San Diego -- Like some of his peers who have returned to the cable business, former Jones Intercable Inc. executive Gregory Liptak is joining with an ex-Tele-Communications Inc. official to buy some small cable systems.
Liptak and Calvin Smiley have created a Denver-based company called Sunrise Broadband LLC, which will soon close on its purchase of several small cable systems, Liptak said at the National Cable Television Cooperative’s meeting here Tuesday.
Liptak, managing member of direct-response firm Western Media Group Corp., is an investor and board member of Sunrise.
Liptak declined to comment on where, or from whom, Sunrise is buying its systems. But he did say that Sunrise will join the NCTC, which Jones was active in, once the acquisitions are complete.
The purchases are expected to be done this fall, according to Liptak.
When asked why he is coming back into the business, Liptak said, “There’s new life in small and rural cable.”
Liptak moderated an NCTC panel, “What It Takes to Compete: Cable vs. DBS.”
