Charter Communications
Charter Communications, Inc., is an American telecommunications and mass media company with services branded as Spectrum. With over 32 million customers in 41 states,[5][1] it is the largest cable operator in the United States by subscribers,[6] just ahead of Comcast, and the largest pay TV operator ahead of Comcast and AT&T.[7] Charter is the fifth-largest telephone provider based on number of residential lines.
Company type
- Nasdaq: CHTR (Class A)
- Nasdaq-100 component
- S&P 100 component
- S&P 500 component
1993 in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
- Barry Babcock
- Jerald Kent
- Howard Wood
41 states[1]
- Tom Rutledge
(Executive Chairman) - Chris Winfrey
(President and CEO)
US$54.61 billion (2023)[2]
US$12.56 billion (2023)[2]
US$5.26 billion (2023)[2]
US$147.2 billion (2023)[2]
US$14.72 billion (2023)[2]
- Liberty Media (23.3%)[3]
- Advance Publications (13%)[4]
c. 101,100 (2023)[2]
In late 2012, with longtime Cablevision executive Thomas Rutledge named as their CEO, Charter relocated its corporate headquarters from St. Louis, Missouri, to Stamford, Connecticut, though kept many of its operations in St. Louis.[8] On May 18, 2016, Charter finalized acquisition of Time Warner Cable and its sister company Bright House Networks,[9] making it the third-largest pay television service in the United States.[10][11][12] Charter ranked No. 70 in the 2019 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.[13]
History[edit]
1980–1998: Beginnings[edit]
Charter Communications CATV systems was founded in 1980 by Charles H. Leonard in Barry County, Michigan.[14][15] The original Charter system headquarters and offices were located at 1001 Payne Lake Road, Yankee Springs Township, Michigan. Leonard began a corporate partnership with Gary Wilcox and Gerry Kazma, both from Naperville, Illinois, during which Spectrum Communications (Kazma) merged with Charter Systems (1981–1983).
Through continued mergers and acquisition, Charter was consolidated in 1993 by Barry Babcock, Jerald Kent and Howard Wood, who had been former executives at Cencom Cable Television in St. Louis, Missouri. It was also incorporated in the state of Missouri in 1993.[16]
In 1995, Charter paid about $300 million for a controlling interest in the cable television systems owned by Crown Media Holdings and acquired Cable South.[16]
In 1997, Charter and EarthLink worked together to deliver high-speed Internet access through cable modems to Charter's customers in Los Angeles and Riverside, California.[16]
In 1998, Paul Allen bought a controlling interest. The company paid $2.8 billion to acquire Dallas-based cable company Marcus Cable. Charter Communications had one million customers in 1998.[16]
Lawsuits[edit]
In 2002, the United States Department of Justice investigated the company, leading to the indictment of four former executives in 2005 for improper financial reporting related primarily to the inflation of cable subscriber numbers to improve financial figures.[88]
In 2004, Charter settled a class-action lawsuit concerning the questionable financial reporting associated with the U.S. Department of Justice's 2002 investigation and subsequent indictment of four former executives. Current and former shareholders (and their attorneys) were awarded $144 million as well as an agreement from Charter to maintain and implement proper corporate governance measures.[89]
In June 2010, Charter settled a class-action lawsuit for $18 million concerning wage and overtime claims for current and former field technicians in California, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Nevada, Washington, Oregon and Nebraska.[90]
In December 2013, a complaint was filed by Steelhead Licensing LLC for patent infringement of U.S. Patent 8082318; it is described as "Controlling service requests transmitted from a client to a server".[91][92][93]
In January 2016, the National Association of African-American Owned Media and Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios filed a $10 billion civil rights lawsuit against Charter, claiming discrimination for Charter's refusal to pick up Allen's eight-channel suite of networks (which mainly carry ES content already syndicated through local television stations and paid programming); Allen and the NAAAOM (which has an Entertainment Studios executive as its head) have already filed the same type of suit against several other providers.[94][95]
In May 2016, Charter reached a settlement with the FCC regarding allegations by Zoom Telephonics that, in 2012, following the introduction of new rate plans and the introduction of DOCSIS 3.0, it had begun to bar new subscribers or those switching to the new plans from utilizing customer-purchased modems. Although Charter ended this practice in 2014 and began to allow certain certified modems to be used, Zoom argued that the company was still deliberately limiting options by requiring the modems to undergo a testing protocol concerning factors beyond whether they cause interference or unauthorized receipt of service (the only two factors which providers may use to restrict allowable modems under FCC policy). Charter paid a $640,000 fine, and agreed to use a shorter testing process allowing the use of any DOCSIS 3.0-compatible modem, and send compliance reports to the FCC every six months and whenever a modem is blacklisted.[96]
On February 1, 2017, Charter was sued by the Attorney General of New York for failing to provide its advertised Internet speeds to customers in areas that Charter acquired by the purchase of Time Warner Cable.[97][98] The company agreed to a $174.2 million settlement, including both refunds of $75 to affected subscribers (with an additional $75 to those who rented the defective modem hardware for at least 24 months), and offers of complimentary subscriptions to services such as HBO (3 months) or Showtime (6 months) to all subscribers with an internet and television bundle.[99]
On August 28, 2017, Charter agreed to a $225,000 settlement in the state of Missouri over violations of telemarketing and No-call list laws.[100]
In July 2022, a jury in Dallas County, Texas ordered Charter to pay $375 million in compensatory damages plus $7 billion in punitive damages to the family of a woman who was murdered by a Spectrum technician. Lawyers for the woman's family contended that "systemic safety failures" at Spectrum led to the murder, and that Spectrum forged documents to force the case into arbitration instead of a jury trial, a claim that Charter denies. As of July 2022, Charter plans to appeal the ruling.[101]