Cable Operators

Charter Communications Inc. executive vice president and chief operating officer Margaret Bellville has resigned after less than two years on the job, the nation’s fourth-largest MSO said last Friday.

Bellville, one of cable’s highest-ranking female operations executives, joined Charter Dec. 4, 2002, as executive VP of operations after a short stint as CEO of streaming-media provider Incanta Inc.

After months of tense talks, EchoStar Communications Corp. reached a deal Thursday to continue carrying several Turner Broadcasting System Inc. networks: Cable News Network, CNNfn, CNN Headline News, Boomerang, Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies and Turner South.

“We have an agreement in principle, and we’re still working out the details,” EchoStar spokesman Steve Caulk said.

Neither Caulk nor Turner spokeswoman Shirley Powell would comment on the terms of the agreement.

Comcast Cable Communications Inc. president Steve Burke has added the title of chief operating officer of Comcast Corp., the MSO said Tuesday.

“Steve has done a fantastic job leading the tremendously successful integration of Comcast and AT&T Broadband over the past 18 months," Comcast chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts said in a prepared statement.

“Steve is one of the outstanding leaders of the cable industry and has effectively been performing the functions of COO of Comcast for some time,” Roberts added.

The Communications Workers of America continued plugging away at Comcast Corp.

The union sent a letter to major Comcast investors warning of problems uncovered by technical audits in Massachusetts, Michigan and California that uncovered noncompliance with safety and electrical-code provisions.

New York -- A handful of some of the most powerful names in media converged on the Goldman Sachs & Co. Communacopia conference here Tuesday, breaking no earth-shaking news but providing a glimpse into the competitive climate their respective companies face.