April 17

When CEO Gary Lico describes CABLEready, he does so with such charm and charisma that anyone would want to join his team. The company, which was launched in 1992 out of a spare bedroom in Lico’s Riverside, CT home, has since expanded on all fronts. But on its 15th birthday, execs describe it as a small well-oiled machine, focused more on doing things right than doing things big.

“We’ve always done a good job of appearing bigger than we are,” said Sabrina Sanchez-Ayala, vp, Sales and Marketing, at the company.

Lico, who formerly handled syndication sales at Columbia Pictures Television, started CABLEready when he realized that “cable networks [which were increasing in number] were having trouble finding programming.” CABLEready’s first show out of the gate was Hearst preschool sketch program Capelli and Company, which had been pitched to and rejected by) the networks twice before. Under CABLEready’s banner, the show was finally sold to Nickelodeon. Lico credited that sale to the relationship he built, an aspect of the business he thinks risks extinction in today’s TV environment. He calls this the “depersonalization” of the business. “Because of the high pressure on all of us, a lot of the relationships that were so effective in the past are not there anymore,” he said. Among other changes he’s witnessed in the past 15 years, Lico pointed to “digitalization” and “consolidation.” He spoke highly of the former, crediting it with “more signals, more channels, better equipment and better production value.” But Lico had no accolades for the latter. “I can’t think of a positive thing there, “ he said.

Since starting the company with on program, CABLEready has secured international rights to Court TV, The Weather Channel, and New York Times Television catalogs, among others. Its library now boasts 160 non-fiction tides and 1,600 episodes. In fact, Sanchez-Ayala members that when she started working for the company seven years ago, Court TV (home of Forensic Files) was just making its initial push into long-form programming, and she remembers that as a highlight. Since then, she said, “our staff has doubled in size and our catalog has grown immensely.”

In 1993, New York-based ad sales rep firm Katz Media acquired CABLEready, providing the company with access to more money. While many urged Lico to invest in the Internet, he chose to “go old school, by getting into the international business. Because the legal government nooses were coming off the international networks, I saw an opportunity there. “But,” he said, “I never would have predicted the explosion of channels all over the world.” Now, international TV accounts for half of CABLEready’s business.

Just this year, Lico and Lou Occhicone, CABLEready’s senior vp of Operations (along with Cynthia Turner’s Cynopsis), launched CableU, a subscription-only Web service that monitors and analyzes cable network performance. While CableU relies solely on subscription fees at the moment, Lico said advertising is in the cards. When asked if this service could potentially give his competitors (other producers/distributors) a leg up on him, Lico didn’t seem too worried. “Basically, we wanted to commoditize something we already had, and we saw a hole in the business,” he said.

As far as what’s in store for the next 15 years, don’t expect CABLEready to venture far off of its reality TV track. “We’ve always done well sticking to a niche, and we don’t see the need to expand that,” Lico said.

And in a world of mergers and acquisitions, Lico said he’s be open for discussion, “As long as the interested party is qualified, we’re willing to have a conversations; as long as the conversations are not distractions for our business.”

With unabashed honesty, Lico admitted that he might well be retired in 15 years. “I see this company running very well without me.” He said. Sanchez-Ayala confirmed that she plans on carrying CABLEready “well beyond the next 15 years.”
Lico and his team will celebrate CABLEready’s 15th anniversary at an invitation-only party on Thursday night.