Thank you for spending some time with the 2008 edition of The CableFAX 100.

As in the past, we’ve ranked the top 100 players in cable. Unlike previous years, this list has only 100 or so names on it, a drop of more than 150 names from the 2007 list.

This year’s rankings were based on several factors. Some, like ratings, revenue, stock price, carriage and subscriber numbers and length of industry service are quantifiable. To a lesser extent we also considered intangibles, like industry wide image, prestige, whether a person appears regularly at industry trade events. I won’t deny that buzz also played a role in shaping our list. 

Some of the people on the 100 list were nominated by their colleagues, others were put forward by our editors.

A few new wrinkles in this year’s 100 edition. For the first time we have compiled a ranked list of regional power players. A list of people in cable but who also transcend it are included in a list we call Above It All. To help you learn about the 100 as people, we’ve also included details about their education and the answers to a series of somewhat personal questions.

Whether or not you agree with our rankings or our predictions for the year ahead attached to nearly all the 100 entries, we hope you learn something useful about the business of cable and the people in it by reading this magazine. As always, we encourage your feedback on its contents.

Seth Arenstein
Editor

View the electronic edition of the 2008 CableFAX 100 issue.

Above It All
Paul Allen
Gregory Q. Brown
John Chambers
Charles Dolan
James Dolan
John Hendricks
Bob Iger
James Cox Kennedy
Greg Maffei
Dr. John Malone
Les Moonves
Rupert Murdoch
Sumner Redstone
Brian Roberts
Jeff Zucker

The CableFAX 100
     1. Smooth Operator
         Steve Burke
     2. Jocks ‘n’ Rock
         George Bodenheimer, Anne Sweeney
     3.  Flash Dance Not
         Glenn Britt
     4. Roto Tom
         Tom Rutledge
     5. Pet Rock
         Phil Kent
     6. Rock Steady
         Pat Esser
     7. Pop Rock
         Tony Vinciquerra
     8. Peacock Rocks
         Jeff Gaspin
     9. The Zas
         David Zaslav
   10. Rockin’ the Bar
        Steve Koonin
  11.  Hammer Time
        Bonnie Hammer
  12.  Right On
        Roger Ailes
  13. Woof-Woof
        Matt Blank
  14. McBrand Maven
        Judy McGrath
  15. Gone Shopping
        Richard Plepler
  16.  Profits’ Prophet
        Jim Walton
  17.  Interventionist
        Abbe Raven
  18.  Life Saver
        Andrea Wong
  19.  Child’s Play
        Cyma Zarghami
  20.  Undamaged
        John Landgraf
  21. The Nurse Is In
        Robert Greenblatt
  22. Mr Ubiquity
        Sean Bratches
  23. A Fox Again
        Rich Battista
  24. Shake and Bake
        Bridget Baker
  25. Positive Art
        Josh Sapan
  26. Dollar Bill
        Bill Goodwyn
  27. Musical Man
        Rich Ross
  28. Comeback Kid
        Rocco Commisso
  29. Insightful
       Michael Willner
  30. Lady of the Times
        Lauren Zalaznick
  31. Family Affair
       Nomi Bergman, Bob Miron, Steve Miron
  32. Building Growth
       Jerry Kent
 
33. Mighty Might
       Tom Might
  34. It Takes a Seal
       Neil Smit
  35. Sporting Life
        David Levy
  36. Obama’s Coattails
        Doug Herzog
  37. Brand Changers
        Bob DeBitetto and Nancy Dubuc
  38. Mad Mentor
        Ed Carroll
  39. The Ring-Masters
        Vince and Linda McMahon
  40. Cable’s Futurist
        Dick Green
  41. Trekkie
        David Howe
  42. Contrarian
        Paul Lee
  43. Classy Clown
        Michele Ganeless
  44. Cable’s Hill Water Carrier
        Kyle McSlarrow
  45. Quiet Class
        Bill Bresnan
  46. What, Me Worry?
        Charlie Collier
  47. Billions of Pixels
        Mark Cuban
  48. Fence-Mender
       John Ford
  49. Queen of New Orleans
        Debra Lee
  50. Taste Maker
        John Lansing
  51. We’re Flexible
        Mike Hopkins
  52. The Negotiator
        Melinda Witmer
  53. That’s Power
        Madison Bond
  54. Compassionate Competitor
        Colleen Abdoulah
  55. Demo Hunter
        Dave Cassaro
  56. Stream Team Captain
        Dave Juliano
  57. Operator’s Operator
        Landel Hobbs
  58. Trifecta
        Henry Schleiff
  59. Shelling Out High Def
        Jeff Shell
  60. Brand Warrior
        Sam Howe
  61. Joe the Bundler
        Joe Rooney
  62. Measured Insight
        Dinni Jain
  63. Green T(LC)
        Eileen O’Neill
  64. Recipe for Success
        Brooke Johnson
  65. The Dean
        Joe Abruzzese
  66. With the Bandwidth
        Bob Wilson
  67. The Closer
        Brian Deevy
  68. Trial by Fire
        Kathryn Zachem
  69. HD Be Free
        Mac Budill
  70. Hill People
        Rob Kennedy and Susan Swain
  71. Politic
        Johnathan Rodgers
  72. The Incubator
        Gary Marsh
  73. Play Caller
       John Skipper
  74. Cohencastic
        David Cohen
  75. Marc’d Improvement
        Marc Juris
  76. Nostalgic No Longer
        Larry Jones
  77. The Entertainer
        Ted Harbert
  78.  HD Dog
        Steve Schiffman
  79.  Weather or Not
         Debora Wilson
  80.  The Savior
         David Verklin
  81.  Bridal Sweet
        Kim Martin
  82.  Frei’s Guy
        Garth Ancier
  83.  Independent’s Day
        Evan Shapiro
  84.  Consummate Traveler
         Patrick Younge
  85.  Brian’s Wrong
        Steve Bornstein
  86.  Mind Reader
        Susan Whiting
  87.  Travel Guide
         Ryan O’Hara
  88.  Hired Gun
        Tonia O’Connor
  89.  Programming’s Dean
        Patty McCaskill
  90.  Living the Lifestyle
        Susan Packard
  91. The Fisher Queen
        Denise Conroy-Galley
  92. Serious Shopper
        Michael George
  93. Racing Ahead
        Marc Fein
  94. Man in Demand
        Rob Jacobson
  95. Crash Tester
        Robert Clasen
  96. Mr Persistence
        Steve Friedman
  97. Ace & Arts
        Ken Solomon
  98. Paddling the Canoe
        David Zagin
  99. Sky Pilot
       Tom Mohler
100. Retired, Not Retiring
       Brad Knight
       

The Regional 25
 
1. Randy Freer
  2. Jon Litner
  3. Tracy Dolgin, Ray Hopkins
  4. Steve Raab
  5. Patrick Knorr
  6. Barry Rosenblum
  7. Mark Silverman
  8. Pete Cirelli, Josh Jamison
  9. Steve Weed
10. William Bridgen
11. Scott Binder
12. Carol Hevey, Stephen Pagano
13. Mike Bair
14. Curt Henninger
15. Fred Lutz
16. Ted Griggs
17. Amy Tykeson
18. Jon Gorchow
19. Gary McCollum, Janet Barnard
20. Jim Liberatore
21. Steve Friedman
22. Elliott Wiser
23. Laurie Giammona
24. Joan Gundlach
25. Mary McConnell

 
 


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