After a hiatus from what had been a heavy exodus of top talent at the company in 2012, Cablevison Systems has lost another top executive with the recent departure of senior vice president of video infrastructure software Stephanie Mitchko-Beale, according to sources in the cable technology community.
Mitchko-Beale’s loss is a blow to the Bethpage, N.Y. cable company – she developed its pioneering network Digital Video Recorder and is one of the most respected technology executives in the industry. Mitchko-Beale’s plans after Cablevision are murky --- she did not return a request for comment – but sources inside the cable technology community said that her departure, about two weeks ago, was unexpected.
Cablevision declined comment citing its policy not to discuss employee matters.
Mitchko-Beale has been with Cablevision for about 15 years, joining the company as vice president of interactive platform technology in 1999. Previously she had had served as director of electronic warfare at defense contractor Digital Signal Corp., where she developed kill assessment technology for the U.S. Navy and Air Force. She steadily moved up the ranks at the cable company, and has been credited with developing Cablevision’s pioneering Remote Storage Digital Video Recorder (RS-DVR), a cloud-based device that began rolling out in 2011. Following a recent upgrade, that cloud-based offering, now branded the "Multi-Room DVR," is capable of recording 15 shows simultaneously.
Along the way Mitchko-Beale has garnered several top industry honors – she received an Emmy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2013 for her work on Cablevision's iO Interactive Television and a Technical Emmy for her work on Cablevision's iO Interactive Optimum Digital Cable. Also last year she received the Women in Cable & Telecommunications Women in Technology Award. In 2011 she was named a Multichannel News Wonder Woman.
Mitchko-Beale would be the latest in a string of departures at Cablevision in the wake of former chief operating officer Tom Rutledge’s resignation in 2011 and his subsequent assumption of the CEO role at Charter Communications. Several former Cablevision executives have joined Rutledge, who was a big proponent of RS-DVR technology while at Cablevision, in the past two years, including former executive vice president of technology Jim Blackley, Mitchko-Beale’s former boss. It could not be determined if Mitchko-Beale was leaving to join Charter. Charter officials declined comment.
Cablevision has undergone a management shake-up in the past few weeks. On April 9 it announced that former senior EVP of strategy and chief of staff to the CEO Brian Sweeney (CEO James Dolan’s brother-in-law) had been promoted to president of the company. That same day, Optimum Services president Kristin Dolan (James’ wife)was promoted to chief operating officer.
