Apple Hires Former Time Warner Cable Executive Peter Stern
September 14 2016 - 5:50PM
Dow Jones News
Apple Inc. has hired former Time Warner Cable executive Peter
Stern as a vice president working on cloud services, which includes
the technology company's subscription offerings such as Apple Music
and a potential streaming television service.
An Apple spokesman confirmed the hire.
Mr. Stern will report to Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president
of internet software and services, a person familiar with the
matter said. Mr. Cue oversees Apple's growing services segment,
which includes businesses like the iTunes Store, Apple Pay and
Apple Music. He has also led Apple's yearslong, on-and-off
negotiations with media companies for a proposed television
streaming service, though those efforts haven't yet borne
fruit.
Mr. Stern, who is 44 years old, left Time Warner Cable earlier
this year after it was bought by rival cable company Charter
Communications Inc. He served in senior strategy and corporate
development roles at the cable company as it maneuvered through
multiple takeover attempts over the past few years.
Most recently, as chief product, people and strategy officer,
Mr. Stern helped implement a strategy focused on customer service
that helped Time Warner Cable grow its cable TV subscribers last
year after nearly a decade of losses.
A well-respected cable industry veteran, Mr. Stern was a key
Time Warner Cable executive involved in talks with Apple a few
years ago about a potential deal to offer a joint television
service over an Apple set-top box, people familiar with the matter
said.
At cable industry conferences, Mr. Stern was often vocal about
how cable companies should move away from leasing customers
proprietary set-top boxes and should be more open to offering their
TV services as apps on many different devices. Despite that,
Apple's talks with Time Warner Cable stalled over a number of other
issues, including content rights, and the two sides never reached a
deal.
Hiring Mr. Stern could aid Apple's efforts in television. Mr.
Stern has deep knowledge of the cable industry's economics and has
relationships with major media companies.
It's unclear, however, whether his appointment means Apple will
refocus efforts on launching a streaming television service. Mr.
Stern's role will cover cloud services generally, including other
areas like iTunes, iCloud and Apple Music.
Before joining Time Warner Cable in 2004, Mr. Stern worked in
strategy at the cable operator's former parent Time Warner Inc.
Prior to that, he was a consultant with McKinsey & Co. Mr.
Stern, who plays piano, holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and
majored in English and music at Harvard University.
Write to Shalini Ramachandran at
shalini.ramachandran@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 14, 2016 17:35 ET (21:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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