Charter exec, stock tumble
Shares have declined 92% since January
Loss came on top of a 92% decline in the value of Charter's shares since January, driven down by the company's staggering $17.6 billion in debt and its 3% falloff in the number of subscribers this year.
Charter is still under investigation by a grand jury that, last August, demanded the company turn over documents detailing its accounting procedures, particularly the way it represents subscriber counts. Charter says it serves more than 6.7 million customers in 40 states.
Charter said Barford is getting a paid leave, to be replaced for the time being by Carl Vogel, the company's CEO. Industry speculation is that Charter has made Barford the scapegoat for its disastrous stock performance.
Its debt load has mounted over the last few years as Charter shot off on a buying binge, scarfing up cable systems all over the country, many of them in the less lucrative rural markets. These markets are extra vulnerable to the lure of satellite dishes. The two dominant satellite distributors, DirecTV and EchoStar, have picked off thousands of these subscribers in the last year or two.
Some analysts said the failure of DirecTV and EchoStar to get regulators to approve their merger could generate further bad news for Charter, because both satellite companies will continue to compete with each other to grab more Charter customers.
