Scripps Networks Interactive president John Lansing, the point man in the cable networks attempts to extract meaningful increases in its carriage rates in 2010, nearly tripled his total compensation in that year, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Lansing, who led SNI's efforts in several heated carriage negotiations for flagship networks Food and HGTV, received $6.8 million in total compensation in 2010, a 152% increase from the $2.7 million he received in 2009, according to a proxy statement filed April 5. Lansing received a base salary of $750,000 for the year (up $50,000 from the year before), but the biggest jump came in stock awards -- $4.1 million in 2010 vs. $547,062 in 2009.
Scripps Networks participated in one of the more heated carriage battles in 2010 - a January skirmish with Cablevision Systems that saw its two flagship networks go dark in parts of New York and New Jersey for about three weeks. Other negotiations with Time Warner Cable (no service disruption) and AT&T U-Verse (a three-day dark period) went more smoothly.
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