John Huffman
Executive Vice President, Finance
Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
As executive vice president of finance, John Huffman oversees all of the financial planning, budgeting and forecasting for Rainbow Media and each of its cutting-edge, multiplatform brands, including AMC, IFC (The Independent Film Channel), Sundance Channel, WE tv, IFC Entertainment and VOOM HD Networks. He also works with parent company Cablevision Systems Corporation on financial planning, treasury, tax, accounting and control issues, as well as on activities associated with banking and reporting requirements.
Mr. Huffman joined Rainbow Media in 2000 as vice president, finance, regional services. He was then appointed to vice president, finance, national services in 2001, senior vice president of finance in 2005 and executive vice president of finance in 2006. He has played a key role in a number of important Rainbow Media initiatives, including: an $825 million deal with MGM for a 20% equity stake in four of Rainbow Media’s national networks - AMC, Bravo (now owned by NBC Universal), IFC and WE tv - in 2001; the issuance of the Rainbow Media Group (RMG) tracking stock in 2001; the $1.25 billion sale of Bravo to NBC in 2002; the launch of VOOM HD Originals (now VOOM HD Networks) in 2003; an $800 million Rainbow National Services (RNS) bond offering; a $950 million credit facility in 2004; a $1.6 billion refinanced RNS credit facility in 2006; the $570 million sale of Rainbow Media’s ownership interests in their Bay Area and New England regional sports programming businesses to Comcast in 2007; and the $496 million purchase of Sundance Channel from General Electric Company (NBC Universal), CBS Corporation (Showtime), Sundance Television, LTD., Sundance TV, Inc. and Sundance Channel L.L.C. in 2008.
Prior to joining Rainbow Media, Mr. Huffman held the position of vice president of finance for The MTVi Group and was responsible for the day-to-day business management of its online properties including MTV.com, VH1.com and SonicNet.com. He spent more than six years at MTV Networks and The MTVi Group in various financial capacities. Previously, he worked for seven years in several network operations capacities for Viacom International, Inc.
Mr. Huffman holds a master’s degree in business administration from Hofstra University and a bachelor’s degree in communications from New York Institute of Technology.