Cablevision announced Wednesday it will buy the Sundance Channel from CBS Corp., NBC Universal and actor-director Robert Redford for $496 million. The purchase gives Cablevision's Rainbow Media
another movie channel to complement its Independent Film Channel, AMC and Women's Entertainment networks.
Supported mostly by fees paid by cable systems, Sundance garnered only $3.5
million in ad revenue last year, far less than IFC's $15.5 million. "They could get another $10 million in ad revenue at Sundance, and most of it would go straight to the bottom line," says SNL
analyst Derek Baine. "It could be huge." The deal is separate from Redford's nonprofit Sundance Institute and the annual Sundance Film Festival.
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