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Description Of Business And Basis Of Presentation
6 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Description Of Business And Basis Of Presentation [Abstract]  
Description Of Business And Basis Of Presentation

Note 1. Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

Description of Business

The Madison Square Garden Company (together with its subsidiaries, the "Company" or "Madison Square Garden") was incorporated on July 29, 2009 as an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation ("Cablevision"). On January 12, 2010, Cablevision's board of directors approved the distribution of all the outstanding common stock of The Madison Square Garden Company to Cablevision shareholders (the "Distribution") and the Company thereafter acquired the subsidiaries of Cablevision that owned, directly and indirectly, all of the partnership interests in MSG Holdings, L.P. ("MSG L.P."). MSG L.P. was the indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Cablevision through which Cablevision held the Company's businesses until the Distribution occurred on February 9, 2010. Each holder of record of Cablevision NY Group Class A Common Stock as of close of business on January 25, 2010 (the "Record Date") received one share of the Company's Class A Common Stock for every four shares of Cablevision NY Group Class A Common Stock held. Each holder of record of Cablevision NY Group Class B Common Stock as of the Record Date received one share of the Company's Class B Common Stock for every four shares of Cablevision NY Group Class B Common Stock held. MSG L.P. is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Madison Square Garden Company through which the Company conducts substantially all of its business activities.

The Company is a fully integrated sports, entertainment and media business. The Company classifies its business interests into three reportable segments: MSG Media, MSG Entertainment, and MSG Sports. MSG Media produces, develops and acquires content for multiple distribution platforms, including content originating from the Company's venues. MSG Media includes the Company's regional sports networks, MSG network, MSG Plus, MSG HD and MSG Plus HD, collectively called the MSG Networks, and the Fuse Networks (Fuse and Fuse HD), a national television network dedicated to music. MSG Entertainment presents or hosts live entertainment events, such as concerts, family shows, performing arts and special events, in the Company's diverse collection of venues. MSG Entertainment also creates, produces and/or presents live productions, including the Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the Radio City Rockettes (the "Rockettes"). MSG Sports owns and operates sports franchises, including the New York Knicks (the "Knicks") of the National Basketball Association (the "NBA"), the New York Rangers (the "Rangers") of the National Hockey League (the "NHL"), the New York Liberty (the "Liberty") of the Women's National Basketball Association (the "WNBA"), and the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League (the "AHL"), which is the primary player development team for the Rangers. MSG Sports also promotes, produces and/or presents a broad array of other live sporting events outside of Knicks, Rangers and Liberty games.

The Company conducts a significant portion of its operations at venues that it either owns or operates under long-term leases. The Company owns the Madison Square Garden Arena ("The Garden") and The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, as well as The Chicago Theatre in Chicago. It leases Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theatre in New York City. The Company also has a booking agreement with respect to the Wang Theatre in Boston

Unaudited Interim Financial Statements

The accompanying interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP") for interim financial information and the instructions to Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X, and should be read in conjunction with the Company's Transition Report on Form 10-K/T for the six month transition period ended June 30, 2011. The financial statements as of December 31, 2011 and for the three and six months ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 presented in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are unaudited; however, in the opinion of management such financial statements reflect all adjustments, consisting solely of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim periods presented. The results of operations for the periods presented are not necessarily indicative of the results that might be expected for future interim periods or for the full year. The dependence of the MSG Sports segment on revenues from its NBA and NHL sports teams generally means it earns a disproportionate share of its revenues in the second and third quarters of our fiscal year (see Note 2 for a discussion of the new NBA collective bargaining agreement ("CBA") and revenue sharing arrangements, as well as the NBA work stoppage). The dependence of the MSG Entertainment segment on revenues from the Radio City Christmas Spectacular generally means it earns a disproportionate share of its revenues and operating income in the second quarter of our fiscal year. In addition, the off-season shutdown of The Garden and The Theater at Madison Square Garden due to the comprehensive transformation of The Garden into a state-of-the-art arena (the "Transformation") has impacted the Company's financial results in the fourth quarter of our 2011 fiscal year and the first quarter of our 2012 fiscal year, and we anticipate similar impacts in those same periods during the planned off-season shutdowns of The Garden and The Theater at Madison Square Garden in the 2012 and 2013 calendar years.

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