Tom Rutledge

Years in Industry: 41

Education: BA, Economics, California University in California, PA

Veteran cable exec Rutledge has seen the industry evolve through transformations large and small. His deep knowledge and experience running a multichannel video distributor and his visionary agility are two of the reasons the country’s second-largest cable operator has been thriving of late. Charter’s revenue in 2018 increased by 4. 9% to $43. 6 billion, and with the Bright House and Time Warner Cable integrations now complete, Rutledge is assessing new products and services for customers and potential new content forays—co-production deals with AMC Networks and Viacom are under way— while always remaining open to potential additional acquisitions. What’s next for Charter in 2019? Safe to say with Rutledge at the helm, the sky’s the limit.

What do you think will be the biggest game changer to come from 10G? A 10G, high-capacity, high-compute, low-latency network will power advanced applications and immersive experiences that have been considered science fiction until now. The use cases being focused on today revolve around Smart Cities and AR/VR applications in gaming, medicine and business. However, I think that’s only scratching the surface. We are in the early stages of a new technology renaissance, where continued advancements will have a snowball effect on every aspect of our lives, and our network is best positioned to deliver that future to customers.

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