Cablevision buys Sundance Channel from Redford

NEW YORK - Cablevision Systems Corp. is buying the Sundance Channel, a cable network founded by Robert Redford, for $496 million, the New York-area cable TV company announced yesterday.

The Sundance Channel will become part of Cablevision's Rainbow Media programming division but will continue on as a distinct network. Rainbow also includes the independent movie channel IFC, AMC and WE tv.

Actor/director Redford founded the network in 1996 as an outgrowth of his Sundance Institute, an independent film organization that runs an annual film festival near Park City, Utah. The channel features independent movies as well as original programming. Redford owned a 6 percent stake in the channel, while General Electric Co.'s NBC unit had 57 percent and CBS Corp. owned 37 percent.

Cablevision will finance the deal with a block of GE stock it received when NBC bought the Bravo channel from Cablevision and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. in 2002 for $1.25 billion. NBC will get GE shares for its stake, while CBS and Redford will get cash.

Cablevision could be on the verge of announcing another deal of similar size, having made a $650 million bid for the newspaper Newsday, located in Cablevision's home turf of Long Island. *