Charter Names Carl Vogel as CEO

Charter Communications Inc., the No. 4 U.S. cable operator, said it had hired Carl Vogel as president and chief executive, effective immediately.

Vogel succeeds Jerry Kent, who resigned last month amid reports of conflicts with Chairman Paul Allen.

Vogel was previously CEO of Liberty Satellite & Technology, which holds investments in satellite technologies and Sprint PCS and is controlled by John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp.

“The appointment takes away a key uncertainty for Charter,” ABN Amro analyst John Martin said.

Before joining Liberty, Vogel was chief operating officer for AT&T; Broadband’s field operations, where he oversaw the telecommunications giant’s cable assets. He was also CEO of satellite television company Primestar Inc. until it was sold in 1999 to rival DirecTV, which is owned by General Motors Corp.’s Hughes Electronics Corp.

Shares of St. Louis-based Charter fell 37 cents to close at $12.83 on Nasdaq.