COO, Cablevision, 2009 Cable Hall of Fame
As chief operating officer of Cablevision Systems Corporation, Tom Rutledge is responsible for overseeing the company’s cable television business; Rainbow Media, the company’s national programming business, which includes the AMC, IFC, Sundance Channel and WE tv networks; Optimum Lightpath, the company’s fiber optic business telecommunications service; Clearview Cinemas; and certain Cablevision corporate functions. Mr. Rutledge also oversees News 12 Networks, Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation (RASCO) and Newsday, one of the nation’s largest daily newspapers, serving the New York area.
Previously, as president of Cable and Communications, Mr. Rutledge was responsible for managing all services delivered by Cablevision’s state-of-the-art fiber optic network, including digital video, high-speed Internet and the company’s voice-over-IP phone product. His appointment in January 2002 was a key step toward ensuring the delivery of Cablevision’s new generation of digital telecommunications offerings to more than 5.3 million households and businesses in the company’s New York metropolitan service area.
Since Mr. Rutledge’s arrival at Cablevision, the company has completed a $5 billion fiber optic network upgrade and become the first U.S. cable provider to offer high-definition video on demand and to deploy a VoIP phone product across its entire service area. Under Mr. Rutledge, Cablevision also recently launched the nation’s first Wi-Fi mesh wireless cable broadband network.
A 32-year cable, media and business industry veteran, Mr. Rutledge previously served as president of Time Warner Cable. He began his industry career in 1977 at American Television and Communications (ATC), a predecessor company of Time Warner Cable, starting as a manager trainee after graduating from college.Mr. Rutledge currently serves as Chairman of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), and serves on the boards of CableLabs, C-SPAN and the CTAM Educational Foundation. He received his bachelor of administration in economics from California University in California, PA in 1977.
