Rainbow Sat Gets A Boost

Cable World, July 21, 2003

Byline: Mavis Scanlon

Chuck Dolan's plans to offer a satellite service moved a step closer to reality Thursday night with the launch, after an extended delay, of an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral that will carry the state-of-the-art Rainbow 1 satellite into orbit. The service, which Cablevision Systems will spin off as a separate company, is expected to be offered by year-end; further details are expected in October. Wall Street has long been skeptical of the venture's success. Established DBS providers already have nearly 20 million customers, and the Cablevision satellite service will not be able to reach the entire United States.