NEW YORK, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Cablevision Systems Corp said on Friday U.S. regulators have issued a cease and desist order against it in connection with accounting practices at its Rainbow Media programming unit.
The New York cable operator, which is controlled by the Dolan family, said the order was linked to a previously disclosed 2004 investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The investigation concerned improper expense accruals and the improper recognition of launch and marketing support payments under affiliation agreements.
The SEC order directed Cablevision to cease and desist from further violations of the accounting provisions. The company said in a regulatory filing it had consented to the entry of the order without admitting or denying any of the factual findings in the order.
Cablevision restated its financial statements for 1999 through 2003 with respect to the SEC order and said there will be no further accounting charge associated with these matters.
The company serves more than 3 million subscribers in the New York area, and owns sports teams and venues like the New York Knicks basketball team and Madison Square Garden. Its Rainbow Media unit owns cable networks like AMC and IFC.
(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke) ((e-mail:yinka.adegoke@thomsonreuters.com Reuters Messaging: Yinka.adegoke.reuters.com@reuters.net; +1 646 223 6081)) Keywords: CABLEVISION/ (Click on http://blogs.reuters.com/category/themes/mediafile/ to see Reuters MediaFile blog) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The New York cable operator, which is controlled by the Dolan family, said the order was linked to a previously disclosed 2004 investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The investigation concerned improper expense accruals and the improper recognition of launch and marketing support payments under affiliation agreements.
The SEC order directed Cablevision to cease and desist from further violations of the accounting provisions. The company said in a regulatory filing it had consented to the entry of the order without admitting or denying any of the factual findings in the order.
Cablevision restated its financial statements for 1999 through 2003 with respect to the SEC order and said there will be no further accounting charge associated with these matters.
The company serves more than 3 million subscribers in the New York area, and owns sports teams and venues like the New York Knicks basketball team and Madison Square Garden. Its Rainbow Media unit owns cable networks like AMC and IFC.
(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke) ((e-mail:yinka.adegoke@thomsonreuters.com Reuters Messaging: Yinka.adegoke.reuters.com@reuters.net; +1 646 223 6081)) Keywords: CABLEVISION/ (Click on http://blogs.reuters.com/category/themes/mediafile/ to see Reuters MediaFile blog) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.