QM Events

June 04, 2009     ARCHIVES

Media Guru Breakfast: Glenn Britt

Glenn Britt has had the kind of career that is very rare these days. He went to Time Inc. straight out of business school and rose through the ranks of the company and various subsidiaries in the subsequent 37 years. Of course, he picked a company that has seen a lot of action since the 70s, morphing and transforming itself constantly through organic and merger growth, acquisitions and ultimately a spin-off. Just a few weeks ago, Time Warner Cable (TWC), of which Britt is Chairman, President and CEO, separated from Time Warner Inc. into a newly independent, stand-alone company. Britt, who has the reputation of being a manager’s manager, with a “supremely low profile” (Fortune Magazine), has nonetheless agreed to share his insights with club members and guests. In an off-the-record fireside chat format, Britt will talk about leading Time Warner Cable today – a company with more than $17 billion in revenue and 13 million basic video subscribers. Britt was named President and CEO of Time Warner Cable in February 2006 and has served as its Chief Executive since August 2001. Earlier this year he was named Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors. Britt has been the driving force behind the company’s aggressive deployment of advanced video services, such as video-on-demand, high-definition television, and digital video recorders. Britt has guided the continued growth and increased penetration of Time Warner Cable’s residential high-speed data product and has overseen the efforts of Road Runner Business Class, the company’s commercial broadband service. He has also championed the launch and growth of Time Warner Cable Digital Phone, the company’s VoIP service. In addition to the continued and rapid deployment of advanced services, Britt has led the cable industry’s efforts to work more closely with consumer electronics manufactures and other related groups to develop compatible standards for the deployment of future integrated products. Britt became president of Time Warner Cable in January 1999. Previously, Britt served as president and CEO of Time Warner Cable Ventures, the company’s new-business arm. There, he oversaw the launch of Road Runner, the high-speed Internet service, as well as the creation of Time Warner Telecom, a provider of local telecommunications services. He had been Executive Vice President, Time Warner Cable, since 1990 and was previously Senior Vice President and Treasurer of Time Warner Inc. Prior to the merger between Time Inc. and Warner Communications, Britt was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Time Inc. Britt joined Time Inc. in 1972 in the Controller’s Department and rose, successively, to Vice President-Treasurer of Manhattan Cable Television, Inc. (1974), Finance Director for Time-Life Books Iran Project (1977), Vice President-Network and Studio Operations for Home Box Office, Inc. (HBO), and Director of Business Development of Time Inc.’s Video Group (1980). Britt became Senior Vice President-Finance for American Television and Communications Corp., Time Inc.’s cable television unit, in 1981, Senior Vice President - Finance of Time Inc.’s Video Group in 1984, and Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of HBO later that year. He was elected as Vice President of Time Inc. in October 1986 and Treasurer the following month. He became Vice President - Finance of Time Inc. in February 1988. Britt serves on the Board of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) and is a member of the Executive Committee. He is also a Board member of CableLabs, Board member of the Walter Kaitz Foundation, Board member of the Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund, Board member of Xerox Corporation, and Board member of TIAA. He received a B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College, where he graduated magna cum laude. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Britt received an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth in 1972.

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