Cablevision’s Statement on Today’s Hearing before U.S. Court of Appeals

BETHPAGE, N.Y.-(Business Wire)-September 22, 2009 - Representatives of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) today appeared before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and the company issued the following statement in response to media inquiries.

"More than 15 years ago, Congress took the extraordinary and extremely unusual step of requiring cable companies to sell their programming to competing multichannel video providers, under what they called the program access rules. The goal was to spur multichannel competition by distributors — even if it came at a great cost — by taking away the ability for companies to differentiate their products on the basis of innovative programming. The notion of one multichannel video provider is long gone and today, most programming is owned by large companies that are not in the multichannel distribution business. Retaining program access rules in cable is now analogous to requiring NBC to sell individual programs to CBS and ABC so that they will all have the same lineup.

These rules were intended to last only for a limited time until more competition took hold, which it has. Today, the competitive landscape has three to five video providers in many markets and a blanket application of these rules is no longer appropriate. A company operating in such a competitive marketplace should feel confident that if they invest in innovative new programming and technology, they can use those offerings to provide better products for consumers and differentiate themselves from competitors. Forcing companies to share their services with competitors who are more than 10 to 15 times their size, because those competitors are late to the game, only deters further investment and innovation, which in the end hurts consumers."

Cablevision Systems Corporation is one of the nation's leading media and entertainment companies. Its cable television operations serve more than 3 million households in the New York metropolitan area. The company's advanced telecommunications offerings include its iO TV® digital television, Optimum Online® high-speed Internet, Optimum Voice® digital voice-over-cable, and its Optimum Lightpath integrated business communications services. Cablevision operates several successful programming businesses, including AMC, IFC, Sundance Channel and WE tv, through Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, and serves the New York area as publisher of Newsday and other niche publications through Newsday Media Group. In addition to these businesses, Cablevision owns Madison Square Garden and its sports teams, the New York Knicks, Rangers and Liberty. The company also operates New York's famed Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theatre, and the Chicago Theatre, and owns and operates Clearview Cinemas.

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