Two names familiar to European audiences are among six new inductees entering the Cable Hall of Fame later this month. David Van Valkenburg was CEO at Telewest during a key period in the development of UK cable, while CNN’s Christiane Amanpour has been a familiar figure on our screens for over 20 years.
Backed by The Cable Center, the names have been chosen based on their dedication and contributions to the cable industry, by a committee of peers, led by Glenn Britt, chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable.
Van Valkenburg first came into contact with the cable industry in 1969 while a financial analyst for Investors Diversified Services (IDS). In 1973 he joined American Television and Communications Corporation, a network that at the time offered subscribers a bouquet of 12 off-air channels. Over the next 21 years Van Valkenburg was an executive for seven US MSOs before ending his career in 1999 as CEO/COO of Telewest offering the triple play of residential video, internet, and telephony, and commercial data and telephony services.
He took Telewest from near bankruptcy to being listed among UK’s FTSE 100 companies. Since retiring from senior executive roles, he has shared his management expertise with corporate executives through serving on 16 companies’ Boards of Directors.
Christiane Amanpour is host of Amanpour and chief international correspondent for CNN International as well as the global affairs anchor at ABC News. Her career in journalism spans three decades. When she became an international correspondent for CNN in 1990, her first major assignment was covering the Gulf War.
She has since reported from the world’s major hotspots, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Somalia, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Asia, Rwanda, the Balkans, and the US during Hurricane Katrina. She has interviewed most of the top world leaders over the past two decades, including securing the only interview with Hosni Mubarak and an exclusive with Muammar Ghadafi during the Arab Spring.
Also been inducted this year are Alex Best, Executive Vice President, Engineering, Cox Communications, Inc; Jerald L. Kent, Chairman and CEO, Suddenlink Communications; Daniel L. Ritchie, Chairman and CEO, The Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Fred Dressler, Executive Vice President, Programming, Time Warner Cable is being posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame.
