Cable-industry veteran Peter Barton died Sunday after a battle with stomach
cancer.
Barton, 51, served as Liberty Media Corp.'s president and CEO from its inception in 1991
until exiting in 1997.
He previously headed former cable operator Tele-Communications Inc.'s
programming arm, brokering carriage deals for cable networks for four years.
Liberty chairman John Malone recruited Barton out of Harvard Business
School in 1982 to join his cable outfit, which was later sold to AT&T Corp.
"Peter was there at the inception of Liberty Media and its subsequent
versions, and he was critically important in building it into what it was,"
Malone said Sunday.
Earlier in his TCI career, Barton was president of shopping channel Cable
Value Network (now QVC) and vice president of franchise acquisition.
Since departing Liberty, Barton retired his cable business dealings. He
headed a technology-investment firm and founded a consumer privacy watchdog
group at the University of Denver.
Barton, who will be inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of
Fame Nov. 11, was in New York for the MTV
Video Music Awards Aug. 28.
He is survived by his wife, Laura, and their three children.
