I was wondering, just out of sheer curiosity: What was/were the cable
company(ies), in St. Louis County, Missouri before the current one,
Charter Communications?

I believe it might have been Univision, but I'm not sure.

Thanks,

Brad

---

Clarification of Question by telarium-ga on 21 Sep 2004 22:05 PDT

I apologize, Univision is the Spanish television channel - I'm looking
for the name of the previous *cable company*, to clarify. It might
have been something similar to the name of that channel, though.

Hi telarium,

I believe the cable company you are thinking of is Cencom Cable. The
following are excerpts to verify this.

"Kent and Wood were among the founders of the old Cencom Cable
Associates Inc. of St. Louis, which was sold to Hallmark Inc. Later,
they started Charter and eventually bought back the former Cencom
properties in St. Louis, building Charter to nearly 7 million
subscribers in a seven-year acquisition spree in the late 1990s..."

RedNova
http://www.rednova.com/news/stories/3/2003/02/13/story003.html


"...Wood hired Kent, then a recent graduate of Washington University,
in 1979 for the tax accounting group in Arthur Andersen's St. Louis
office. A few years later, the late Robert L. Brooks recruited Kent
and later Wood to help build Cencom, which grew into the largest cable
company in St. Louis County in the 1980s. Hallmark Inc. bought it in
1991.

Wood, Kent and another Cencom alumnus, Barry L. Babcock, formed
Charter two years later and built it into one of the nation's largest
cable TV companies in a six-year acquisition spree. One of their first
purchases was the former Cencom properties in 1994..."

Light Reading
http://www.lightreading.com/boards/message.asp?msg_id=71019


"Previously, Brooks founded Brooks Fiber Properties, a competitive
local exchange carrier acquired by WorldCom earlier this year, and
co-founded cable operator CenCom Cable Associates, sold in 1991.

St. Louis-based Gabriel is awaiting CLEC authorization and plans to
begin offering service in the spring or early summer of 1999..."

Telephony Online
http://telephonyonline.com/ar/telecom_third_time_around/


"NuVox, originally called Gabriel Communications, was the last company
founded by Robert Brooks, the area's most successful entrepreneur of
the last couple of decades. He founded Cencom Cable, a predecessor of
today's Charter Communications, and sold it for $1 billion in 1991."

Google's Cache of:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/columnists.nsf/0/11b73aba9427127086256e470010b4c1?OpenDocument&Click=


Search criteria:
"St. Louis County" "cable company"
"St. Louis County" "cable company"
"Charter Communications" Cencom


I hope this is helpful. If you have any questions regarding my answer
please don?t hesitate to ask before rating it.

Best regards,
Rainbow

It was not Cencom Cable - but rather an independent cable company with
no prior ties to Charter Communications, other than the fact they were
bought out by Charter. However, this is a good starting point for my
research, thanks!