Adelphia Communications Corporation (former NASDAQ ticker symbol ADELQ),[1] named after

the Greek word adelphoi "brothers", was a cable television company headquartered
in Coudersport, Pennsylvania.[2] Adelphia was the fifth largest cable company in the United States
before filing for bankruptcy in 2002 as a result of internal corruption. Adelphia was founded in 1952
by John Rigas in the town of Coudersport, which remained the company's headquarters until it was
moved toGreenwood Village, Colorado, shortly after filing for bankruptcy.[citation needed]
The majority of Adelphia's revenue-generating assets were officially acquired by Time Warner
Cable and Comcast on July 31, 2006. LFC, an internet-based real estate marketing firm, auctioned
off the remaining Adelphia real estate assets.[3]
As a result of this acquisition, Adelphia no longer exists as a cable provider. Adelphia's long-distance
telephone business with 110,000 customers in 27 states (telephone & long-distance services) was
sold to Pioneer Telephone for about $1.2 million.[4]
Upon divesting its cable assets, Adelphia retained a skeleton crew of 275 employees to handle
remaining bankruptcy issues.[5]It still exists as a corporate entity, continuing largely to settle ongoing
financial obligations and litigation claims, as well as to consummate settlements with the SEC and
the U.S. Attorney.
Contents
[hide]

1 Dissolution

2 Adelphia officers trial

3 Sports
o

3.1 Adelphia Coliseum

4 See also

5 References

6 External links

Dissolution[edit]
Adelphia's Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization has been marked by extensive disputes between
creditors over the distribution of proceeds.[citation needed] The dispute mainly pits creditors of the parent
company (Adelphia Communications Corporation) against the creditors of the various operating
subsidiaries (primarily, Arahova, also known as Century Communications). This dispute is ongoing.

The effective date of the Adelphia Plan of Reorganization occurred on February 13, 2007. Time
Warner Cable was allowed to distribute approximately $6 billion in shares to Adelphia stakeholders
and succeed Adelphia as a publicly traded corporation. [6]

Adelphia officers trial[edit]

The founders of Adelphia were charged with securities violations. Five officers were indicted and two
(John Rigas and Timothy Rigas) were found guilty.[7] Rigas founded Adelphia with a $300 license in
1952, took the company public in 1986 and built it by acquiring other systems in the 1990s. The
company collapsed into bankruptcy in 2002 after it disclosed $2.3 billion in off-balance-sheet debt.
Federal prosecutors proved that the Rigases used complicated cash-management systems to
spread money around to various family-owned entities and as a cover for stealing $100 million for
themselves. The New York Times noted that this differed considerably from other accounting
scandals like Enron and Worldcom, saying "For the one trait that distinguishes the Rigases from
virtually every other culprit on Wall Street is that they didn't sell their stock. The evidence suggests
less that they intended to defraud than that they intended to hide inconvenient facts until they could
be righted. This is also, of course, against the law; it's just a more tragic crime than ordinary
looting."[8]
A second Rigas son, Michael, former executive vice president for operations, was acquitted of
conspiracy and wire fraud in 2005. However, jurors were deadlocked on certain counts, and Michael
Rigas had been scheduled for a second trial but on March 3rd, 2006 he was sentenced to 10 months
of home confinement and two years probation after pleading guilty in 2005 to one count of making a
false entry in a financial report according to many published reports. A former Adelphia assistant
treasurer Michael Mulcahey was acquitted of all criminal charges.
John and Timothy Rigas started their prison sentence at the Federal Correctional Complex, Butner,
near Raleigh, North Carolina, on August 13, 2007. John received a sentence of 15 years and
Timothy received 20 years.

Sports[edit]
In addition to its cable interests, Adelphia had substantial interests in the sporting world. In 1990, it
launched Empire Sports Network, a regional sports network serving central and western New York. It
bought the NHL's Buffalo Sabres in 1997, and added a sports talk station, WNSA, in 2000.
On the day John Rigas and his sons were arrested, the NHL seized control of the Sabres. The team
remained a ward of the league until 2003. WNSA was sold off in 2004 and is now WLKK. Empire
Sports limped along until 2005, when it was finally shut down.

Adelphia Coliseum[edit]
One previous marker of Adelphia's success before its bankruptcy included its 1999 purchase of
the naming rights to a football stadium, Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville, Tennessee. It was built as

the home of the Tennessee Titans. Adelphia was not a well-known company in Nashville and had
only a small presence in the area (since its subsidiary, Adelphia Business Solutions, a commercial
telecommunications provider offered as an alternative to BellSouth) before, and even after, the
naming rights were purchased. The name was taken off the stadium in 2002 after Adelphia missed a
payment and subsequently filed for bankruptcy. It was known as simply "The Coliseum" for four
years before becoming LP Field in 2006.