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CABLEVISION ANNOUNCES 2008 PRICING

 

No Changes In Prices For Residential or Business Optimum Online® High-Speed Internet And Optimum Voice® Digital Voice-Over-Cable Customers – Fifth Year

Without Price Increase For These Top-Rated And Popular Services

 

Average Cable Television Prices to Increase 4.7 Percent

 

BETHPAGE, NY – October 26, 2007 – Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) today announced 2008 pricing for the cable television, high-speed Internet access and digital voice services it provides to residential and business customers in the New York metropolitan area over its fiber optic network, which passes 4.6 million homes. 

 

Standard pricing for Cablevision’s Optimum Online high-speed Internet service and Optimum Voice digital voice-over-cable service will remain unchanged in 2008, the fifth consecutive year without a price increase for these top-rated services, which continue to lead the nation in consumer acceptance.  Cablevision’s average cable television price adjustment for 2008 will be an increase of 4.7 percent, primarily a result of continued double-digit increases in the fees charged by the television networks Cablevision delivers to customers, and increased operating costs.  Over the last year, Cablevision’s programming costs have increased by 12.8 percent.  New prices will take effect in December and January, depending on a customer’s specific location and billing cycle.

 

Cablevision’s average cable television price adjustment for the past three years has been below the rate of inflation, even as the company has built additional value into its video, voice and Internet services, including a significant speed increase for its Optimum Online high-speed Internet service and a near doubling of high-definition programming, to 41 HD services now available to iO TV digital cable customers at no additional cost.  Optimum Voice received the highest rating in residential telephone customer satisfaction in the Mid-Atlantic region for 2007 in a study by J.D. Power and Associates.

 

“Cablevision’s television, voice and Internet services are popular with consumers because we deliver the best quality and greatest value in the market,” said John Trierweiler, the company’s senior vice president for product management.  “Our voice service has already attracted nearly one-third of local phone customers, our high-speed Internet service is used in nearly half of the homes passed by our fiber optic network, and our iO TV digital cable product has been embraced by more than 80 percent of our cable television customers, the highest digital penetration in the country.  The Optimum Triple Play offer revolutionized the way bundled entertainment and communications services are sold, and Cablevision’s record of innovation and technological superiority is unmatched by any other provider.”

 

Over the last year, Cablevision has continued to enhance its television, high-speed Internet and voice services, following a significant speed increase for Optimum Online customers – from up to 10 megabits-per-second (Mbps) downstream and up to 1 Mbps upstream to new speeds of 15 Mbps downstream and 2 Mbps upstream – at no additional charge.  Product enhancements in 2007 included: 

 

§         The introduction of 19 new high-definition programming services including TBS HD, Discovery HD Theater, National Geographic HD, Versus HD, The Golf Channel HD, RAVE HD, and more, bringing the total number of available HD services to 41, without the additional fees and charges Cablevision’s competitors charge for HD.

 

§         The launch of iO International, a diverse array of 10 distinct international in-language packages, including programming in Spanish, Chinese, Russian, French, Italian, Hindi and other languages, across Cablevision’s entire service area.  Cablevision has also continued to expand its iO en espanol Spanish-language tier, which now features nearly 40 channels.

 

§         A new Optimum Online web portal offering enhanced personalization options and access to valuable local news, weather and traffic information from the Emmy Award-winning News 12 team and a variety of Internet news sources based on a user’s home location.

 

§      The addition of multi-line voice service to the list of features available from Optimum Voice, offering customers up to three additional lines for just $14.95 per line, including all of the benefits and advantages customers have come to expect from Optimum Voice, like advanced features and unlimited calling across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.

 

Cablevision provides cable television service to more than 3.1 million customers in the New York metropolitan area, with more than 81 percent having chosen the company’s iO TV digital cable service, the highest digital penetration in the country.  It provides Optimum Online high-speed Internet service to more than 2.1 million customers, nearly 47 percent of the homes passed by its fiber optic network, and Optimum Voice service to more than 1.4 million customers, nearly one third of the local phone market.

 

Nearly two-thirds of Cablevision customers take more than one of the company’s video, voice and Internet products, and more than 60 percent of new customers take all three when first establishing service, under the Optimum Triple Play offer, which has been in effect since 2004 and gives new customers the opportunity to subscribe to all three Optimum services for just $29.95 per month, per service, for 12 months.  Earlier this year, Cablevision extended the benefits of the Optimum Triple Play to existing cable television customers.

 

About Cablevision

Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) is one of the nation's leading entertainment and telecommunications companies.  Its cable television operations serve more than 3 million households in the New York metropolitan area. The company's advanced telecommunications offerings include its iO: Interactive Optimum® digital television, Optimum Online high-speed Internet, Optimum Voice digital voice-over-cable, and its Optimum Lightpath integrated business communications services. Cablevision's Rainbow Media Holdings LLC operates several successful programming businesses, including AMC, IFC, WE tv and other national and regional networks. In addition to its telecommunications and programming businesses, Cablevision owns Madison Square Garden and its sports teams, the New York Knicks, Rangers and Liberty. The company also operates New York's famed Radio City Music Hall, and owns and operates Clearview Cinemas.

 

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Disclaimer: Cablevision’s Optimum Voice received the highest numerical score among telephone service providers in the Mid-Atlantic Region in the proprietary J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Residential Regional Telephone Customer Satisfaction StudySM. Study based on 11,911 total responses from consumers measuring6 providers in the Mid-Atlantic region (DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA, WV) and measures satisfaction of consumers who received their local and long distance service from one provider.  Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of consumers surveyed between April-May 2007. Your experiences may vary.  Visit jdpower.com.

Mid-Atlantic Region: DE, MD, NJ, PA, VA, WV