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Adelphia's assets now in hands of cable giants

Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 1, 2006 at midnight

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Cable company Adelphia is officially history.

Comcast and Time Warner, the nation's two biggest cable operators, completed their $17 billion purchase of Greenwood Village-based Adelphia's assets on Monday. Time Warner gained about 3.3 million subscribers, while Comcast added 1.7 million customers, including about 100,000 in Colorado Springs.

Adelphia, the nation's fifth-largest cable operator, declared bankruptcy more than four years ago and moved its headquarters from Coudersport, Pa., to the Denver Tech Center under its new management. About 13,000 of Adelphia's workers transferred to the buyers, while about 500 - including many at the company's headquarters - lost their jobs.

"That stands in stark contrast to the situation almost 40 months ago when there was serious talk of liquidating Adelphia," said Adelphia Chairman and CEO William Schleyer.

In Colorado Springs, Adelphia's 225 cable system workers moved to Comcast. The 600 employees at Adelphia's call center in the area are now Time Warner employees.

Comcast, which had about 700,000 subscribers in the state before the purchase, plans to invest about $16 million to make Adelphia's Colorado networks compatible with Comcast services such as video on demand, high-definition TV and Internet-based phone service, said spokeswoman Cindy Parsons. Customers won't see changes to their programming or prices for several months.

As part of the deal, Philadelphia-based Comcast and New York- based Time Warner also swapped customers in Florida, Los Angeles and Texas to consolidate their territories.

"Now it's time to get to work delivering on the promise of these transactions," Brian Roberts, Comcast's chief executive, said in a statement.

While Adelphia as a cable operator disappeared, the company continues to exist with a skeleton crew of 275 to handle remaining bankruptcy issues. The company announced last week it reached a framework for a plan of reorganization that, if approved by the bankruptcy court, would result in an emergence from Chapter 11 late this year.

Adelphia, burdened by more than $20 billion in debt, filed for bankruptcy following an accounting fraud led by founder John Rigas and his son Timothy Rigas, who was chief financial officer. Both were convicted in July 2004 of conspiracy and securities fraud.