Cable's Capital? Denver Losing Some of Charter Staff

Things were looking up for Denver a couple of years ago, when 2 of the 5 biggest MSOs-Charter and Adelphia-kept corporate offices in the Mile High city. But Denver’s claim to keep the mantle of cable’s capital was dealt a deathblow this summer when new Charter pres/CEO Neil Smit decided to set-up shop in the MSO’s St Louis office. Predictably, other sr execs are following suit and moving from Denver to St Louis. Charter told its Denver-based marketing staff that they have until year-end to move to St Louis, where the unfilled chief marketing officer position will be based. COO Mike Lovett relocated from Denver to St Louis over the summer. The vacant CFO spot will be based in St Louis (a change from former CFO Michael Huseby, who was a Denverite). And new gen counsel/corp sec Grier Raclin will work out of St Louis. Officially, Charter’s HQ always had been in St Louis. But Carl Vogel never had any intention of moving away from the Rockies, and most of his sr staff lived and worked with him in Denver. Charter plans to keep what it terms a "satellite office" open in Denver, which will continue to house programming evp Sue Hamilton and CTO Wayne Davis. Cable’s Capital: With Charter and Adelphia pulling up roots, it’s not Denver anymore. So what is it? Philly? Atlanta? DC? Maybe it’s time to take another poll…