John Malone, One-Time Cable Exec, Said: “I’m in the Connectivity Business!”

That statement in the headline comes from the proverbial horse39s mouth Dr John C Malone the one executive who has been ahead of every change in the business once known as cable ever since amp8230 well possibly before you were born John made this observation during a oneonone discussion with Liberty Mediaamp8217s Mike Fries who reports to John and is widely regarded for his remarkably honest and straightforward pubic exchanges at the Paley Center 25th International Virtual Council SummitWatching the exchange and thinking about John and the old days in cable got me thinking about growing up in the business So please indulge me for a moment while I stroll down memory laneIamp8217ve watched John ever since he was at Jerrold helping sell settop boxes to cashstrapped cable operators Note I wish I knew how he got along with Donald Rumsfeld in those days I was happy to see him move to Denver to join Bob Magness at TeleCommunications Inc the fabled TCI I knew in which desk drawer Bob kept the bourbon John brought with him John Sie who went on to create another storied programming entity StarzEncore which my old friend George Stein initiatedMalone though really knew how to effectively run a company amp8230 always thinking about structure and consequence I got a backseat view of how he did it when the city council in Vail Colorado tried to leverage more out of TCI by rescinding its deal with TCI to provide cable service to the quotcityquot Senior TCI executives Bill Brazeal and JC Sparkman called me at the time I was a media reporter for a small publishing company and asked if Iamp8217d like to join them to confront the city council Back then I was living in the foothills west of Denver so I said something like quotWhen Where Iamp8217ll be therequot I met them at the Evergreen exit off I70 and we went to the cable office in Vail amp8230 with me in the back seat with my leather wannabe pad folio for taking notesWhen we got there JC quickly decided to send the local manager home amp8230 mostly so he could claim lack of knowledge JC and Bill then set about discussing what to do amp8230 as I listened with amusement and wondermentJC wanted to simply shut down the system quotAfter allquot he said quotwe no longer have the right to provide servicequotBut Bill said quotThe Broncos play this weekend amp8230 should we just cut it offquotquotBest reason yetquot JC said quotWhoamp8217s got a penquotThey looked at meI created a card that said the system lost its franchise and anyone should just ask the mayor a guy named Dobson who later went on to better constituent relations I forget the exact wording as this was in the very early 3970sJC called the mayor39s office and left a note that we would be in a restaurant in the city center then the Ore House having dinnerY39all should39ve seen Mayor John Dobson39s face when he stormed into the restaurant visibly pissed off while Bill and JC sat there stonefaced with meDobson approached us and said something on the order of quotyou have no right to shut down the cable and turn it offquotJC quietly replied quotBut you kicked us out of town We canamp8217t service Vail because you took away our rightsquotThe immediate problem of course got solved the next couple of days Service resumed The Broncos if I remember right won the next weekend I got a great story for the magazinesAnd John Malone was right about how it would all work out Now he sits on the top of a multifaceted collection of global media companies all depending upon connectivity to make them financially successful amp8230 and critical to modern lifeI39ve long been writing and preaching that the nexus of modern communications infrastructure is the essence of the medium that makes modern life doable John used the better simpler word to label it quotconnectivityquotIt is the one word that enables all the rest of the elements to get paidClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

John Malone, One-Time Cable Exec, Said: “I’m in the Connectivity Business!”

Author

Publish date

Channel

Paul S. Maxwell

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

More Videos:

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

John Malone, One-Time Cable Exec, Said: “I’m in the Connectivity Business!”

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Paul S. Maxwell

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

Cookies