Cable industry pioneer Rocco Commisso, CEO of Mediacom, has passed away
Key Highlights
- Rocco Commisso founded Mediacom in 1995 to serve smaller, underserved communities, growing it into a major cable provider.
- He had a background in finance, working at Chase Manhattan Bank and Royal Bank of Canada before entering the cable industry.
- Commisso was a dedicated supporter of education, establishing scholarships and programs for thousands of students nationwide.
- He owned and led soccer clubs, including the New York Cosmos and Fiorentina, demonstrating his passion for the sport.
- Industry leaders and sports organizations paid tribute, highlighting his entrepreneurial spirit, resilience, and contributions to both industries.
Rocco B. Commisso, founder, chairman, and CEO of Mediacom and soccer team owner, has died.
A 50-plus-year cable industry innovator, Commisso founded Mediacom in 1995 to build cable systems in the nation’s underserved smaller communities.
In 2000, he led a successful initial public offering for Mediacom, creating a growth path that led it to become the nation’s fifth-largest cable provider, serving over three million households and businesses in 22 states.
Cable industry and athletic leaders paid tribute to Commisso
After the news broke of Commisso’s passing, there was an outpouring of tributes from several cable industry and athletic leaders:
Charter CEO Chris Winfrey: “Rocco’s entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to innovation inspired many, including those of us at Charter, and his influence will be felt for years to come.”
NCTA President and CEO Cory Gardner: “As the founder, chairman, and CEO of Mediacom Communications, Rocco built one of America’s most successful cable companies from the ground up, embodying the entrepreneurial spirit and resilience that defined his remarkable career.”
Jim Gleason, Chairman of the Board of the Cable TV Pioneers: “Rocco was such a presence in our industry who fought for what was right to make things better for all. His accomplishments were many and legendary, but his story was even greater. Rocco’s story was the true ‘American Dream,’ having come to this country as a young newcomer from Italy and then rising to the top of the American business and financial peak.”
Grant Spellmeyer, President and CEO of ACA Connects, said in a LinkedIn post: “I’m incredibly saddened by the passing of Rocco B. Commisso, a legend and true titan of the cable industry. The broadband we enjoy today rests on the foundation built by pioneers like Rocco. He was a great partner to America’s Communications Association (ACA Connects), and his impact will endure. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and the Mediacom Communications team.”
Columbia Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Peter Pilling: “Rocco had such an incredible spirit and was a true leader in the world of business and sports. His impact on our athletics program was immeasurable, and we will miss his presence. Our condolences go out to Rocco’s family and friends during this time.”
New York Cosmos: “Rocco fought for what is best for American soccer, believing in the growth of the game, the importance of community, and the power of clubs to inspire the next generation.”
FIFA president Gianni Infantino: “I am saddened to learn of the passing of Rocco Commisso, the president of Fiorentina, who dedicated his life to our wonderful sport.”
He took the company private in 2011.
What Commisso brought to the cable industry was his financial and business skills, honed at leading financial institutions.
He began his business career at Pfizer’s manufacturing facility in Brooklyn, NY. After graduating from business school in 1975, he spent a decade in the financial community, initially at Chase Manhattan Bank (now JPMorgan Chase) and later at Royal Bank of Canada, where he led the bank’s U.S. corporate lending to media and communications companies.
A cable pioneer
Like other cable company leaders, Commisso, who entered the cable industry in the 1980s, had a vision centered on innovation, scale and collaboration.
From 1986 to 1995, he served as executive vice president, chief financial officer, and director of Cablevision Industries Corporation. During his tenure there, privately held Cablevision Industries grew from the 25th-largest to the 8th-largest cable company in the nation, serving 1.3 million customers at the time of its merger with Time Warner.
He was also an active participant in key cable industry associations, serving on the boards of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, C-SPAN, CableLabs, Cyndx LLC, and the National Italian American Foundation.
Business consulting firms and publications cited his work as Mediacom's leader.
Commisso was inducted into several key organizations, including the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame, the Cable Center Hall of Fame, and the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame.
The cable MSO was named a U.S. Best Managed Company by Deloitte Private and the Wall Street Journal from 2021 to 2025. In 2023, Commisso’s life story was featured by 60 Minutes in a segment entitled “Only in America.”
Passion for education and soccer
Besides his cable industry pursuits, Commisso was an avid supporter of educational opportunities, a dedication that was seen early on in his life after he came to the United States.
Born in Calabria, Italy, Commisso immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 12. He graduated from Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx in 1967. He attended Columbia University on a full undergraduate scholarship, earning both a BS in industrial engineering and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business. At the Business School, he was elected student body president and received the prestigious Business School Service Award.
Through Mediacom’s World Class Scholars Program, September 11th Memorial Scholarship Fund, Entrepreneur of Tomorrow Award, and other initiatives, he provided academic scholarships to 4,000 students nationwide. In 2014, he established the Rocco B. Commisso American Dream Fund at his high school in the Bronx, Mount Saint Michael Academy.
Commisso also held a passion for soccer.
The Daily Spectator, Columbia’s newspaper, cited Commisso as one of Columbia’s 250 most extraordinary undergraduate alumni of all time in 2004. For several years, Columbia has awarded an annual Men’s Soccer Prize in his name. In 2013, Columbia recognized his contributions to the university by naming its soccer venue, at the school’s Baker Athletics Complex, the Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium.
As a member of Columbia University’s Lions between 1967 and 1970, Commisso became a three-time All-Ivy League Honoree and was invited to try out for the U.S. Soccer Team organized for the 1972 Olympics.
Later, he became the owner of two soccer clubs. Commisso purchased a majority stake in the New York Cosmos, became the club’s chairman, and, in 2019, acquired world-renowned ACF Fiorentina, becoming its president.
Mediacom’s innovations continue
Commisso’s innovative spirit for next-gen technology and services will continue to linger on at Mediacom.
Mediacom is actively deploying DOCSIS 4.0 technology. The company began live customer trials in Moline, Illinois, in late 2025 to deliver symmetrical multi-gigabit speeds.
By upgrading its hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) networks to 1.8 GHz, Mediacom aims to deliver 10/6 Gbps using hardware and software platforms from ATX, Harmonic and Hitron.
Mediacom plans to base its hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) network upgrades on 1.8 GHz, a distributed access architecture (DAA), and a virtual cable modem termination system (vCMTS).
Besides enhancing its broadband cable capabilities, the cable MSO has also staked its claim in the wireless market, launching its Mediacom Mobile service in July 2024. Operating on Verizon’s network as an MVNO, the service, designed for existing Mediacom Xtream internet customers, offers two plans: an unlimited plan for $40/month per line and a "By the Gig" plan for $15/GB.
Like its larger cable counterparts, Comcast and Charter, Mediacom customers can also access Xtream Wi-Fi Hotspots nationwide, enabling data access outside the mobile network.
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About the Author
Sean BuckleySean Buckley
Sean is the Editor-in-Chief of Lightwave. He establishes and executes Lightwave's editorial strategy across its website, email newsletters, events, and other information products. Before coming to Lightwave in July 2023, he served as editor of Broadband Communities. Earlier, he served as senior editor of FierceTelecom and the editor of the former Telecommunications Magazine. He got his start in the optical industry in 1998 when he became the editor of enterprise and optical networks at Information Gatekeepers. He has a BA in English from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and lives in Dracut, Mass, with his wife, two sons, and his cat, Dove.
