John Rigas
President & CEO Ð Empire Sports Network

John Rigas, born in 1924 in Wellsville, New York, is the founder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Adelphia Communications Corporation . He is also President and Chief Executive Officer of Empire Sports Network, and holds that title for each of the Corporations' subsidiaries. On June 25, 1998, Rigas assumed the position of Chairman of the Board of Niagara Frontier Hockey Management Corporation.

After serving in the Armored Infantry Division of the United States Army during World War II (1943-1946), Mr. Rigas attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, graduating in 1950 with a B.S. in Management Science.

A cable industry pioneer, John Rigas started his first cable system in 1952 in the north central Pennsylvania community of Coudersport. At the time, according to records of the cable industry museum, there were only 60 cable systems in operation across the nation. Together with his brother Gus, he owned, constructed and managed his second cable television system in his hometown of Wellsville, New York.

From these beginning, the two brothers steadily acquired cable systems in communities throughout Western Pennsylvania and Western New York State. In 1972, they incorporated their holdings into Adelphia Communications Corporation. "Adelphia" is the Greek word for "brothers," signifying the Rigas brothers' Greek heritage and business partnership. Although Gus sold his interest in Adelphia in 1983, another generation of Rigas brothers is now involved in the Company, making the name "Adelphia" as appropriate as ever.

Still headquartered in Coudersport, Adelphia, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, today serves over five million subscribers in 13 states. Primary geographical clusters are located in the suburbs of Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia; in the Miami and West Palm Beach areas of Florida; in Ocean County, New Jersey; and in Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, Vermont and Virginia. Adelphia became a public company in 1986; however the Rigas family retains 80 percent stock ownership.

On December 18, 1990 Adelphia Communications Corporation announced plans to launch Empire Sports Network to service the sports fans of Upstate New York and Northern Pennsylvania. For the past decade, Empire Sports Network has expanded its hours of operation and affiliate base, while developing into the region's leader for sports news and informational programming.

Mr. Rigas has served two separate terms on the Board of Directors of the National Cable Television Association, from approximately 1975 to 1981, and then from 1986 to the present. He is a member of the Board for C-Span, the Cable Advertising Board (CAB) and the Kaitz Foundation. A member of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Cable Television Association for fifteen years, he served as President from 1969 through 1970. He is also a member of the NCTA Pioneers Club. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Broadcasting and Cable Magazine in November 1995.

Deeply committed to community needs, John Rigas has devoted much of his time to civic activities. He is a member of the Board of the Citizens Trust Company, a Coudersport bank, a position he has held since 1968, acting as Chairman since 1982. He served as Chairman of the Board for thirteen of his thirty-year tenure as a Director of the Charles Cole Memorial Hospital in Coudersport. He is currently serving as Treasurer of the Board, and Chairman of Finance and Physician Recruitment Committees. He is a former Trustee of Mansfield University in Mansfield, PA and of St. Bonaventure University in Olean, New York (1984 to 1998). He has been a member of the Coudersport Rotary Club for over forty years, serving as Club President in 1969-70. He holds memberships in the Coudersport Chapter of the American Legion; F&AM Lodge 230, Wellsville, N.Y.; the Coudersport Consistory; and the Jaffa Temple of Altoona, Pa.

Mr. Rigas has received honorary doctorate degrees from St. Bonaventure University (1996), Clarion University (1997), and Gannon University (1998); the Thirty Third and Last Degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry and Honorary Membership in the Supreme Council; the Benjamin Rush Award for service performed in the health field (1978); the Humanitarian Award from Chapel of the Four Chaplains of Valley Forge for his work on behalf of Pennsylvania veterans (1992); the American Hellenic Institute Award (1996); the Ellis Island Medal of Honor Award from the Ethnic Coalition of Organizations, Inc,, an award recognizing professional and patriotic contributions and paying tribute to the immigrant experience (1998); the Renaissance Man-of-the-Year Award from the Buffalo Renaissance Foundation (1998); the National Fraternity of Phi Mu Delta Distinguished Alumni Chapter Award (1998); the RPI Entrepreneur-of-the-Year Award (September 1998); and the 1998 Spirit of Wellsville Award. He has had athletic fields named after him in Coudersport, Pa. And Wellsville, N.Y.

In a span of four months, John and his sons Timothy, Michael, and James have been busy taking care of many business developments. Adelphia Cable Communications spent $8.5 billion to acquire Century Communications in New Canaan, Conn., FrontierVision Partners in Denver, and Harron Communications in Philadelphia. The acquisitions succeeded in doubling Adelphia's subscriber base to nearly five million households, ranking it as the sixth largest Cable Company in the United States. To further promote Adelphia's name and services, the company purchased the naming rights to the stadium housing the NFL's Tennessee Titans, and named the facility "Adelphia Coliseum."

The Rigas family involvement extends beyond the cable industry,as they are also spearheading a plan to redevelop the Buffalo waterfront based around the construction of a new Adelphia operations center. The Rigas family also announced in August 1999 the establishment of the Adelphia Showcase School program. The program is designed to allow teachers and students from different Buffalo City schools to more easily communicate with each other through a new fiber-optics system.

Mr. Rigas resides in Coudersport with his wife, Doris. They have four children, three of whom Ð Michael, Timothy, and James Ð are actively involved in the management of Adelphia. The fourth, Ellen, resides in New York City, where she is pursuing a career in the field of entertainment.