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Hall of Fame HONOREES

Cable World, Nov 3, 2003

Byline: K. C. NEEL

Almost 700 cable executives descended on the Cable Center on Oct. 14 to honor six of the industry's most influential leaders.

The annual Hall of Fame award is bestowed to men and women whose achievements have provided service to the cable industry and contributed significantly to the growth and development of cable, and to the people, communities and organizations served by cable TV.

This year's honorees included Julian Brodsky, vice chairman, Comcast Corp.; Gustave Hauser, chairman/CEO, Hauser Communications; John Hendricks, president/CEO, Discovery Communications; Walter Kaitz (deceased), founder of the California Cable Television Association; John Sie, founder/president/CEO, Starz Encore Group; and Robert Tarlton, formerly of Jerrold Electronics and the founder of one of the country's first cable systems.

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Julian Brodsky

Julian Brodsky got into the cable business 40 years ago when he teamed up with Ralph Roberts and Dan Aaron to form Comcast Corp., now the nation's largest MSO by far.

It was Brodsky's trademark conservative fiscal tendencies that earmarked Comcast's strong financial balance sheets and allowed the MSO to continue growing over the years without putting too much debt on its balance sheet. He was also in charge of Comcast's merger-and-acquisition activities as well as its international expansion efforts.

Brodsky has slowed down a bit in recent years, but not much. He still serves as Comcast's vice chairman and is also chairman of Interactive Capital Group, a venture capital fund formed a few years ago to help incubate and fund interactive companies. He also is keenly involved in the Cable Center and is on several boards, some nonprofit and some for profit. An avid photographer, he's in the process of organizing and digitizing over 2,000 slides he's taken over the years. Brodsky has also taken up writing. But he's not sitting around much either. He continues to play tennis several times a week and travels extensively.

"Many of my responsibilities have been taken over by younger Comcasters," Brodsky says. "It's been tremendously fun. [The cable industry] isn't quite the Wild West it used to be when we had enemies coming at us from every turn. Our opponents were legion, and still are, frankly. We were always in a state of crisis and we had no rules to guide us. But I can't imagine what could be more fun than where we are today and what we have today."

Brodsky says he never purposely struck out to make Comcast the largest MSO, but "logically we had to get where we are today. We were always buying systems and we never really sold anything. We could make long-range plans. Coupled with the entrepreneurial spirit here, we couldn't help but grow. And when AT&T Broadband became available to us, we were able to do it one svelte move."

Gus Hauser

Gus Hauser was interactive cable before interactive cable was cool. It was Hauser, as CEO of Warner Amex Cable, who oversaw the development of QUBE, an advanced and interactive cable system that ended up being a bit ahead of its time but led to innovations the industry is embracing today such as video-on-demand, polling and home shopping.

Hauser went on to run his own company - Hauser Communications - eventually selling it to Southwestern Bell, which was the first Bell operating company to get into the cable business. Those suburban Washington, D.C., properties eventually ended up in the hands of Comcast.

Since his retirement from the cable business in 1993, Hauser has heavily concentrated all his efforts on philanthropy. Although he sits on the Cable Center board, most of his philanthropic efforts are global in nature.

"Philanthropy is a uniquely American institution," Hauser says. "The rest of the world hasn't grasped how important it is to society."

Hauser and his wife concentrate "on funding rather than fund-raising - things that make a difference. We originate our own projects," he says. For instance, the Hauser Center for Non-Profits at Harvard was started by the Hausers.

He's still active in the cable industry, donating time and money to the Cable Center and the Museum of TV and Radio. Hauser also still meets and communicates regularly with the friends and colleagues he met while working in the cable industry. He doesn't really miss the business - he's too busy with his new ventures - but he does relish his time in the industry and says he's glad to see the industry finally live up to its potential.

"It took awhile," he says. "QUBE was premature. But all the things we did with that service are now coming to fruition, and we knew at the time they would eventually be successful."

John Sie

Looking at Starz Encore chairman John Sie today, it's hard to imagine him as a youthful hooligan who got into trouble everywhere he went. Then again, maybe it's not so hard, given the contrarian positions he's taken on many issues in the cable business over the years.

Technology Industry

Hall of Fame HONOREES

Cable World, Nov 3, 2003

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