Kathy Payne is Vice President of Programming for Cox Communications Inc. In this position, Payne is responsible for programming contract negotiations and compliance for hundreds of cable networks distributed to Cox’s 6.2 million customers. Among the notable major cable network groups under Payne’s purview are Fox, MTV, Comcast, Scripps, Rainbow, A&E, Lifetime, and she also holds responsibilities for most of Cox’s regional and other sports channel negotiations. She is also actively involved with the deployment of the company’s video-on-demand, high-definition and mobile television services.

Payne joined Cox in 1993 as Attorney. She was later promoted to Senior Counsel and Assistant General Counsel before joining the Cox programming department in 2001 as Director of Programming and later, Executive Director of Programming. Prior to joining Cox, she served as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel for USTravel Systems Inc. and as Attorney with Dow, Lohnes. A graduate of Duke University, Payne holds a bachelor’s degree in public policy studies, magna cum laude, and a J.D., with honors, from the Duke University School of Law.

Payne is an executive member of Women in Cable and Telecommunications (WICT) since 1994 and a member of Class X of the Betsy Magness Leadership Institute, the premier executive leadership program of WICT. She was co-chair and then chair of the Betsy Magness Leadership Institute from 2004-2006 and currently serves on the executive committee of WICT’s national board of directors as the Development Chair. In 2007 and 2008, Kathy was recognized by CableWorld as one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Cable.” Kathy was selected to receive WICT Atlanta’s 2007 Horizon Award as the Woman to Watch in Atlanta and Multichannel News’ 2007 award for Women to Watch throughout the cable industry. Additionally, she was a member of the National Cable Television Association’s music licensing committee for over ten years. Payne is a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association and was a founding board member of the Atlanta Chapter of Cable Positive. She is married to David Payne, CEO of Shorttail Media, Inc., and they have two daughters, Kendall (14) and Halle (12).

January 2009