Cablevision Names David Ellen Executive Vice President and General Counsel

Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) today announced the appointment of David Ellen as the company’s executive vice president and general counsel. In this role, Mr. Ellen will oversee and direct Cablevision’s legal affairs company-wide. He will report to Cablevision President and CEO James L. Dolan.

Mr. Ellen, 44, joined Cablevision in 2004 as senior vice president and general counsel, cable, telecommunications and programming, and in October 2008, was promoted to executive vice president and general counsel, cable and communications. During those five years, Mr. Ellen oversaw and directed the legal affairs of Cablevision’s cable and telecommunications businesses as well as News 12 Networks, the Rainbow ad sales organization and Newsday Media Group. He also assisted Rainbow, during part of that time, with its legal affairs. In addition, he served as lead in-house counsel on a variety of strategic legal matters such as the issues related to the development of Cablevision’s innovative RS-DVR technology and the subsequent litigation over its lawfulness.

Mr. Dolan said: "David is a talented and successful lawyer with a strong background in the cable television industry and with meaningful professional experience. We have come to rely on his thoughtful judgment and insights as we have pursued strategic initiatives that have contributed to the company’s growth, and we very much look forward to his ongoing counsel and guidance as Cablevision’s top legal officer.”

Mr. Ellen said: "I am very grateful for this opportunity. Cablevision is a company with terrific assets and enormous prospects, and I look forward to working closely with our executive management team to serve the company in any way I can."

From 2001 to 2004, Mr. Ellen served as vice president and deputy general counsel of IAC, where he worked closely with the general counsel to oversee IAC’s corporate legal affairs, including board and corporate governance issues and legal support on numerous domestic and foreign acquisitions. Previously, he served as general counsel for Eureka Broadband, a private New York-based telecommunications company, which provided high-speed data and voice services to commercial customers.

Prior to these two positions, Mr. Ellen worked for Cablevision as senior counsel in the company’s government affairs department from 1997 to 2000. In this role, he was responsible for a range of regulatory and legal matters related to the company’s cable and telecommunications services, and he helped develop positions and strategies on key regulatory policy issues. Mr. Ellen came to Cablevision after working for the Federal Communications Commission as a special counsel focusing on the implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Prior to joining the FCC, Mr. Ellen was a law clerk for now-retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. He also clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg when they were U.S. Circuit Court judges. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1992, where he served as president of the Harvard Law Review. He received a master’s degree at Cambridge University as a Marshall Scholar and graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College.

He resides in Manhattan with his wife and two children.

Cablevision Systems Corporation is one of the nation's leading media and entertainment 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 operates several successful programming businesses, including AMC, IFC, Sundance Channel and WE tv, through Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, and serves the New York area as publisher of Newsday and other niche publications through Newsday LLC. In addition to these businesses, Cablevision owns Madison Square Garden and its sports teams, the New York Knicks, Rangers and Liberty. The company operates New York's famed Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theatre, and The Chicago Theatre, and owns and operates Clearview Cinemas. Additional information about Cablevision Systems Corporation is available on the Web at www.cablevision.com.