Charter Communications is an American telecommunications company, which offers its services to consumers and businesses under the branding of Spectrum. Providing services to over 26 million customers in 41 states, it is the second-largest cable operator in the United States by subscribers, just behind Comcast, and third largest pay TV operator behind Comcast and AT&T U-verse/DirecTV. It is the fifth largest telephone provider based upon residential subscriber line count.
In late 2012, with the naming of longtime Cablevision executive Thomas Rutledge as their CEO, the company relocated its corporate headquarters from St. Louis, Missouri, to Stamford, Connecticut, although many operations still remain based out of St. Louis. On May 18, 2016, Charter acquired Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks for a combined $71.4 billion, making it the third-largest pay television service in the United States.
Charter Communications was founded in 1993 by Barry Babcock, Jerald Kent and Howard Wood, who had been former executives at Cencom Cable Television in St. Louis, Missouri. It was also incorporated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1993.
In 1995, Charter paid about $300 million for a controlling interest in Crown Media Holdings and acquired Cable South.
In 1997, Charter and EarthLink joined forces to deliver high-speed Internet access through cable modems to Charter's customers in Los Angeles and Riverside, California.