Rainbow Media

AMC Networks Inc.

Type	Public
Traded as	NASDAQ: AMCX S&P 400 Component
Industry	Specialty television Independent film distribution Movie theater management
Founded	1980 (1980) (as Rainbow Media Holdings, LLC, a division of Cablevision) 2011 (2011) (as AMC Networks)
Headquarters	11 Penn Plaza New York City, U.S.
Key people	Charles Dolan (Executive Chairman) Josh Sapan (President & CEO)
Revenue	US$2.58 billion (2015)
Operating income	US$582.2 million (2013)
Net income	US$290.2 million (2013)
Total assets	US$2.6 billion (2013)
Total equity	US$571.5 million (2013)
Owner	Dolan family (67% voting stake)
Number of employees	2,197 (Feb 2014)
Divisions	AMC IFC WE tv SundanceTV IFC Center IFC Films BBC America (50.1% BBC Worldwide) AMC Networks International RLJ Entertainment (50.1%)
Website	www.amcnetworks.com

AMC Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company headquartered in 11 Penn Plaza, New York, that owns the cable channels AMC, IFC, WE tv, BBC America (with BBC Worldwide), and SundanceTV; the art house movie theater IFC Center in New York City; the independent film company IFC Films, and the horror-themed streaming service Shudder.

The company was originally launched in 1980 and formerly known as Rainbow Media Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of Cablevision, but was spun off as a publicly traded company in July 2011. The company is majority-owned and controlled by the Dolan family.

When Rainbow was formed in 1980, it originally included Bravo and SportsChannel New York. As SportsChannel expanded by adding other regional networks, these also became part of Rainbow (see SportsChannel America). When SportsChannel was merged into Fox Sports Net, all of these networks except SportsChannel NY (then Fox Sports New York) were gradually sold off. Fox Sports New York was then transferred to the MSG Media and rebranded MSG+.

Rainbow originally started the Playboy Channel in 1982 as a joint-venture with Playboy; Cablevision would later sell its share back to Playboy.

In 1988, Cablevision merged their cable networks with NBC, giving NBC 50% ownership in Rainbow. Through a series of transactions, NBC's stake was eventually reduced. In 2002, Cablevision sold its share of Bravo to NBC and as part of the deal, NBC gave up its then 20% share in Rainbow.