It looks like there has been yet another step in the independent movie industry going corporate as Cablevision has purchased the Sundance Channel. The sale set Cablevision back about $500 million and the channel is expected to join Cablevision's Rainbow Media programming along with IFC, AMC and WE tv.
The Sundance Channel was founded in 1996 by the actor-director Robert Redford. It was an outgrowth of his Sundance Institute, an independent film organization which runs an annual film festival near Park City, Utah. Redford himself owns a six percent stake in the company, with GE (via NBC) and CBS owning the rest.
In truth, Sundance went corporate a long time ago. This is just one corporation acquiring another. Independent movies aren't really independent anymore either. You can't even make one anymore without a few million dollars in the budget. I wonder if this means the Sundance Channel will stop being so much about independent film and start being about original content.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-07-2008 @ 7:28PM
ac said...
Does this mean Sundance is only avalible on Cablevision now? Because I like like the channel but I'm dropping Cablevision for Verizon after they sent a notice that they will be dropping 10 channels from my package (including discovery, travel, and a&e) and then raising the rates ten bucks.
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5-07-2008 @ 7:38PM
lucyfan62 said...
Interesting. Wonder how this will affect the availability of the channel. When I was with Comcast, Sundance was part of my package but when I switched to DirecTV, you had to get the Showtime package in order to get Sundance. Hopefully this will allow the channel to become available to people who don't need or want the premium movie channels.
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