Cablevision's AMC Completes Spinoff

Shares of Cablevision (NYSE:CVC) edged higher on Friday after its former subdivision AMC Networks (NASDAQ:AMCX) announced it has finished its separation and now trades as a separate, public company.

AMC, formerly known as Rainbow Media, changed its name in conjunction with the spin-off. The company began listing on the NASDAQ Friday morning.

Cablevision distributed all of AMCs outstanding stock on Thursday to its shareholders of record as of June 16. Stockholders received one share of AMC Networks stock for every four shares of Cablevision.

Josh Sapan, who has served as chief executive of Rainbow Media since 2004, has been appointed as chief executive of AMC Networks. Charles Dolan now serves as executive chairman while continuing his current role as chairman of Cablevision.

Today is a milestone in our company's history, Sapan said. As a separate public company, AMC Networks has the opportunity to further showcase each of its programming services and provide value to investors, distributors and advertisers.

AMC is home to channels such as AMC, IFC, Sundance Channel and WE tv, hosting a range of shows from Mad Men to the Onion News Network.