Rutledge tapped by Cablevision in New York

Cable World, Jan 7, 2002 by Mavis Scanlon

Cablevision Systems has named Time Warner Cable veteran Tom Rutledge president of its New York metropolitan operations. In his new position, Rutledge will be responsible for Cablevision's core cable and telecommunications products, including its cable, high-speed-data and digital cable rollouts, and Internet Protocol (IP) telephony development and deployment. Rutledge is also expected to oversee cable sales, marketing and customer service.

With more than 20 years in the industry, Rutledge was succeeded as president of Time Warner Cable in October by Tom Baxter. At Time Warner, Rutledge over-saw deployment of such new products as digital video, high-speed data and video-on-demand. His experience with massive product launches should serve him well at Cablevision, which rolled out its first digital product in September and has pledged to launch cable telephony this year.

"Tom joins Cablevision at a crucial time," said company president and CEO James Dolan in a statement. "With the recent launch of iO, the success of Optimum Online and new services and products on the horizon, Tom's experience in broadband operations ... will play a key role in our developing digital strategy."

Cablevision's announcement follows news that it expects to take a $55 million charge against fourth-quarter earnings, largely related to severance costs for 600 people. Cablevision is cutting its workforce by about 4% as it aims to improve operational efficiency. The layoffs are primarily in corporate, administrative and infrastructure functions, the company said.

Cablevision's stock has risen to more than $47 recently from $34 in late October as speculation mounted that it might be a takeover target for AOL Time Warner. Analysts following the company generally applauded Rutledge's appointment and do not think the restructuring will affect the company's rollout of new products.

"We remain optimistic regarding the rollout of the company's digital cable product and believe that the restructuring will have no impact on its progress," said David Smith, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, in a research note.