

As Mike Pandzik, founder of National Cable Television Cooperative and former chairman of Cable TV Pioneers, said in his oral history of the group: “We’re not involved in world peace. We’re not involved in nuclear disarmament. But in our little corner of the world, I think we do a very good job. And this Cable Center in Denver is a great example of what can happen when you get a bunch of people together who care about each other and care about their industry and want to leave something of substance.”

Added Read: “It’s the finest crowd in the business. You can’t keep an old entrepreneur down. They just keep coming back, like rich people.”

For more about the Cable Television Pioneers, please read on through these pages.

Staffers at Denver-based The Cable Center are very much ready for Super Bowl 50 this Sunday, pitting their beloved (but underdog) Denver Broncos against the powerful Carolina Panthers in a matchup of younger (Carolina's Cam Newton) and older (Denver's Peyton Manning) top-gun quarterbacks.

Cable Center CEO (and head coach) Jana L. Henthorn, a member of the 2016 class of MCNWomen to Watch, led the celebration of "Bronco Friday" at the center, which is the nonprofit educational hub celebrating the cable industry.

Here's who's in the photo.

Back Row, L to R: Matt Hollingsworth, Brian Kenny, Nic van Dessel, Bethany Friday, Diane Christman, Jessica Weimer, Emily Gibson (hat tip to Emily for sending the photo).

Front Row, L to R: Luke Woodruff, Steve Luiting, Sarah Clausen, Jana L. Henthorn, Joyce Alden-Schuyler, Monsi Vazquez (Intern and 2015 TLC Say Yes to the Prom participant).

The Cable Center has named Jana Henthorn, who has worked at the organization for the past 11 years, as the next president and chief executive officer. She will succeed current CEO Larry Satkowiak upon his retirement on Jan. 1, 2016. Multichannel Newshad reported a successor was likely to be named this week.

The center noted Henthorn has more than 30 years’ experience in the cable industry, working for operators, programmers and nonprofits. “Jana will bring a deep breadth of expertise to the position. She has the business acumen and the industry knowledge to strengthen The Center’s position as the go-to information resource for the industry,” Jerry Kent, chairman and CEO of Suddenlink Communications and chairman of The Cable Center’s board of directors, said in a release.

Henthorn currently serves as senior vice president of academic and industry outreach. She leads The Center’s Customer Experience Central initiatives which include the Cable Center Customer Care Committee (C5), a consortium of executives from the largest operators in North America and Europe focused on expanding industry knowledge and facilitating new approaches to customer care.

Henthorn said in the release, "The Cable Center is a solid organization and I look forward to leading the team to determine how our programs can best serve our constituents in the future.”

Before joining The Cable Center, Henthorn was vice president of affiliate sales for A+E Television Networks where she led the network sales team for 16 states and two regional offices. She also served as vice president of operations and service fulfillment for Jones Intercable. She served on the National Board and Executive Committee for Women in Cable Telecommunications from 1995 to 2000. She was inducted into the Cable TV Pioneers in 2010. 

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. 

Attendees at the INTX 2015 convention in Chicago next week will receive a bonus: a free paperback copy of a new history of the cable-TV industry, written by Cable Center CEO Larry Satkowiak (pictured). The book also will be given to attendees of the Cable TV Pioneers dinner Monday night in Chicago.

The Cable Industry: A Short History Through Three Generations, underwritten by Carlsen Resources Inc., fills a need often expressed to the Cable Center for a concise history of the business, the center said in a release. In the three generations that frame the book, cable television grew from community antennas retransmitting broadcast stations into a telecommunications power and the nation's leading provider of high-speed Internet service in addition to telephone and hundreds of channels of linear and on-demand television.

INTX 2015: The Internet & Television Expo is taking place at McCormick Place West in Chicago, May 5-7. Multichannel News will be publishing a show daily at the convention, and hosting a breakfast session Wednesday around the topic of multicultural TV. For more information about the May 6 #multiculturaltv event, please visit http://multichannelevents.com/multiculturaltv/.