[Deathwatch] Peter Barton, Cable TV Pioneer, 51

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Cable TV Pioneer Peter Barton Dead at 51
Mon Sep 9, 7:54 PM ET
By Jeanie Stokes 

DENVER (Reuters) - Peter Barton, who pioneered the development of home
shopping channels and later was founding president of Liberty Media
Corp., died on Sunday at 51 after a long battle with stomach cancer. 

In 1982, Barton moved to Denver to join Tele-Communications Inc., the
cable TV giant owned by media mogul John Malone. Barton initially
negotiated cable franchises for the company that would eventually
become the largest U.S. cable operator. 

In 1986, he became president of TCI's Cable Value Network, which later
evolved into the QVC cable TV shopping network. 

Five years later, Barton became head of Liberty Media, TCI's holding
company for cable TV programming assets. Liberty Media was subsequently
spun off as a public company, then re-acquired by TCI and spun off
again in the AT&T Corp. acquisition of TCI. 

"Peter was there at the inception of Liberty Media, and its subsequent
versions, and he was critically important in building it into what it
was," Malone, now Liberty Media chairman, said in a statement. 

Barton left Liberty Media in 1997 to head a private investment company.
Later, he developed the Privacy Foundation at the University of Denver.
The independent watchdog group researches the impact of technology on
privacy issues. 

Barton is to be inducted into the cable industry's Hall of Fame in
November. "He was a hell of a lot of fun, a breath of fresh air. I'm
going to miss him," Malone said. 

Barton is survived by his wife and three children. A memorial service
is scheduled for Sept. 17 in Denver.