Washington Post 2006 Annual Report Download - page 8

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The Washington Post Company
6
charge to settle a lawsuit; a $25 million increase in stock
compensation charge (this was discussed in detail in
2005); and a $7 million charge related to the acquisition
of Tribeca, among others.
It is our first duty to bring you bad news; it’s almost as
important to report good news when it happens.
On balance, Kaplan’s 2006 performance was very
good news.
The Post Company has one other significantly growing busi-
ness (alas, much smaller than Kaplan …blame me for that).
Strategic planning didn’t produce this one either. Tom
Murphy, CEO of Capital Cities Communications, was
forced to divest his cable division when Cap Cities bought
ABC in 1986. He called Kay Graham.
In 2006, the financial world woke up to the realization that
cable is a very good business. Readers of these reports will
know that we came to that conclusion several years ago.
Under Tom Might’s management, Cable ONE is
auniquely well-run cable company — in just the right
markets, offering just the right products and with just the
right management.
The place to begin this section of the report is with a
tribute to Cable ONE’s associates in Mississippi.They
stayed on the job when their own homes were destroyed
or badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina and were ready
to offer service months before our competitors. Associates
from other divisions went to Mississippi to help them.
As Biloxi and Gulfport recover from the hideous storm
damage, Cable ONE’s people have rebuilt our systems
(approximately 15% of all Cable ONE!) and helped
rebuild their communities. Despite miles of devastation
with homes not yet rebuilt, our Mississippi systems now
have 10,200 more high-speed data lines than we did
before Katrina, a tribute to the associates who stood their
ground to provide service in late ’05.
Cable ONE’s big news in 2007 will be the rollout of
telephone service over cable lines in almost all our mar-
kets. Wehave waited to offer telephone until experience
in major markets was clear and industry cost curves
came down.
For shareholders, the telephone will not be a product with
the extraordinary economics of high-speed data, but for
our customers it is a highly desired service that should add
to Cable ONE’s top-of-the-industry customer satisfaction.
Cindy Byrd, general manager of Cable
ONE’s Mississippi Gulf Coast system
in Pascagoula