Sales 2023: $ 54.607 billion (€ 50.500 billion)

Overview

Charter, the second largest US cable operator from Connecticut with 32 million users in 41 US states, offers subscribers under the SpectrumBrand TV, telephone, internet access, and mobile communications. The more than 14 million cable TV subscribers also receive news, sports, and original programming.

General Information

Headquarters:  
400 Washington Boulevard
Stamford, Connecticut 06902
USA
Telephone: 001 203 9057801
Internet: ir.charter.com

Branches of trade: TV, cable networks, internet services, video-on-demand
Legal form: Stock Company
Financial year: 01.01. – 31.12.
Founding year: 1993

Basic economic data (in US$ million)

	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018
Revenue	54.607	54.022	51.680	48.100	45.764	43.620
Profit	4.557	5.055	4.654	3.222	2.251	1.632
Stock price (year end, in $US)	388,68	339,10	651,97	661,55	494,47	302,74
Employees	101.100	101.700	93.700	96.100	95.100	98.000

Sales by business segment (in million US$1,000,000)

	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018
video	16.351	17.460	17.630	17.432	17.607	17.348
Internet	23.032	22.222	21.094	18.521	16.667	15.181
Voice	1.510	1.599	1.598	1.806	1.920	2.114
Advertising Sales	1.551	1.882	1.594	1.669	1.568	1.785
Commercial Revenue	7.123	7.027	6.743	6.432	6.424	6.193
mobile	2.243	1.698	2.178	1.364	726	106

Executives and Directors

Management:

• Christopher L. Winfrey, President and Chief Executive Officer
• Bill Archer, Executive Vice President, President of Spectrum Enterprise
• Michael Bair, Executive Vice President, Spectrum Networks
• Cameron Blanchard, EVP, Communications
• Catherine C. Bohigian, EVP, Government Affairs
• Danny Bowman, EVP, Product
• Justin Colwell, EVP, Connectivity Technology
• Rhonda Nesmith Crichlow, Senior Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer
• Richard J. DiGeronimo, Product and Technology
• Jessica Fischer, Chief Financial Officer  
• Cliff Hagan, EVP, Customer Operations
• Jamal Haughton, EVP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
• Kevin D. Howard, Executive Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller
• David Kline, Executive Vice President, President Spectrum Reach
• Paul Marchand, Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer
• Tom Monaghan, Executive Vice President, Field Operations
• Tom Montemagno, Executive Vice President, Programming Acquisition
• Jake Perlman, Executive Vice President, Software Development & IT
• Sharon Peters, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer
• Adam Ray, Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer
• Christian Ruiz, Executive Vice President, Sales
• Magesh Srinivasan, Executive Vice President, Network Operations
  

Supervisory Board

• Eric L. Zinterhofer, Searchlight Capital Partners, LP
• W. Lance Conn, President of Vulcan Capital from 2004 to 2009
• Kim C. Goodman, President, Payments and Risk Solutions of Fiserv, Inc.
• Craig A. Jacobson, founding partner at the law firm of Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller & Gellman, LLP
• Gregory B. Maffei, director and president and CEO of Liberty Media Corporation
• John D. Markley, Jr., Managing Director of Bear Creek Capital
• David C. Merritt, private investor and consultant
• James E. Meyer, Chief Executive Officer of Sirius XM Holdings Inc. from December 2012 until his retirement on December 31, 2020
• Steve A. Miron, Chief Executive Officer of Advance/Newhouse Partnership, senior executive officer at Advance
• Balan Nair, president and chief executive officer of Liberty Latin America, Ltd.
• Michael A. Newhouse, co-president at Advance
• Mauricio Ramos, Chief Executive Officer of Millicom International Cellular SA
• Thomas M. Rutledge, Former CEO, Charter Communications
• Christopher Winfrey, CEO, Charter Communications

History

Charter Communications (CC) began in 1993 as a local cable network operator in St. Louis, Missouri, acquired Gaylord Entertainment Co. of Nashville, Tennessee, and quickly rose to become the tenth-largest cable company in the United States. In 1998, Paul G. Allen, co-founder of Microsoft and at one time the world's third-richest person, acquired a majority stake in Charter for $4.5 billion. Allen had retired from operational management at Microsoft in 1983 due to illness and, after selling part of his Microsoft shares, began investing in various new media companies. After his attempt to take over the then narrowband industry leader AOL failed in 1993, he turned his attention to the cable network in the mid-1990s with the aim of becoming the market leader in the broadband segment. The vision behind it: the creation of a "wired world" to offer everyone a new, interactive world of information and entertainment via PC and broadband cable.

CC's rise was rapid. The company went public in 1999, was included in the Nasdaq 100 index in 2001, and was considered the technology industry's rising star of the year. The company expanded in 1999 and 2000 by acquiring additional local cable operators. But with the collapse of the new economy, problems began to arise. At one point, Charter's debt level reached almost $20 billion; in 2002 and 2003, significant losses followed. To offset these losses, Chairman Paul Allen offered a $300 million loan from his personal fortune and replaced the entire management team. Carl A. Vogel, President and Chief Executive from 2001 to 2004, during whose tenure CC lost an estimated 800,000 customers, also had to leave.

Only the support of major banks saved the company from complete bankruptcy. However, neither an eight billion dollar loan at the beginning of 2004 nor restructuring measures were enough to bring Charter into the black. The company intensified its consolidation efforts, and management expected a new marketing concept to have a positive impact. However, the company only recorded growth in high-speed internet connections and internet telephony. The enormous investments in improving the cable network, however, only yielded profits in the long term.

In addition, there was a conflict with the major Hollywood studios in 2004/2005, which refused to let the network operators take control of the cable marketing of film rights. Thus, in 2004, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) launched the first wave of lawsuits against users of film file-sharing platforms. However, the courts ruled that mere suspicion did not compel an internet provider to release user data. Thus, Charter could not be held liable for any copyright infringements by its users. Nevertheless, in 2006, the stock lost 90 percent of its value within 11 months.

On March 27, 2009, Charter was finally forced to declare bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code (protecting creditors from bankruptcy), allowing it to reorganize. However, $21.7 billion in debt could no longer be refinanced from existing businesses. A restructuring plan then called for converting $8 billion in debt into equity. This ended the bankruptcy proceedings and enabled Charter to operate again. In the following years, Charter was able to broaden its operations after acquiring cable networks in several U.S. states.

In 2013, CC consolidated its video, telephony, and broadband offerings under the new "Spectrum" brand. In the same year, Charter acquired the regional cable TV provider Optimum West (with 360,000 customers) from Cablevision for $1.63 billion. Perhaps the most important factor in stabilizing Charter's business was the entry of John Malone, dubbed the "Cable Baron," who acquired 27.3 percent of the shares and later transferred them to his holding company, Liberty Broadband Corporation (ranked 17th in the current IfM rankings). Malone was then the driving force behind the $67 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable (TWC). In April 2016, Charter, the fourth-largest US cable company, bought the number two in the industry and a smaller provider, Bright House Networks, for an additional $10.4 billion. In total, Charter thus reached around 24 million customers in 41 US states—a cable giant had been created.

In 2018, there was a dispute with the New York Public Service Commission (NYPSC), which imposed a $2 million fine on Charter. The cable operator had failed to fulfill its commitment to expand broadband service to 145,000 underserved residential units in New York – a commitment it had made in connection with its acquisition of Time Warner Cable. The commission threatened the possibility of further regulatory action, including the revocation of Charter's cable franchises. On July 27, 2018, the NYPSC withdrew its approval of Charter's purchase of TWC (due to repeated failure to meet the expansion deadlines promised as part of the TWC purchase). Charter was required to submit a plan within 60 days to divest and migrate its cable operations in New York State (which serve approximately 2 million customers) to new owners. By April 2019, however, it was clear: a solution and new terms were available. An expansion for 145,000 housing units by September 30, 2021. And the payment of $12 million into a fund for broadband expansion projects.

management

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas M. Rutledge has always believed that his company can only survive long-term if it grows through acquisitions. When investor and cable veteran John Malone joined Charter, the two immediately formed an alliance with the goal of making Charter the number two in the cable market. Rutledge, a trivia fan with a penchant for history, learned the cable business from the ground up and, unlike most of his Wall Street friends, began his career as a low-level employee in Pittsburgh, meeting with clients and installing cables. He later worked in management at Cablevision (which he left after a dispute with the Dolan family) and Time Warner Cable, among others. To the surprise of many, he was passed over for CEO in 2001. Fifteen years later, he simply bought the company himself. Under Rutledge's leadership, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks were integrated – and Charter's size tripled.

Business Units

Charter is now the second-largest cable company in the United States and one of the leading broadband providers for over 31 million customers in 41 states (29 million broadband internet customers, 16 million video subscribers). All under the "Spectrum" brand, which offers cable television (over 200 HD channels, plus premium channels such as HBO and Showtime), internet, landline, and mobile telephony. Also offering are the "Spectrum Networks," news and sports channels operated by Charter Communications, with regional programming in 12 states; or the exclusive, on-demand and the commercial-free offering of "Spectrum Originals." Charter, however, generates only a fraction of its revenue from integrating local advertising into the programming of cable channels such as MTV, CNN, and ESPN.

Current developments

“Cord cutting continues,” wrote Forbes on April 30, 2021, “Charter subscribers are now canceling their pay TV.” Cord cutting, actually "cord cutting," here refers to the decline in cable TV subscriptions. In the first quarter of 2021, Charter, the number two in the US cable business after Comcast, lost 156,000 pay TV subscribers, despite the coronavirus pandemic. While people had more media time, "cord cutting" seemed to be accelerating; in the first quarter of 2010, it was 156,000. only 70,000 canceled subscriptions. Charter is generally experiencing a slow decline in customer numbers. In the second quarter of 2016, it had 16.9 million TV subscribers, now it's down to just 16.06. Charter isn't alone in this; other cable and satellite companies are also affected, losing hundreds of thousands of customers who have been finding their video content for years through other, sometimes free, means. And yet, according to Charter Chairman Tom Rutledge, 2022 is the year "cable business gets back to normal," at least largely, as Multichannel News quoted him as saying in December 2021. Even if broadband connections continue to progress slowly, one thing is clear: "Cable TV is now the growth engine."