Future looks bright for McCourt
Sunday, May 29, 2005
The Trentonian
By Andria Y. Carter, Business Editor
TRENTON – Americans are rapidly changing their
viewing habits as the Internet, cable and the cell
phone serve as the primary conduits for consumers'
entertainment needs.
Because the consumers' appetite is so vast, the telecommunications
industry is trying to not only keep up, but stay ahead
of the demand for more convenient ways to be entertained.
Sitting at the industry's front door watching intently
the changes is David McCourt, the former chairman
and chief executive officer of the RCN Corporation.
“Technology is manipulating programming like
it never did before. The Internet and the cell
phones are a big deal,” McCourt said.
McCourt, 48, explained the Internet has changed how
people can distribute their work and distribute content
only before seen on television or through cable.
Today a girl in India can use a digital camera to
create a film short or television show and place on
the Internet for worldwide distribution.
Distribution of the Internet is changing the industry
and leveling the playing field for independent producers
of film and television.
“The TV business is going to change more in
the next 10 years than the telecom business has changed
in the last 10 years, and we intend to play a role
in that change,” McCourt said.
McCourt, now chairman and chief executive officer
of Granahan McCourt Capital in Princeton, has maintained
a role in television production serving as producer
for the very popular PBS series “Reading Rainbow”
and producing several documentaries.
Last week, the telecom and media investor received
a Daytime Emmy award for his role as producer for
the critically acclaimed series “Reading Rainbow.”
He has served as a producer for the 20-year-old series
hosted by actor LeVar Burton for 10 years.
The series has received 20 Emmys since first being
televised on Public Broadcasting stations.
“It's great being part of something like Reading
Rainbow. And its great to be associated with
a series associated with literacy in America, which
is an important issue. The show has been on
for so many years but the quality of the show feeds
the desire of the consumer to just have something
that deals with literacy and it is easy to watch,”
McCourt said.
He added,” I think on a worldwide basis there
is a market for shows that deal with children issues.”
Over the last 25 years, McCourt has founded 10 companies
in three countries and is widely recognized as a transformational
force in the telecommunications and media industries.
McCourt started investing in media companies back
in 1983 in the Caribbean where he built and owned
the first independent television station on the Island
of Grenada and began producing a variety of family
programming for the Caribbean market. This television
station was sold, two year later, after the liberation
of Grenada by the U.S. forces during Ronald Reagan's
presidency. However, McCourt kept his programming
interest from those early days.
“My TV business in Grenada was very simple,
but profitable. It was television the way Edward
R. Murrow would have wanted it to be,” said
McCourt.
Now, McCourt has returned to his roots investing
in media companies that sit on the forefront of change
in the telecommunications industry. Granahan
McCourt Capital is choosing to invest in those companies
that serve as a catalyst to change in the industry,
companies changing because of regulatory change or
McCourt helps them change through a change in strategy,
a sale or a spin-off.
“I have always been committed to bringing the
best products to consumers whether it was integrated
telecom services or the highest quality programming,”
he said. “I continue to believe that these businesses
not only serve the customers, they are very rewarding
investments.”
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