Lo-Res, 6 mb - Making Connections - Time Warner Cable

Monty Rifkin persuaded his partner, Bill Daniels, to combine
cable systems they and others owned to form a public cable
company, American Television and Communications Corp.
(ATC). While several events over the past five decades
represent major milestones in the formation of what has
become Time Warner Cable, the company traces its roots
to the June 4, 1968, founding of ATC.
Taking Stock
26 Making Connections : Time Warner Cable and the Broadband Revolution
ATC, the cable company to which Time Warner
Cable traces its operating roots, was formed on
June 4, 1968. Rifkin worked with investment
bankers from Paine Webber, Jackson & Curtis to
structure the new company and prepare for an
initial public offering of stock. The company was
formed, as noted in the stock-offering prospectus,
“to create a geographically diversified entity with
centralized management and combined financial
resources that could produce operating economies
and serve as a medium for growth in the
CATV industry through internal expansion and
acquisitions.” 57
ATC, headquartered across the street from
Daniels’ company in 1,100 square feet of space,
consisted of 36 CATV systems serving 65,500
customers in 14 states as of August 1968. The
company, which had originally hoped to sell stock
by yearend 1968, was buying systems at such a
clip during late 1968 and in early 1969 that the
offering was delayed so the Securities and
Exchange Commission could review updated
financial information. ATC had just over 100,000
customers by the time it went public in the spring
of 1969. 58
The stock offering raised $4.7 million to retire debt
tied to the purchase of systems in 1968 and help
fund the company’s expected torrid growth.
Monty Rifkin was its first president and the only
corporate officer on its board of directors. He
recruited Douglas Dittrick, who had been manager
of operations of General Electric Cablevision
Corp., to be vice president and treasurer.