As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 17, 2020

Registration No. 333-

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM S-8

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

AMC Networks Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

11 Penn Plaza

New York, New York 10001

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

AMC Networks Inc. Amended and Restated 2016 Employee Stock Plan

AMC Networks Inc. Amended and Restated 2011 Stock Plan for Non-Employee Directors

(Full title of the plan)

James G. Gallagher

Executive Vice President and General Counsel

11 Penn Plaza

New York, New York 10001

(Name and address of agent for service)

(212) 324-8500

(Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

With a copy to:

Robert W. Downes, Esq.

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

125 Broad Street

New York, New York 10004-2498

(212) 558-4000

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by checkmark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☐

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Registration Statement on Form S-8 is filed by AMC Networks Inc. (the “Registrant,” “we” or “us”), to register 6,000,000 additional shares of the Registrant’s Class A Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share (“common stock”), issuable under the AMC Networks Inc. Amended and Restated 2016 Employee Stock Plan (“2016 Employee Plan”) and 200,000 additional shares of common stock issuable under the AMC Networks Inc. Amended and Restated 2011 Stock Plan for Non-Employee Directors (“2011 Directors Plan”).

The contents of the Registration Statement on Form S-8 (File No. 333-214083), filed by the Registrant with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on October 13, 2016, registering shares of its common stock issuable under the AMC Networks Inc. 2016 Employee Stock Plan and the 2011 Directors Plan are hereby incorporated by reference except to the extent supplemented, amended, or superseded by the information set forth therein or herein.

PART I

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(A) PROSPECTUS

The documents containing the information specified in this Part I of Form S-8 (plan information and registrant information and other information) will be sent or given to participants in the 2016 Employee Plan and the 2011 Directors Plan as specified by Rule 428(b)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Such documents need not be filed with the SEC either as part of this Registration Statement or as prospectuses or prospectus supplements pursuant to Rule 424. These documents and the documents incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement pursuant to Item 3 of Part II of this Form S-8, taken together, constitute a prospectus that meets the requirements of Section 10(a) of the Securities Act.

PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

All information required in the Registration Statement (other than the exhibits and the signature page) is set forth in the Registration Statement on Form S-8 (File No. 333-214083), as described above, and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

The following documents filed by the Registrant with the SEC are incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement:

All reports and other documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement that indicates that all of the shares of common stock offered have been sold or that deregisters all of such shares then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of the filing of such reports and documents. Unless expressly incorporated into this Registration Statement, a report furnished but not filed on Form 8-K shall not be incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement to the extent furnished but not filed.

Any statement contained herein or in a document all or a portion of which is incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained herein (or in any other subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein) modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

Item 4. Description of Securities.

Not Applicable.

Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

Not Applicable.

Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

The Registrant’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Charter”) provides that we shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law from time to time in effect, indemnify persons who serve as our directors and officers and shall advance to them expenses incurred in defending or responding to claims, actions, investigations, inquiries and other proceedings. Furthermore, our Charter allows us to indemnify our officers, directors, employees and agents to the fullest extent provided by law. We are a Delaware corporation.

Section 145 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”) authorizes a corporation to indemnify its directors, officers, employees and agents against expenses (including attorney’s fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement reasonably incurred, provided they act in good faith and in a manner reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe their conduct was unlawful, although in the case of proceedings brought by or on behalf of the corporation, such indemnification is limited to expenses and is not permitted if the individual is adjudged liable to the corporation (unless the Delaware Court of Chancery or the court in which such proceeding was brought determines otherwise in accordance with the DGCL). Our amended and restated by-laws provide for the indemnification of our directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted under the DGCL.

Section 102 of the DGCL authorizes a corporation to eliminate or limit its directors’ liability to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breaches of fiduciary duties, other than for (a) breaches of the duty of loyalty, (b) acts or omissions not in good faith or that involve intentional misconduct or knowing violations of law, (c) unlawful payments of dividends, stock purchases or redemptions, or (d) transactions from which a director derives an improper personal benefit. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains such a provision.

Section 145 of the DGCL authorizes a corporation to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation against any liability asserted against and incurred by such person in any such capacity, or arising out of such person’s status as such. We have obtained liability insurance covering our directors and officers for claims asserted against them or incurred by them in such capacity.

Reference is made to Item 9 for the Registrant’s undertakings with respect to indemnification for liabilities under the Securities Act.

Item 7. Exemption from Registration Claimed.

Not Applicable.

Item 8. Exhibits.

Item 9. Undertakings.

The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

provided, however, that Paragraphs (1)(i) and (1)(ii) of this section do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the SEC by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement.

The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new Registration Statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the

initial bona fide offering thereof.

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing this Registration Statement and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in New York, New York, on the 17th day of November, 2020.

POWER OF ATTORNEY

Each person whose signature appears below hereby authorizes James G. Gallagher and Anne G. Kelly to file one or more amendments, including post-effective amendments, to this Registration Statement, which amendments may make such changes as any of them deems appropriate, and each person whose signature appears below, individually and in each capacity stated below, hereby appoints James G. Gallagher and Anne G. Kelly as Attorney-in-Fact to execute his or her name and on his or her behalf to file any such amendments to this Registration Statement.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the 17th day of November, 2020.

EXHIBIT 5.1

November 17, 2020

AMC Networks Inc.

11 Penn Plaza

New York, NY 10001

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am Executive Vice President and General Counsel of AMC Networks Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Corporation”), and, in such capacity, have acted as counsel to the Corporation in connection with the Corporation’s filing of a Registration Statement on Form S-8 (the “Registration Statement”) with the Securities and Exchange Commission covering the registration of 6,200,000 additional shares of the Corporation’s Class A Common Stock, $.01 par value per share (the “Shares”) issuable pursuant to the Corporation’s AMC Networks Inc. Amended and Restated 2016 Employee Stock Plan and the Corporation’s AMC Networks Inc. Amended and Restated 2011 Stock Plan for Non-Employee Directors (collectively, the “Plans”).

In that capacity, I have examined such corporate records, certificates and other documents, and such questions of law, as I have considered necessary or appropriate for the purpose of this opinion. Upon the basis of such examination, it is my opinion that when the Registration Statement becomes effective under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Act”), the terms of the sale of the Shares have been duly established in conformity with the Corporation’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and the Plans, and the Shares have been duly issued and sold as contemplated by the Registration Statement and in accordance with the Plans, the Shares will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.

The foregoing opinion is limited to the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, and I am expressing no opinion as to the effect of the laws of any other jurisdiction. The opinion expressed in this opinion letter is as of the date of this opinion letter only and as to laws covered hereby only as they are in effect on that date, and I assume no obligation to update or supplement such opinion to reflect any facts or circumstances that may come to my attention after that date or any changes in law that may occur or become effective after that date.

I have relied as to certain factual matters on information obtained from public officials, officers of the Corporation and other sources believed by me to be responsible.

I hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement. In giving such consent, I do not thereby admit that I am in the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Act.

Exhibit 23.1

Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The Board of Directors

AMC Networks Inc.:

We consent to the use of our reports, dated February 26, 2020, with respect to (i) the consolidated balance sheets of AMC Networks Inc. and subsidiaries (the Company) as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, and the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, stockholders’ equity (deficiency), and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2019, and the related notes, and the related financial statement schedule, and (ii) the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2019, by AMC Networks Inc. in the Registration Statement on Form S-8. Our report on the Company’s consolidated financial statements refers to changes in accounting principle due to the Company’s adoption of ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (ASC 842), effective January 1, 2019, and the Company’s adoption of ASU No.2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), effective January 1, 2018.

/s/ KPMG LLP

New York, New York

November 17, 2020