US: Cablevision acquires Newsday, Tribune still crushed by debt

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on May 13, 2008 at 9:16 AM

US cable television group Cablevision acquired New York-based Newsday - the nation's eighth largest newspaper - from Tribune Co. for US$650 million.

The cable group beat Rupert Murdoch's $580 million. Mort Zuckerman, owner of the New York Daily News, had also bid $580 million.

It's interesting to see a cable TV group staking in a major newspaper, in a move that goes against the general trend of newspapers acquiring Web start-ups.

"Being owned by an Internet service provider company opens up a range of options for a newspaper to generate revenue from people accessing the Internet," said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Cablevision will also benefit from the content produced by the paper.

The New York Times questioned the rationale behind the deal: "Most analysts question the rationale for buying Newsday and had hoped Cablevision's quest failed."

The deal will help Tribune Co. get some, but little, relief from its crushing $12.8 billion debt.

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Source: SFN Blog - Editor & Publisher (here and here)