The highest paid CEOs in cable & satellite

May 15, 2012

Tools

Cable Executive compensation Which pay TV distributor's CEO saw the highest rate of total compensation in 2011? While last year saw the usual multimillion-dollar compensation packages, sky-high jumps in compensation were not the norm.

In fact, Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) CEO Brian Roberts took a 13 percent cut in compensation. Glenn Britt, CEO of Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), received 5.7 percent less compensation in 2011 compared to 2010. And DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) chief executive Michael D. White saw his total compensation nosedive to less than $6 million--largely because in 2010, his first year with the satellite operator, he received $27 million in stock and options for joining the company.

Michael Lovett, meantime, resigned his position at Charter (Nasdaq: CHTR) early this year. His replacement Tom Rutledge--one of the first among the recent pack of executives to leave Cablevision (NYSE: CVC)--took over in February.

AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) CEOs' compensation was covered in our recent wireline compensation feature. The salary and compensation data in the table below was drawn from SEC filings.

Brian L. Roberts, Comcast Total Compensation (2011): $26.9 million Total Compensation (2010): $31 million Salary: $2.8 million Other Compensation (stock awards, bonuses, etc.): $24.13 million Duration with company: Since 1990
Michael J. Lovett, Charter Communications Total Compensation (2011): $20.54 million Total Compensation (2010): $10.91 million Salary: $1.3 million Other Compensation (stock awards, bonuses, etc.): $19.24 million Duration with company: Since 2003 (resigned Feb. 2012)
Glenn A. Britt, Time Warner Cable Total Compensation (2011): $16.43 million Total Compensation (2010): $17.42 million Salary: $1.25 million Other Compensation (stock awards, bonuses, etc.): $15. 18 million Duration with company: Since 1990 (following Time's merger with Warner Communications; was with Time since 1972)
James L. Dolan, Cablevision Total Compensation (2011): $11.45 million Total Compensation (2010): $13.44 million Salary: $1.75 million Other Compensation (stock awards, bonuses, etc.): $9.7 million Duration with company: Since 2009 (Previously CEO of Rainbow Media, a Cablevision subsidiary now known as AMC Networks)
Joseph Clayton, Dish Network Total Compensation (2011): $9.84 million Total Compensation (2010): n/a Salary: $467,307 Other Compensation (stock awards, bonuses, etc.): $9.37 million Duration with company: Since June 2011
Michael D. White, DirecTV Total Compensation (2011): $5.94 million Total Compensation (2010): $32.93 million Salary: $1.52 million Other Compensation (stock awards, bonuses, etc.): $4.42 million Duration with company: Since 2009
Rodger L. Johnson, Knology Total Compensation (2011): $3.13 million Total Compensation (2010): $1.75 million Salary: $556,756 Other Compensation (stock awards, bonuses, etc.): $2.57 million Duration with company: Since 1999