Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome
John J. Sie
John J. Sie is founder and former Chairman of Starz Entertainment Group LLC (SEG). Founded in 1991, the Colorado-based company is owned by Liberty Media Corporation and is the parent of 13 premium movie networks, including Starz and Encore. Sie is one of the television industry’s leading figures and is consulted regularly by the media on programming, marketing and technology issues. He has spoken on numerous panels and offered keynote addresses to satellite and cable trade audiences. In 2003, Sie was inducted into the Cable Television Hall of Fame. In January, 2005, Sie stepped down as CEO of SEG, a post he had held since the company was founded, in order to devote more time to his family and philanthropic activities.
Sie, a native of China, came to the United States at the age of 14 in 1950. He stayed at a Catholic orphanage on Staten Island, N.Y. until he graduated from high school in 1953. He received B.E.E. and M.E.E. degrees from Manhattan College and Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1957 and 1958, respectively. Sie began his professional career in 1958 when he joined the RCA Defense Electronics Division on advanced microwave solid state devices. In 1960, he co-founded Micro State Electronics Corp, later as president as a subsidiary of the Raytheon Co. In 1972, Sie joined Jerrold Electronics Corp, a subsidiary of General Instrument Co., as Sr. Vice President of the CATV division. In 1977, he joined Showtime Entertainment as Sr. Vice President of sales and marketing.
In 1984, Sie and his family moved to Colorado to join Tele-Communications Inc., as Sr. Vice President in charge of strategic planning, programming, marketing, technology, and government relations. In the last three decades, Sie participated and witnessed the transformation of the cable television industry from a passive re-transmission of over-the-air TV broadcasts to rural America to the medium of choice of a wired nation today.
Many people consider Sie the father of digital television – in 1989 he submitted the first white paper on digital compression to Congress and the FCC that would dramatically change the landscape of television in the United States.
The Anna and John J. Sie Foundation supports the sharing of knowledge amongst peoples and cultures throughout the global community, with an emphasis on Down syndrome, international security and diplomacy, education, media, business and technology. The foundation is a supporter of the The Children’s Hospital, the University of Colorado’s “The Sie Family Down Syndrome Break-Through Research Initiative,” the University of Denver’s Korbel School of International Studies, the Denver Art Museum, the Starz Film Center, and numerous other civic, social and educational institutions.
