The Cable Center adds Peter Stern’s Oral History
June 14, 2016
As part of its Cable History Project, The Cable Center announces the entry of Peter Stern’s oral and video history into The Hauser Oral History Collection. Stern was most recently the executive vice president and chief product, people and strategy officer at Time Warner Cable. Stern was interviewed by Seth Arenstein in New York City this past November.
The Hauser Oral History Collection is the only repository of firsthand accounts direct from industry leaders about the creation, expansion and current state of the cable industry.
Stern has almost 20 years in the media and technology business, the majority of which has been with Time Warner Cable and Time Warner Inc. In his history, Stern discusses the impact of the industry saying, “We’re in the middle of everything. So you can open the business section of the newspaper and unless you’re reading about oil and gas or health care, pretty much every other article you’re reading is relevant to what you do in the cable industry. So that’s immensely exciting: the ability to actually shape the way that our economy evolves, the way people consume content, the way people connect with others, the way people learn about their world and connect to others outside their homes.”
Stern was a contributor in activities that led to four Technical Emmy Awards for Start Over, Video on Demand, Mulit-room DVR and Pay TV on Consumer Owned & Managed Devices. He also holds 16 patents. Stern received the Vanguard Award for Young Leadership in 2010 and has guest lectured at Harvard Business School, Yale Law School and Columbia Business School.
Active in nonprofits, Stern dedicates his time to The Cable Center, as a board member and an executive committee member. He was previously on the boards of the Reader’s Digest Association, the CTAM Education Foundation and the Stamford Symphony Orchestra.
Stern graduated from Harvard University with dual bachelor’s degrees in music and English. He went on to receive his J.D. from Yale Law School. Upon graduation, he started his career as an associate principal at McKinsey & Company, working with clients at the intersection of media and technology. Stern says his passion for the media industry comes from his early days at McKinsey: “My heart was with the media side of the business. And to this day I find that absolutely fascinating. The ability to actually match technology with customer needs with the consumption of media, which the average customer or consumer is actually doing for many, many hours a day, I think is a uniquely exciting place to be.”
Jana L. Henthorn, president and CEO of The Cable Center said, “The beauty of oral histories is the blend of personal experiences and observations that might otherwise be lost forever. Snippets of information that might not seem salient or important to one person can be immensely significant to another.”
The Cable Center has been gathering, cataloging and digitizing oral histories from cable industry executives since its inception in 1985. To date, The Center has collected 340 video and audio histories, with more being added every year, all available on The Cable Center website and on YouTube. The videos are paired with the written transcript to assist with research purposes.