Lemle Gets CVC Spot

Cable World, March 12, 2001

The death of Marc Lustgarten, a tong-time confidante and deal-maker for the Dolans, created a void at Cablevision in 1999, and the company had never filled his vice chairman spot. Until now.

Cablevision last week named Robert Lemle to the post, where he will report to Cablevision president/CEO James Dolan. Lemle, Cablevision's general counsel, secretary and vice chairman of Madison Square Garden, has long operated under the public radar.

After Lustgarten's death from pancreatic cancer, news reports referred to him as a "master tactician" and he was considered instrumental in many of Cablevision's deals -- his list of accomplishments included helping create Rainbow Media Holdings and buying MSG. The big question upon his death was who would replace him.

Cablevision veteran Lemle has also been involved with Rainbow since its inception and helped set up its earliest sports and movie agreements. The company said in a release that Lemle has been instrumental in guiding several transactions in recent years, including the acquisition of the New York area cable systems from TGI, as well as the strategic development and execution of several deals in the new media, programming and telecom units.