WSJ.com - Paul Allen's in Danger Of Losing His Charter

WSJ.com - Paul Allen's in Danger Of Losing His Charter "The lights are dimming in Paul Allen's wired world.
The Microsoft Corp. co-founder has invested billions of dollars in businesses tied to his vision that cable-television technology will lead U.S. households into a future of new interactive services and interconnected appliances. But results have ranged from lackluster to dismal for many of these ventures -- such as cable network Oxygen Media, telecommunications company RCN Corp. and Digeo Inc., a developer of digital-TV services.
Now, the centerpiece of the strategy is in danger of collapse.
That centerpiece is Charter Communications Inc., the country's third-largest cable company, in which Mr. Allen has invested $7.4 billion. Overleveraged and underperforming, the company's cash before interest and capital expenditures, among certain other items, isn't growing enough to service its debt, analysts say. The cash flow tallied about $2 billion last year, analysts estimate, while debt will rise to close to $20 billion by the end of this year."