Cablevision's Voom Spinoff To Wait For Accounting Probe
Updated October 30, 2003 1:15 p.m.
By ELLEN SHENG
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK -- Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) Chairman Charles Dolan said Thursday the company's spinoff of its fledgling satellite business, Voom, would not take place until the investigation of accounting irregularities at its American Movie Classics unit is completed.
Speaking at SkyForum, the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association's semiannual gathering, Dolan declined to give an estimate of when he thinks the Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation might be completed.
Cablevision fired 14 employees in June after an internal investigation turned up improperly accounted-for expenses at its Rainbow Media Group, which includes AMC.
Cablevision, which announced a spinoff plan last week, has declined to say when the spinoff will take place, but said it will file the paperwork by early next year. The spinoff plan includes Voom plus three programming assets.
The company's new satellite business, launched two weeks ago, was greeted by much skepticism. Dolan said the Street's "consternation" is understandable, but emphasized that the spinoff plan divides the risk.
"Content is the game," he said, arguing that it is logical to use both satellite and cable distribution systems. "It's not a religion, just a delivery system."
The chairman said Cablevision would promote the satellite service to existing cable customers.
Cablevision said its satellite TV system is still in the beta-testing stage, and the company won't be charging for a monthly fee for the service until February. Installation and equipment sell for $750.
With 21 original high-definition channels, the Voom service targets a high-end niche. Dolan said the service would have 39 HD channels and 88 standard-definition channels by February. |
