Cablevision Exec Goes to Charter (CVC, CHTR)

Last Friday, Cablevision Corp. (NYSE: CVC) lost its COO when Tom Rutledge unexpectedly resigned. Cablevision’s stock fell more than -10% on the news. Things aren’t likely to get better for the company today, with the news that Rutledge has taken the CEO position at Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR).

According to The Wall Street Journal, Rutledge’s appointment is effective February 13th, and his compensation package includes a $32 million grant of restricted stock.

Charter is the fourth largest cable operator in the country, and its 4.1 million subscribers outnumber Cablevision’s 3.3 million. But where Cablevision is concentrated around New York City, Charter’s subscribers are scattered throughout 25 states. Exactly how Charter can increase its density is likely to be the first problem Rutledge tries to solve.

Charter also needs to beef up its broadband and digital voice capabilities, which is probably the reason the company was interested in Rutledge in the first place. He is credited with leading Cablevision’s move into the combined cable-voice-broadband packages that are now common in the industry.