Where to Go After Cable? For Rosendahl, It’s Politics

For 16 years Adelphia’s Bill Rosendahl asked politicians questions on his public affairs show in Los Angeles. Now he wants to be on the other end of the firing line. Rosendahl, who is running for city council in Los Angeles, left Adelphia as VP, Southern California, at the end of last year in the midst of the MSO’s reorganization and installation of new management following the downfall of John, Tim and Michael Rigas, the company’s founders. But Rosendahl had been an institution in Los Angeles long before the Rigases came to town. He started his cable career in the City of Angels in 1979, when Group W Cable owned the property. He stayed when Century Communications bought the system a few years later, and he still considers former Century chairman Leonard Tow and former cable president Bern Gallagher among his closest friends and allies. Gallagher was one of Rosendahl’s first financial contributors. Burt Harris, a cable pioneer who served as vice chairman of Warner Cable in the 1970s, has lent support and contributed funds to Rosendahl’s campaign. Other cable industry executives who’ve donated to his campaign: Tennis Channel investor Frank Biondi and Saban Entertainment chief Haim Saban. It’s a long political trail—the election isn’t until March 2005. Still, Rosendahl says he’s already raised about $75,000 and has been endorsed by several high-profile politicians and celebrities including former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and actor Mike Farrell. While he is a staunch Democrat, Rosendahl says he isn’t running a partisan campaign (Riordan is a Republican and Farrell is a noted liberal). "I am known as a problem solver, and that often requires a nonpartisan attitude," he says. "The opportunity I had in the cable business enabled me to be involved in politics by asking questions. Now it’s time to for me to help solve some problems." First on the minds of CW readers: Is he advertising on cable? Not yet, according to Rosendahl, who says the district he is running in doesn’t fit well with existing ad zones; Comcast and Adelphia serve the area.